Nothing About Us Without Us: Attending to Youth Desires for Their Educational Futures

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

This presidential session centers the voices, experiences, and desires of young people, the group that will be most impacted by the decisions that we make about our collective social futures. This year’s theme urges the educational community at all levels to delve deeply into the histories and movements that have brought us to this sociopolitical moment and then expand outward to articulate our freedom dreams for future generations. Such futuring cannot be accomplished without the meaningful participation of youth. This session convenes a group of youth and adult researchers who have dedicated their careers to developing theoretical, methodological, and practical tools to support intergenerational and interdisciplinary public scholarship that positions young people as agentic experts of their educational experiences.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chairs

• Nicole Mirra, University of California - Los Angeles

• Limarys Caraballo, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Estrella Torrez, Michigan State University

• Jamila Lyiscott, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Papers

• Transforming Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum with Youth - Limarys Caraballo, Teachers College, Columbia University; Shreya Sunderram, Graduate Center - CUNY; Vaughn W.M. Watson, Michigan State University

• Intergenerational Advocacy and the Arts Within and Beyond Formal School Settings - Jamila Lyiscott, University of Massachusetts - Amherst; Joanne E. Marciano, Michigan State University; L. Trenton S. Marsh, University of Central Florida

• Youth Organizing and Civic Engagement - Nicole Mirra, University of California - Los Angeles; Estrella Torrez, Michigan State University; Dana E. Wright, Mills College at Northeastern University

Discussant

• Michelle Fine, Graduate Center - CUNY