"I'm Going to Be Open": Exploring Critical YPAR Work in a Middle School Classroom

• In Event: Engaging Critical Voices of Youth Across Multiple Settings

Abstract

This paper explores how a teacher designed and enacted a YPAR project focused on replacing a local monument of Christopher Columbus in her bilingual middle school humanities class. Drawing on fieldnotes and student created artifacts from the unit, we found that the teacher’s skillful discussion of racism and coloniality with her students shaped how students designed their own monuments to honor community needs.

Authors

• Kathryn Nagrotsky, Sacred Heart University

• Jason D. Mizell, University of Miami