Cultivating student voice and social justice through journalism

• In Event: Roundtable Group 14
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: SDGs, Voice and Innovation

Proposal

In the Dominican Republic, a lack of locally produced reading material—particularly culturally and linguistically relevant material for youth—affects youth interest and engagement in literacy activities. A student magazine, Mi Mundo, was developed by a local nonprofit organization to fill this gap, with the goal of cultivating student voice and agency as high school students create content that puts Dominican culture at the forefront. Mi Mundo offers experiential learning opportunities in an educational system that is frequently inflexible and has a limited focus on civic engagement. As such, students’ voices are often excluded, and a concerning disconnect widens between youth and their communities. Research shows that providing space for students to articulate their perspectives on issues of importance to them facilitates a means for youth to speak with authority and re-builds youth’s community attachment (Neely, 2015). Journalism and local storytelling have been found to be highly effective in not only improving reading and writing skills but also in promoting creative self-expression and engaging youth “in interactive...learning experiences that [allow] them to bring together texts, technologies, issues and ideas to negotiate and contribute to broader social and community discussions relevant to their lives” (Neely, 2015, p. 2,314).
Mi Mundo creates an opportunity for literacy development among young journalists who gain writing experiences as they engage with their history and culture in ways that are largely absent from traditional curricula. Participating students identify content relevant to members of their community, which is then written and organized in a bright, family-friendly publication. Students not only enrich their writing abilities, but also develop skills in technology, critical thinking, interpersonal communication, how to conduct surveys and interviews and analyzing and summarizing information. Mi Mundo is the first magazine in the region written by community members for community members. Since 2017, ten editions of the magazine have been published, and over 30,000 copies have been distributed for free to local schools and book fairs.
Through this roundtable session, presenters will engage the CIES audience in offering suggestions and shared experiences to develop next steps for the project. Previous surveys with the Mi Mundo staff have shown that current barriers for producing the magazine include students’ low writing levels and limited experience with creative writing, barriers which are relevant to youth in many global school systems. This year, the implementing organization will administer additional surveys with the student journalists and public-school teachers receiving the Mi Mundo magazines in their classrooms. As the original journalists are now in their twenties and starting careers, the survey will assess how the magazine has influenced their educational and professional trajectories, decision-making and voice in their communities. Through reviewing these results, we will more confidently be able to answer the questions: To what extent is Mi Mundo an effective strategy for improving literacy skills among local youth? How does writing for the magazine develop youth agency? How can the project move from centering student voices to providing a platform for social action and, ultimately, advancing social justice social justice?

Authors

• Catherine Delaura, The DREAM Project

• Molly Hamm-Rodriguez, University of South Florida