Evaluating Adultism in Youth Civics Education Through Critical Discourse Analysis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Schools in Promoting Youth Voice and Civic Learning (Table 9)

Abstract

In the United States, adultism in K-12 civics education marginalizes youth by promoting and reproducing dominant conceptualizations of civic participation and knowledge. This study critically analyzed Pennsylvania's Act 35, the State's K-12 civics curriculum strategy, revealing how its language reinforces youth inequities. Utilizing Foucault's (1980, 1991, 1995) theories of power and Freire's (1970) theory of conscientization, this critical discourse analysis highlighted PA Act 35’s emphasis on passive citizenship and exclusion of critical, socially just citizenship development. Findings show how PA Act 35 legitimizes limited civic ideologies and portrays youth as deficient, perpetuating adult dominance. The study calls for youth-centered, empowering civics curricula to address these inequities.

Authors

• Casey E Hanna, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Amanda Reinsburrow, Drexel University