International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2017
In this essay, I explore my experiences as a practitioner researcher collaborating with my studen... more In this essay, I explore my experiences as a practitioner researcher collaborating with my students on a participatory action research project aimed at institutional change. I take up two areas: blurring the boundaries of professionalism in working toward authentic collaborations with students, and secondly, incorporating perspectives of 'healing justice' into schoolbased youth participatory action research (YPAR). I first provide a framework by delineating the emancipatory aims of YPAR and how these may be at odds with much of the research teachers/practitioners currently conduct in their school sites. While ultimately acknowledging the risks in taking up emancipatory change efforts as insiders, I make the case that there are also clear benefits to the process. While there is a dynamic youth participatory action research (YPAR) movement taking place, fostered by community and youth organizing (Warren, 2014), it has yet to infiltrate school settings to any great degree (Ozer & Wright, 2012). Ironically many of these community-based YPAR efforts focus on educational reforms (Warren, 2014). Youth, with adult allies, have collectively organized around issues of school 'pushouts' and zero tolerance (Youth United for Change, 2011) and the proliferation of charter schools in urban school districts (Mirra, Garcia, & Morrell, 2016) to cite just two examples. The Funder Collaborative for Youth Organizing estimates that while youth organizing groups take up multiple issues, two-thirds of them address public education and educational justice issues in some manner (Shah, 2011; Warren, 2014). These efforts demonstrate a passionate interest on the part of youth to influence their educational experiences and contexts. Yet these same youth sit as students in our classrooms, move through our school hallways, young activists who are invisible in the eyes of the educational community. A growing body of evidence documents the multiple benefits of youth being involved in YPAR (Warren, Mira, & Nikundiwe, 2008), so to try to further incorporate this type of inquiry into educational settings is worth further exploration. YPAR has been shown to cultivate a variety of academic, social and civic skills in youth (Rubin & Jones, 2007). Others have noted youth's increased confidence in their research skills and in presenting community issues of concern to those in power (Shah, 2011). Some report higher than expected numbers of youth from low-resourced areas being college bound after participating in YPAR (Mirra et al., 2016). YPAR may offer a particularly important opportunity for those most marginalized in schools who experience social justice concerns first hand (Bland & Atweh, 2007; Fine & Torre, 2004). Fine and Torre (2004) argue that youth of poverty and/or color have paid the greatest price as neoliberalism has infused our schools and processes of YPAR provide a vehicle for a reframing of the local and large questions of ARTICLE HISTORY
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2019
We explore the experiences of youth who disconnected from their local high schools and resumed th... more We explore the experiences of youth who disconnected from their local high schools and resumed their educations in community-based education (CBE) programs offering high school equivalency instruction. Drawing on focus-group interview narratives (N ¼ 59) where youth describe the 'second chances' offered to them, we document supportive, encouraging relationships with adults in the CBEs that stand in contrast to their experiences in school. Simultaneously, we suggest that in the face of program narratives that emphasized individual responsibility and success, any critical read of their world articulated earlier by the youth was no longer evident. In essence, they moved from one institution framed by neoliberal tenets to another but in the process, they traded the resistance they exhibited in their public high schools to accommodation in the CBEs. We problematize the discourse of 'second chances' if and when it remains uncoupled to analyses of societal and institutional inequity and injustices.
A disproportionate number of urban youth attend underresourced and segregated schools. While tene... more A disproportionate number of urban youth attend underresourced and segregated schools. While tenets of the American Dream are inculcated in urban youth, a dearth of educational resources is available to help realize this dream. This qualitative study explored the narratives of urban youth ( N = 85), many of whom sought to be the exceptions, embracing higher education as a pathway to successful futures, yet few identified resources that would make access to higher education possible. The capital accrued in their communities allowed them to navigate their social environment; however, it was an insufficient bridge for future success in higher education. Furthermore, they espoused a belief in their own self-reliance as the one resource on which they could count on. Ironically, the youth also accepted “not making it” a result of their own shortcomings. We link findings to empowerment agents who would cultivate both bridging capital and critical consciousness among/for youth.
There is a large debate in the social work literature regarding the gap between research and prac... more There is a large debate in the social work literature regarding the gap between research and practice, with current research methodologies critiqued as potentially ''blaming the victim'' or decontextualizing the practice situation. This paper presents an alternative approach, utilizing action research to inform practice. Originally conceived of as a qualitative interview study, the manuscript traces the evolution of the worker, a teacher and high school students. The research itself addresses the issue of ''What is it like to be a student of color here?'' in a predominately white school environment. Students and adults conceptualize ways to work together for change within the school.
Segregation is not a thing of the past for young people of color in the US; many attend under-res... more Segregation is not a thing of the past for young people of color in the US; many attend under-resourced and segregated school districts. Despite these disadvantages, America's leaders tell young people of color that they can achieve the "American Dream" via hard work and determination. In new research, David T. Lardier Jr., Kathryn G. Herr, Veronica R. Barrios, Pauline Garcia-Reid ...
By all accounts, Javier stood out. Wiry and small for a seventh grader, he was a bundle of energy... more By all accounts, Javier stood out. Wiry and small for a seventh grader, he was a bundle of energy and often had difficulty sitting still in class. He typically offered a running commentary to other students in his immediate area of the classroom, something his teachers didn't appreciate. Frequently in disciplinary trouble of some sort, Javier complained that whenever anything went down in his class, his teachers immediately saw him in the middle of it. His grades were slipping into the failing range, although he pointed out that he had gotten As, Bs, and Cs in elementary school. Javier openly stated that he was beginning to "hate this school."
Hansun ST is a research institute spin-off company mutually invested by Korea Research Institute ... more Hansun ST is a research institute spin-off company mutually invested by Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) and Hansun Engineering Co., Ltd. on the permission of the Korean government. Our major business model is consisted of intelligent CCTV system, high-performance pan-tilt device, and thermal image analysis. Our mission is dedicating to customers' safety and future.
This study examined adult workers' conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, ... more This study examined adult workers' conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, urban region in the northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 youth workers from various organizations, affiliated with a community coalition focused on substance abuse prevention, we explored how adults viewed their role of working with youth. We were particularly interested in whether these workers saw youth empowerment and collaboration with youth for community change as part of their role. Our data suggested that while workers in this study were very supportive of youth, the support and actions they provided were on behalf of rather than with them and that, in general, partnering with youth for community change was not a part of what they envisioned their work to be. While a few of the adults attempted to work more collaboratively with youth, they were clearly in the minority.
This study examined how a community coalition, focused on prevention efforts, can aid in bridging... more This study examined how a community coalition, focused on prevention efforts, can aid in bridging resources between community organizations in a resource-deprived area. We also explored how it may serve as a venue to support significant changes to the community, adults, and youth who live there. Drawing on 18 individual interviews with adult coalition members from various community organizations, in a large, underserved city in the northeastern United States, we examined these data for narrations of the coalition's place within the broader prevention community and how the coalition may be an organizational venue for collective voice. We were specifically interested in hearing if these adult community members saw the coalition as filling a gap within their community. Our data revealed that while organizations within the community have been decimated due to reduced funding, the present coalition aided in meeting a variety of needs. These needs included the facilitation of community voice while helping to bridge resources between organizations, which would otherwise work alone. 1 INTRODUCTION Efforts to prevent youth substance use and abuse and promote powerful community change in resource strapped urban communities is a challenging undertaking. This can be attributed to, in part, limited financial and structural resources (e.g., community programs) that were once a more "plentiful" segment of the community fabric. Services in resource-deprived urban communities have, however, been stripped from low-income neighborhoods and, importantly, from the youth who need and deserve access to them (Halpern, Barker, & Mollard, 2000). In his polemic book, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, Glaude (2016) describes urban communities as "opportunity deserts" that lack sufficient organizational infrastructures to provide sociocultural resources to youth and other community members. Herein lies many of the difficulties associated with not only engaging in youth work but also
There is much in the current literature from psychology and education that would substantiate tha... more There is much in the current literature from psychology and education that would substantiate that young adoles cent girls are "at-risk." While boys and girls start their educational careers on roughly equal footing, by the time they face graduation 12 years later, girls are found to have fall en behind their male peers in any number of significant ways (American Assocation of University Women, 1992). This academic downhill slide often begins in middle school; as Sadker & Sadker (1994) point out, girls often emerge from middle school with a lowered sense of self esteem, a discouragement with school and a school per formance that does not match earlier achievements. Orenstein (1994), drawing on the American Association of University Women's study, Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America, concludes that for girls the passage into adolescence is marked by a "loss of con fidence in herself and her abilities, especially in math and science" as well as a "blossoming sense of personal inad equacy" (p. xvi). While the survey reports that African American girls retain their overall sense of self-esteem more than white or Latina girls, they are more pessimistic about teachers and schoolwork than other girls and report lower academic self-confidence. What is it in our current practices in schools that encourage this sense of inadequacy; how is it that girls who are secure in some areas of their lives cannot bring that self-confidence into school?
This paper explores the everyday enactments of new public management in our professional lives ut... more This paper explores the everyday enactments of new public management in our professional lives utilizing principles of self-ethnography. Drawing on the reworking of an Action Research class, I explore the possibilities of a contextual analysis of the workplace to make more transparent the enactment of new public management. Little is known regarding how NPM plays out on the ground in local sites and how, in interacting with the culture it creates, professionals locate themselves and their work. I offer a close examination here of our changing context to explore the techniques and forms of power of NPM in the realms of higher education as well as how we might enact a politics of refusal.
Resumo: O presente texto discute a questão da pesquisa em educação em face do compromisso polític... more Resumo: O presente texto discute a questão da pesquisa em educação em face do compromisso político de gerar conhecimentos e potencializar a transformação das práticas pedagógicas. Destaca alguns tipos de investigação que vêm sendo realizados na, sobre e com a escola e sublinha o desafio bem como a importância da realização de pesquisas com os professores, numa perspectiva de investigação-ação participativa. Traça alguns critérios de validade para a pesquisa e conclui com algumas reflexões a respeito da relevância da investigação-ação participativa envolvendo universidade e escola básica como um fator importante para o desenvolvimento profissional dos docentes. Por fim, enfatiza a narração e a etnografia como modos de os professores documentarem e repensarem suas práticas e o contexto sócio-cultural e econômico em que estão inseridos.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2017
In this essay, I explore my experiences as a practitioner researcher collaborating with my studen... more In this essay, I explore my experiences as a practitioner researcher collaborating with my students on a participatory action research project aimed at institutional change. I take up two areas: blurring the boundaries of professionalism in working toward authentic collaborations with students, and secondly, incorporating perspectives of 'healing justice' into schoolbased youth participatory action research (YPAR). I first provide a framework by delineating the emancipatory aims of YPAR and how these may be at odds with much of the research teachers/practitioners currently conduct in their school sites. While ultimately acknowledging the risks in taking up emancipatory change efforts as insiders, I make the case that there are also clear benefits to the process. While there is a dynamic youth participatory action research (YPAR) movement taking place, fostered by community and youth organizing (Warren, 2014), it has yet to infiltrate school settings to any great degree (Ozer & Wright, 2012). Ironically many of these community-based YPAR efforts focus on educational reforms (Warren, 2014). Youth, with adult allies, have collectively organized around issues of school 'pushouts' and zero tolerance (Youth United for Change, 2011) and the proliferation of charter schools in urban school districts (Mirra, Garcia, & Morrell, 2016) to cite just two examples. The Funder Collaborative for Youth Organizing estimates that while youth organizing groups take up multiple issues, two-thirds of them address public education and educational justice issues in some manner (Shah, 2011; Warren, 2014). These efforts demonstrate a passionate interest on the part of youth to influence their educational experiences and contexts. Yet these same youth sit as students in our classrooms, move through our school hallways, young activists who are invisible in the eyes of the educational community. A growing body of evidence documents the multiple benefits of youth being involved in YPAR (Warren, Mira, & Nikundiwe, 2008), so to try to further incorporate this type of inquiry into educational settings is worth further exploration. YPAR has been shown to cultivate a variety of academic, social and civic skills in youth (Rubin & Jones, 2007). Others have noted youth's increased confidence in their research skills and in presenting community issues of concern to those in power (Shah, 2011). Some report higher than expected numbers of youth from low-resourced areas being college bound after participating in YPAR (Mirra et al., 2016). YPAR may offer a particularly important opportunity for those most marginalized in schools who experience social justice concerns first hand (Bland & Atweh, 2007; Fine & Torre, 2004). Fine and Torre (2004) argue that youth of poverty and/or color have paid the greatest price as neoliberalism has infused our schools and processes of YPAR provide a vehicle for a reframing of the local and large questions of ARTICLE HISTORY
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2019
We explore the experiences of youth who disconnected from their local high schools and resumed th... more We explore the experiences of youth who disconnected from their local high schools and resumed their educations in community-based education (CBE) programs offering high school equivalency instruction. Drawing on focus-group interview narratives (N ¼ 59) where youth describe the 'second chances' offered to them, we document supportive, encouraging relationships with adults in the CBEs that stand in contrast to their experiences in school. Simultaneously, we suggest that in the face of program narratives that emphasized individual responsibility and success, any critical read of their world articulated earlier by the youth was no longer evident. In essence, they moved from one institution framed by neoliberal tenets to another but in the process, they traded the resistance they exhibited in their public high schools to accommodation in the CBEs. We problematize the discourse of 'second chances' if and when it remains uncoupled to analyses of societal and institutional inequity and injustices.
A disproportionate number of urban youth attend underresourced and segregated schools. While tene... more A disproportionate number of urban youth attend underresourced and segregated schools. While tenets of the American Dream are inculcated in urban youth, a dearth of educational resources is available to help realize this dream. This qualitative study explored the narratives of urban youth ( N = 85), many of whom sought to be the exceptions, embracing higher education as a pathway to successful futures, yet few identified resources that would make access to higher education possible. The capital accrued in their communities allowed them to navigate their social environment; however, it was an insufficient bridge for future success in higher education. Furthermore, they espoused a belief in their own self-reliance as the one resource on which they could count on. Ironically, the youth also accepted “not making it” a result of their own shortcomings. We link findings to empowerment agents who would cultivate both bridging capital and critical consciousness among/for youth.
There is a large debate in the social work literature regarding the gap between research and prac... more There is a large debate in the social work literature regarding the gap between research and practice, with current research methodologies critiqued as potentially ''blaming the victim'' or decontextualizing the practice situation. This paper presents an alternative approach, utilizing action research to inform practice. Originally conceived of as a qualitative interview study, the manuscript traces the evolution of the worker, a teacher and high school students. The research itself addresses the issue of ''What is it like to be a student of color here?'' in a predominately white school environment. Students and adults conceptualize ways to work together for change within the school.
Segregation is not a thing of the past for young people of color in the US; many attend under-res... more Segregation is not a thing of the past for young people of color in the US; many attend under-resourced and segregated school districts. Despite these disadvantages, America's leaders tell young people of color that they can achieve the "American Dream" via hard work and determination. In new research, David T. Lardier Jr., Kathryn G. Herr, Veronica R. Barrios, Pauline Garcia-Reid ...
By all accounts, Javier stood out. Wiry and small for a seventh grader, he was a bundle of energy... more By all accounts, Javier stood out. Wiry and small for a seventh grader, he was a bundle of energy and often had difficulty sitting still in class. He typically offered a running commentary to other students in his immediate area of the classroom, something his teachers didn't appreciate. Frequently in disciplinary trouble of some sort, Javier complained that whenever anything went down in his class, his teachers immediately saw him in the middle of it. His grades were slipping into the failing range, although he pointed out that he had gotten As, Bs, and Cs in elementary school. Javier openly stated that he was beginning to "hate this school."
Hansun ST is a research institute spin-off company mutually invested by Korea Research Institute ... more Hansun ST is a research institute spin-off company mutually invested by Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) and Hansun Engineering Co., Ltd. on the permission of the Korean government. Our major business model is consisted of intelligent CCTV system, high-performance pan-tilt device, and thermal image analysis. Our mission is dedicating to customers' safety and future.
This study examined adult workers' conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, ... more This study examined adult workers' conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, urban region in the northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 youth workers from various organizations, affiliated with a community coalition focused on substance abuse prevention, we explored how adults viewed their role of working with youth. We were particularly interested in whether these workers saw youth empowerment and collaboration with youth for community change as part of their role. Our data suggested that while workers in this study were very supportive of youth, the support and actions they provided were on behalf of rather than with them and that, in general, partnering with youth for community change was not a part of what they envisioned their work to be. While a few of the adults attempted to work more collaboratively with youth, they were clearly in the minority.
This study examined how a community coalition, focused on prevention efforts, can aid in bridging... more This study examined how a community coalition, focused on prevention efforts, can aid in bridging resources between community organizations in a resource-deprived area. We also explored how it may serve as a venue to support significant changes to the community, adults, and youth who live there. Drawing on 18 individual interviews with adult coalition members from various community organizations, in a large, underserved city in the northeastern United States, we examined these data for narrations of the coalition's place within the broader prevention community and how the coalition may be an organizational venue for collective voice. We were specifically interested in hearing if these adult community members saw the coalition as filling a gap within their community. Our data revealed that while organizations within the community have been decimated due to reduced funding, the present coalition aided in meeting a variety of needs. These needs included the facilitation of community voice while helping to bridge resources between organizations, which would otherwise work alone. 1 INTRODUCTION Efforts to prevent youth substance use and abuse and promote powerful community change in resource strapped urban communities is a challenging undertaking. This can be attributed to, in part, limited financial and structural resources (e.g., community programs) that were once a more "plentiful" segment of the community fabric. Services in resource-deprived urban communities have, however, been stripped from low-income neighborhoods and, importantly, from the youth who need and deserve access to them (Halpern, Barker, & Mollard, 2000). In his polemic book, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, Glaude (2016) describes urban communities as "opportunity deserts" that lack sufficient organizational infrastructures to provide sociocultural resources to youth and other community members. Herein lies many of the difficulties associated with not only engaging in youth work but also
There is much in the current literature from psychology and education that would substantiate tha... more There is much in the current literature from psychology and education that would substantiate that young adoles cent girls are "at-risk." While boys and girls start their educational careers on roughly equal footing, by the time they face graduation 12 years later, girls are found to have fall en behind their male peers in any number of significant ways (American Assocation of University Women, 1992). This academic downhill slide often begins in middle school; as Sadker & Sadker (1994) point out, girls often emerge from middle school with a lowered sense of self esteem, a discouragement with school and a school per formance that does not match earlier achievements. Orenstein (1994), drawing on the American Association of University Women's study, Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America, concludes that for girls the passage into adolescence is marked by a "loss of con fidence in herself and her abilities, especially in math and science" as well as a "blossoming sense of personal inad equacy" (p. xvi). While the survey reports that African American girls retain their overall sense of self-esteem more than white or Latina girls, they are more pessimistic about teachers and schoolwork than other girls and report lower academic self-confidence. What is it in our current practices in schools that encourage this sense of inadequacy; how is it that girls who are secure in some areas of their lives cannot bring that self-confidence into school?
This paper explores the everyday enactments of new public management in our professional lives ut... more This paper explores the everyday enactments of new public management in our professional lives utilizing principles of self-ethnography. Drawing on the reworking of an Action Research class, I explore the possibilities of a contextual analysis of the workplace to make more transparent the enactment of new public management. Little is known regarding how NPM plays out on the ground in local sites and how, in interacting with the culture it creates, professionals locate themselves and their work. I offer a close examination here of our changing context to explore the techniques and forms of power of NPM in the realms of higher education as well as how we might enact a politics of refusal.
Resumo: O presente texto discute a questão da pesquisa em educação em face do compromisso polític... more Resumo: O presente texto discute a questão da pesquisa em educação em face do compromisso político de gerar conhecimentos e potencializar a transformação das práticas pedagógicas. Destaca alguns tipos de investigação que vêm sendo realizados na, sobre e com a escola e sublinha o desafio bem como a importância da realização de pesquisas com os professores, numa perspectiva de investigação-ação participativa. Traça alguns critérios de validade para a pesquisa e conclui com algumas reflexões a respeito da relevância da investigação-ação participativa envolvendo universidade e escola básica como um fator importante para o desenvolvimento profissional dos docentes. Por fim, enfatiza a narração e a etnografia como modos de os professores documentarem e repensarem suas práticas e o contexto sócio-cultural e econômico em que estão inseridos.
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