I'm going to start this post with a disclaimer: I've never been an activist. Oh, I've attended meetings and participated in Twitter hashtags, but I've never really done anything that required commitment or real effort beyond reading up on the issues. I plan on changing that, and Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality by Ben Kirshner (link at bottom) has been instrumental in influencing me.
One of my professors lent me the book (they hadn't had the time to read it yet - this is also how I got my hands on one of Giroux's books, by the way). Because I'm deeply interested in youth activism and education inequality, I fully expected to enjoy the book, and I did. I also learned a lot about the theoretical ways to study youth activism.
One of my professors lent me the book (they hadn't had the time to read it yet - this is also how I got my hands on one of Giroux's books, by the way). Because I'm deeply interested in youth activism and education inequality, I fully expected to enjoy the book, and I did. I also learned a lot about the theoretical ways to study youth activism.
Kirshner divides the book into 3 parts: "the first section focuses on activism as a vehicle for youth development and a more just and equitable democracy....Part II of the book [focuses on] analysis of the kinds of learning ecologies that foster it [youth participation]" while the third section is an overview of the methodology.
The book is accessible and does a wonderful job of explaining the various things that youth activists have accomplished or contributed to - DREAM Act, growing support of LGBT, etc. If the book had been published a bit later, no doubt he would have also mentioned #BlackLivesMatter.
One of the things I find interesting about this book is when he focuses on the interaction between college students and high school students. While both are considered youth and may both be involved in the same movements, sometimes college students get more credit. Recognition of this has led to alliances where college students "facilitate" but otherwise don't intervene with high school students' movements. On the other hand, there may be "inter-generational" movements where the two groups work together without much of a training process.
However, the book still left me with a lot of questions about how the movements get started. How does one organize a movement or start a new chapter of an organization? In some of the case studies in the book, the movements happen spontaneously: a local high school is scheduled for closure and students react through protests. But other movements (LGBT support, DREAM Act advocacy, etc) are multi-year projects, and the book picks up somewhere in the middle. Some of the case studies later in the book indicate that college students took the initiative to contact and work with high school students. The day-to-day aspects of these alliances/organizations is analyzed, but not the beginning itself.
The only exception is the last chapter where the author sets up a graduate seminar and has his 7 student incorporate "Critical Civic Inquiry" into their teaching. Only 2 of the teachers had been teaching for more than 10 years. "The other five were in their second or third year as Teach for America fellows who opted into the course and received credit toward their Masters in Education program offered by UC-Denver." Given the negative feedback Teach for America has gotten for putting untrained students in the neediest classrooms in America, I'm surprised Kirshner relied so much on them for this last study, but that may have simply been because they were available and willing. Despite this, I really enjoyed this quote when he was explaining why he wanted to engage youth in school:
The book is accessible and does a wonderful job of explaining the various things that youth activists have accomplished or contributed to - DREAM Act, growing support of LGBT, etc. If the book had been published a bit later, no doubt he would have also mentioned #BlackLivesMatter.
One of the things I find interesting about this book is when he focuses on the interaction between college students and high school students. While both are considered youth and may both be involved in the same movements, sometimes college students get more credit. Recognition of this has led to alliances where college students "facilitate" but otherwise don't intervene with high school students' movements. On the other hand, there may be "inter-generational" movements where the two groups work together without much of a training process.
However, the book still left me with a lot of questions about how the movements get started. How does one organize a movement or start a new chapter of an organization? In some of the case studies in the book, the movements happen spontaneously: a local high school is scheduled for closure and students react through protests. But other movements (LGBT support, DREAM Act advocacy, etc) are multi-year projects, and the book picks up somewhere in the middle. Some of the case studies later in the book indicate that college students took the initiative to contact and work with high school students. The day-to-day aspects of these alliances/organizations is analyzed, but not the beginning itself.
The only exception is the last chapter where the author sets up a graduate seminar and has his 7 student incorporate "Critical Civic Inquiry" into their teaching. Only 2 of the teachers had been teaching for more than 10 years. "The other five were in their second or third year as Teach for America fellows who opted into the course and received credit toward their Masters in Education program offered by UC-Denver." Given the negative feedback Teach for America has gotten for putting untrained students in the neediest classrooms in America, I'm surprised Kirshner relied so much on them for this last study, but that may have simply been because they were available and willing. Despite this, I really enjoyed this quote when he was explaining why he wanted to engage youth in school:
public schools are guardians of the democratic promise of America. As tempting as it may be to criticize American schools,they are one of the few public goods in an increasingly market-driven and commercialized society. In order for them to realize this potential, however, schools need to become places that nurture democracy and student voice. They need to treat young people as partners in school change rather than just as targets of remediation.
However, Kirshner finds that youth become more activist when they do so outside of the classroom, yet he never provides illustrations of how such movements can begin. I find this problematic because the author is fairly clear that one of the goals of his book is to encourage more of this youth activism. He points out that when youth are involved in politics, it is usually through activism not through traditional means such as voting. He suggests at one point that youth activism works best when the youth "learn through doing."
Perhaps, but I would have appreciated more of a blueprint of successful youth activist groups at some point in the book. I'll have to check the References to see what I can find.
Meanwhile, do any of you consider yourself activists? Does anyone know how to start the process? I'm planning on joining a teach-in in Winston-Salem on July 13th. ( https://action.seiu.org/page/signup/rsvp-to-july-13-moral-monday?Source=email ) Consider coming, if you're in the area.
Link to book: http://www.amazon.com/Activism-Education-Inequality-Qualitative-Psychology/dp/1479898058
Perhaps, but I would have appreciated more of a blueprint of successful youth activist groups at some point in the book. I'll have to check the References to see what I can find.
Meanwhile, do any of you consider yourself activists? Does anyone know how to start the process? I'm planning on joining a teach-in in Winston-Salem on July 13th. ( https://action.seiu.org/page/signup/rsvp-to-july-13-moral-monday?Source=email ) Consider coming, if you're in the area.
Link to book: http://www.amazon.com/Activism-Education-Inequality-Qualitative-Psychology/dp/1479898058