1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910797647103321

Autore

Kirshner Ben

Titolo

Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality / / Ben Kirshner

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : New York University Press, , [2015]

©2015

ISBN

1-4798-0556-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (250 p.)

Collana

Qualitative Studies in Psychology ; ; 2

Disciplina

373.1810973

Soggetti

Educational equalization - United States

Youth - Political activity - United States

Minority high school students - Political activity - United States

High school students - Political activity - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Critique and Collective Agency in Youth Development -- 2. Millennial Youth and the Fight for Opportunity -- 3. “Not Down with the Shut Down” -- 4. Teaching without Teaching -- 5. Schools as Sites of Struggle -- Conclusion -- Methodological Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

Winner, 2016 Best Authored Book presented by the Society for Research on Adolescence This is what democracy looks like: Youth organizers in Colorado negotiate new school discipline policies to end the school to jail track. Latino and African American students march to district headquarters to protest high school closure. Young immigration rights activists persuade state legislators to pass a bill to make in-state tuition available to undocumented state residents. Students in an ESL class collect survey data revealing the prevalence of racism and xenophobia. These examples, based on ten years of research by youth development scholar Ben Kirshner, show young people building political power during an era of racial inequality, diminished educational opportunity, and an atrophied public square. The book’s case studies analyze what these experiences mean for young people and why they are good for democracy. What is youth activism and how



does it contribute to youth development? How might collective movements of young people expand educational opportunity and participatory democracy? The interdependent relationship between youths’ political engagement, their personal development, and democratic renewal is the central focus of this book. Kirshner argues that youth and societal institutions are strengthened when young people, particularly those most disadvantaged by educational inequity, turn their critical gaze to education systems and participate in efforts to improve them.