ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- Title: Youth Voice: Moving Past Tokensim and Inequitable Representation
Abstract: Youth voice initiatives are a growing trend in schools and community organizations. Research has shown that input from youth has great potential to advance social justice policy change in and beyond educational spheres. This is particularly the case when the input comes from the youth facing the most injustice, including along lines of race, disability, and language. However, two issues block this potential. First, youth are tokenized when included in formal decision-making bodies. Second, the youth whose voices are amplified are often those with the most privilege. Dr. Melanie Bertrand will discuss two of her collaborative studies that have explored these intertwined phenomena. She will discuss how a school youth leadership initiative was celebrated for the optics of the project rather than the promise of the youth’s policy recommendations. In addition, she will describe research showing the underrepresentation of Black students, students with disabilities, and bi/multilingual students labeled as English language learners in school leadership. Dr. Bertrand will then indicate possibilities for moving past tokenization and inequitable representation to leverage the potential of authentic and inclusive youth leadership.
About the Speaker: Melanie Bertrand is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies & Practice at the University of Arizona and a former K-5 teacher. Her research explores the potential of youth and community leadership to improve schools and challenge systemic racism and other forms of oppression in education. Her work pushes the educational leadership field to include youth--especially youth of color and other youth facing injustice--in expanded conceptions of leadership.
