Lessons in Empowerment: The Civic Potential of Historically Grounded Conversations among Racially Marginalized Youth

Abstract

Civic education is associated with the development of democratic capacity. However, this concept is measured using a limited battery of metrics (e.g., trust in government) that do not adequately capture the political sentiments of racially marginalized youth. Drawing from conversations with Chicago high school students and their teachers, I argue that democratic capacity should comprise a broader set of attitudes and behaviors, including political empowerment and acts of public voice. In the process, I identify one pedagogical technique associated with the development of empowerment: historically grounded conversations about politics that validate students’ distrust of government. Nationally representative survey data suggests that civic learning experiences of this kind are associated with feelings of political empowerment and that empowerment is associated with multiple forms of political participation, particularly among Black and Latinx youth. Overall, this study provides a path forward for those interested in reimagining civic education in the U.S.

Supporting Civic Reasoning, Discourse, and Problem Solving That Is Political Without Being Partisan

“…For example, SEL-oriented restorative justice practices such as peace circles and exercises such as “futuring” allow youth to reimagine what equity looks like and in the process, brainstorm school, community, and societal norms that students would like to instill (Winn, 2023). Classroom practices such as historically grounded conversations also allow students to explore the antecedents of inequities affecting their cultures and communities, which in a longitudinal study, Nelson (2023) found to be associated with political empowerment across race and ethnicity. A major challenge, of course, is to provide teachers with materials and guidance that support nonpartisan engagement with and discussions of potentially sensitive topics.…”