Negotiating reform: Young people's leadership in the educational arena

Abstract

Youth organizing within the institutional context of community-based organizations has grown exponentially. Drawing on interviews with more than eighty organizers, youth, and educators, this article examines young people's experiences as they organize to expand educational opportunities for themselves and their peers in urban school districts. The authors explore educator responses to youth organizing and analyze how race- and class-based assumptions about youth leadership, as well as differing cultural norms between schools and youth organizing groups, pose challenges for young people fighting for education reform. The authors describe three strategies youth organizing groups use to address these challenges: intensive leadership development, targeted relationship building with district administrators, and alliance building. Implications for both educators and youth organizing groups are discussed.

Student Voice for School‐Climate Improvement: A Case Study of an Urban Middle School

“…Important school climate‐related issues like discipline policy and instructional practices—issues on which students likely have opinions—may be contentious. Indeed, some youth organizers have experienced retaliation from school administrators in the form of discipline and being barred from having meetings on school premises (Christens & Kirshner, ; Shah & Mediratta, ). As a consequence, most youth organizing efforts are led by community‐based organizations (Shah & Mediratta, ).…”

“…Indeed, some youth organizers have experienced retaliation from school administrators in the form of discipline and being barred from having meetings on school premises (Christens & Kirshner, ; Shah & Mediratta, ). As a consequence, most youth organizing efforts are led by community‐based organizations (Shah & Mediratta, ). A program such as the SVP may be a first step in sensitizing school staff to the value of student voice, but, at least at Park Hill, there was some mistrust of the process on the part of administrators and thus likely limits on the degree to which team members' direct action could have effected transformational change.…”

“…The direct effects of youth organizing on settings are evident when youth are successful in addressing their target issue. In terms of public school reform, youth organizing efforts have secured additional district resources for facilities improvement, college preparatory classes, and improved high‐stakes testing practice (Shah & Mediratta, ) and have demanded a district‐wide response to violence (Warren, Mira, & Nikundiwe, ), the tracking of English‐language learners (Speer, ), and racial achievement gaps (Christens & Kirshner, ). These studies show that young people, working in concert and using community organizing tactics, can directly effect change in their school environments.…”

In the Service of Self-Determination: Teacher Education, Service-Learning, and Community Reorganizing

“…A focal point of community reorganizing is sustainability, where there is a long-term commitment to the work and a longterm strategy that considers the intersectional implications and ramifications of the work being done in the community. This is a direct challenge to the fast-track objectives of big numbers of people and policy wins that drive a lot of educational justice organizing, which is largely funded and tied to the neo-liberal non-profit industrial complex (Shah & Mediratta, 2008).…”

Youth Participatory Action Research And The Future Of Education Reform

“…Even though education policies directly affect the lives of young people, their voices are rarely valued in spaces of policymaking (Ginwright et al, 2005). However, youth can and must play an important role in debates and policy decision-making processes to advance educational equity and access (Shah & Mediratta, 2008).…”