The Critical Educators of Color Pipeline: Leveraging Youth Research to Nurture Future Critical Educators of Color

Abstract

This research study explores a teacher pipeline program intent on developing critical educators among minoritized high school students aspiring to become teachers. Critical educators typically employ critical perspectives, foreground the notion of cariño, and possess agentive qualities to create transformative learning experiences for students of color, especially in under-resourced communities. This teacher pipeline program leverages youth participatory action research (YPAR) as a pedagogy for minoritized high school students to engage in original research studying critical educators in their schools. Findings illustrate that through YPAR, young people surface key perspectives aligned with those of critical educators: the role of institutionalized racism in exacerbating the opportunity gap and the centrality of building relationships in classrooms. In the discussion, the author elaborates on how YPAR advances the pedagogy in teacher pipeline programs, promotes critical perspectives amongst secondary students, and positions these emergent teachers to envision critical educators as making a substantive difference in the lives of marginalized students. The author concludes with implications for educational leaders in P-20 settings to consider in the promotion of a critical educators of color pipeline.

What is the Role of Adult Facilitators in Critical Participatory Action Research? Employing Affective Labor While Navigating the Politics and the Perils Alongside Minoritized Youth Researchers

“…We all realized that there was too much at stake, so we begrudgingly agreed to change the course of our research project. We decided on a topic that would be more palatable to the adult decision-makers in the partnership (Lac, 2019).…”

Partnering with Current and Former Foster Youth: Current Practices and Future Directions

“…At the opposite end of our proposed continuum of harms is the transactional operationalization of youth-adult partnerships as simply a way to satisfy inclusion or diversity requirements (Hipolito-Delgado, 2023;Lac et al, 2019), resulting in the tokenization of current and former foster youth where benefits to the system are prioritized over youth needs and priorities. Moreover, when benefits to the system are identified, they often extend only to YA storytelling for child welfare workers' morale boosts or as examples of what effective casework might lead to (Bertrand & Lozenski, 2023).…”

“…Moreover, when benefits to the system are identified, they often extend only to YA storytelling for child welfare workers' morale boosts or as examples of what effective casework might lead to (Bertrand & Lozenski, 2023). These realities similarly lead to the exclusion of the myriad of other things YA can offer, such as firsthand knowledge of problems, increased agency capacity, peer mentorship, training, and more (Augsberger et al, 2019;Lac, 2019;Ozer et al, 2020). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS; 2021) found the use of YA as storytellers to be the most common way agencies partner with young people.…”

YPAR Dreams Deferred? Examining Power Bases for YPAR to Impact Policy and Practice

“…Also, YPAR can cultivate cultural and ethnic identity, such as in the “Youth Freedom Scholars” program, in which youth engaged in YPAR through African knowledge systems (Lozenski, 2016; 2019). Relatedly, YPAR promotes critical consciousness (Cammarota, 2011; Cammarota & Romero, 2011; Lac, 2019), for instance, as seen in studies of YPAR with youth involved in the juvenile justice system (Desai, 2019). In addition, YPAR can encourage youth agency and connection to social movements (Anyon et al, 2018; Caraballo et al, 2017; Cushing-Leubner & Eik, 2018; Mirra et al, 2015; Zaal & Ayala, 2013).…”