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| Source: www.mesacc.edu |
By Sam Piha
According to the Afterschool Alliance, “The afterschool field is an essential partner in ensuring that all children have the ability to participate in immersive, relevant, and hands-on civic engagement opportunities.” Not only are civic engagement strategies participatory strategies, they contribute to the positive development of youth and the health of our democracy.
We are continuing to post a series of blogs to inform and encourage expanded learning programs to start today infusing civic engagement and activism in their afterschool program. NOTE: There are many program resources on the topic, some of which are detailed in our paper, Youth Civic Engagement and Activism in Expanded Learning Programs. You can view part 1 of this series here. We also held a webinar on this topic which can be viewed here.
In part 2 we offer definitions to a number of terms that are commonly used in relation to youth civic engagement and activism.
Activism - “Youth activism is used to describe youths which are engaged in community organizing for social change. Young people engaged as activism planners and leaders in the environmental movement, social justice organizations, as well as anti-racism and anti-homophobia campaigns.”1
Adultism - “Adultism is the assumption that young people are inferior to adults simply because of their young age. Adults often act on this assumption by limiting our access to decision-making, information, resources, human rights, and opportunities to voice our thoughts.”2
Agency - “Youth agency is the desire and ability of young people to make decisions and drive change—in their own lives, in their communities, and in their larger spheres of influence. Agency allows young people to become the architects of their own future.”4
Here’s what young people need to unlock their agency: 5
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| Source: https://iyfglobal.org/youth-agency |
Authentic Learning - “Authentic learning is an instructional approach that places students at the heart of real-life experiences. Armed with a challenge to address, a task to be handled, or content to explore, students develop academic and problem-solving skills in a context that is relevant to the learner.”6
Civic Engagement - Civic engagement encompasses a wide range of actions and behaviors that improve communities and help solve problems. “Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.”7
Community Service - “Community service is work done by a person or group of people that benefits others. It is often done near the area where you live, so your own community reaps the benefits of your work. You do not get paid to perform community service, though sometimes food and small gifts, like a t-shirt, are given to volunteers. Community service can help any group of people in need: children, senior citizens, people with disabilities, English language learners, and more. It can also help animals, such as those at a shelter, and it can be used to improve places, such as a local park, historic building, or scenic area as well. Community service is often organized through a local group, such as a place of worship, school, or non-profit organization. You can also start your own community service projects.”8
Equity - Equity is often confused with equality. “Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”9
Meaningful Contribution - “When we talk about contributing, it’s not just about being kind or volunteering here and there (although both are important). It refers to “contributions of consequence”—actions that have substantial benefits to others that help to reach a shared goal. This type of contributing involves not simply taking a single action but playing an important role within a group—whether it’s a family, school, or community.”11
Sanctuary - “Youth descriptions of sanctuary often went a step beyond what is commonly referred to as psychological safety, which is defined as feeling comfortable enough to take interpersonal risks; that is, a state in which people feel confident to express their views or make mistakes. A protected space may be considered psychologically safe, and this may be an important component of sanctuary. However, an affirming space does not simply lack physical or psychological danger. Rather, youth were often quick to note that aspects of their identity are celebrated (not just tolerated) in these spaces.”12
Service Learning - According to Vanderbilt University, service learning is defined as: “A form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves.”13
Social Capital - “The central premise of social capital is that social networks have value. Social capital refers to the collective value of all “social networks” [who people know] and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other [“norms of reciprocity”]. The term social capital emphasizes not just warm and cuddly feelings, but a wide variety of quite specific benefits that flow from the trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks. Social capital creates value for the people who are connected and – at least sometimes – for bystanders as well.”14
Social Justice - Social justice promotes fairness and equity across many aspects of society. “Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities.”15
FOOTNOTES:
1 Educationchoices.com, Youth Activism, https://www.educationchoices.com/Learning-terms/Youth-activism.htm
2 Youth on Board, What is Adultism?, https://www.youthonboard.org/adultism
3 NPR, How Indiana Teens Find Resilience During COVID Pandemic, https://www.npr.org/2021/06/12/1005833489/how-indiana-teens-find-resilience-during-covid-pandemic
4 International Youth Foundation, What is Youth Agency?, https://iyfglobal.org/youth-agency
5 Ibid
6 Lexia, Creating Authentic Learning Experiences in the Literacy Classroom, https://www.lexialearning.com/blog/creating-authentic-learning-experiences-literacy-classroom
7 Youth.gov, Civic Engagement, https://youth.gov/youth-topics/civic-engagement-and-volunteering
8 Christine Sarikas, Definition: What is Community Service?, https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-community-service
9 Milken Institute School of Public Health, Equity vs. Equality: What’s the Difference?, https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/
10 Shawn Ginwright, The Future of Healing: Shifting from Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement, https://ginwright.medium.com/the-future-of-healing-shifting-from-trauma-informed-care-to-healing-centered-engagement-634f557ce69c
11 Meghan Lynch Forder, What Teens Gain When They Contribute to Their Social Groups, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_teens_gain_when_they_contribute_to_their_social_groups
12 Thomas Akiva, Roderick L. Carey, Amanda Brown Cross, Lori Delale-O'Connor, Melanie R. Brown, Reasons Youth Engage In Activism Programs: Social Justice Or Sanctuary?, http://remakelearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/2017AkivaCareyCrossDelaleBrown.pdf
13 Heather Wolpert-Gawron, What the Heck Is Service Learning?, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-heck-service-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron
14 Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone, http://robertdputnam.com/bowling-alone/social-capital-primer/
15 The San Diego Foundation, What is Social Justice?, https://www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news/what-is-social-justice/
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