Digital Media for Social Change: Helping Youth Stay Engaged in School
Study presented by Angela Booker at AERA Meeting on April 28, 2013
Educators are always on the lookout for ways to engage students, particularly those who are more likely to drop out or be pushed out of school. For Angela Booker, assistant professor of education, the key is finding ways to forge meaningful relationships between and among students and adults in and out of school.
In a study Booker will present at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco, the researcher explored how students used digital media during a summer program intended to help students move onto middle school and high school, particularly vulnerable transitions for students who may be struggling academically and socially in school.
Her investigation, conducted in partnership with bel Reyes and Kindra Montgomery-Block of the School’s CRESS Center, narrowed in on the way that young people used digital media to develop connections among their peers and the adults in the program to engage in making changes in their community.
Booker’s study draws on a three-year data set that examined when and how young people worked alongside teachers, afterschool providers, and community partners to address a community concern. More than 170 youth participated in producing one of three kinds of media projects: 1) public service announcements, 2) dramatic videos, or 3) walk audits resulting in photo-based presentations. All were intended to draw attention to opportunities for local change.
“Engaging in social justice projects can help students figure out how to develop relationships and work collaboratively with peers and adults to make change,” said Booker. “Over time, they can develop a sense of collective agency to act on the things they know and to move toward the things they value.”
More importantly, Booker argues, when students begin to feel “ownership and adult respect for their knowledge and insights, doors open to who they are, and the adults in their lives begin to reveal themselves as well.” It’s this sense of shared purpose and trust that can open the doors to learning for students who are often overlooked by the formal education system.
Booker’s findings reveal that youth participants recognized they could participate in community change and “make a difference,” but most didn’t see possible connections to their coursework. Adult staff, on the other hand, “were really conscious of how what developed over the summer could be translated into the school year,” said Booker. “Teachers said summer program participants were more willing to share, provide their points of view, and ask questions—all essential practices for learning.”
Booker and PhD student Yanira Madrigal-Garcia will present “Youth Forging School and Community Connections: Three Forms of Media Production to Generate New Access” on Sunday, April 28.
