Shelley Goldman: intentional environments—good for youth?
Filed at 9:14 am on December 12, 2006 in Identity • Leave a comment
Youth who want to change the world can use some help. It’s not all self-discovery and anarchy out there and some pedagogies really are helping youth make a difference.
Do digital technologies enable youth to change the world and become active, engaged and leaders in their larger communities? My answer is yes, but they probably can’t do it alone with out the help of mentors and critical pedagogies.
During the last national election, Kelly, a college student wanted to get out the vote. She created a vote group on Facebook and sent invitations to forty friends. Within an hour the group had grown to 100, and within days it was so large she stopped checking. It was easy, fast and effective, collecting committed young voters with the touch of a keystroke.
Taken at face value, the story is encouraging about how easy technologies have made it to network and be involved in social movements.
Looking deeper, we find the story of a young person who has dedicated years to political participation. She has gone to leadership academies, run a political club and been a founder and editor of a bi-partisan political print and on line journal. She has registered people to vote on the sidewalks, worked on campaigns, canvassing door-to-door, written policy briefs for office holders, and volunteered at a national convention. She had been a member of on line political groups and received political action emails for years.
Clicking a voter group into existence on Facebook was a small, digitally supported act in an already active political life that also has podcasts and blogging on its horizon. When asked about technology Kelly says she is empowered—somewhat—but that she still needs a lot of help from people in the know if she is going to move beyond business as usual to change the world. She has to reach people far beyond who she can reach through her digital networks.
Technology makes a lot of participation possible, but young people still rely on experienced peers and adults who have intentions to help them in the learning process. Kelly’s political identity is the product of many critical literacy experiences, and many of them were learned in participation with adult political mentors and educators.
Next: Angela Booker: Participation = Power? > >
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