“I Want to Know About Everything That’s Happening in the World”: Enhancing Critical Awareness Through a Youth Participatory Action Research Project With Latinx Youths

Abstract

Through a yearlong, qualitative ethnographic study that incorporated a youth participatory action research project, this research identifies and documents the learning outcomes achieved when core principles of critical pedagogy are brought into practice with urban Latinx youths to develop critical awareness. Analysis reveals three themes around how critical awareness was raised: attention to current events, an ethic of care, and challenging traditional curricula.

Key words:

• critical awareness
• Latinx youths
• transformative teaching
• urban communities
• youth participatory action research (YPAR)