Uneven youth resistance across uneven school contexts

Abstract

This postcard compares youth resistance across classroom contexts. It draws from a two-year ethnography of the East Oakland Step to College (Step) program, which prepared underserved African-American and Latina/o youth to enroll in four-year universities, while nurturing students’ sensibilities to fight for social justice. Students were highly engaged in Step classes and resisted inequities in transformative ways such as engaging in protest marches and public testimonies, disseminating critical youth-led research, and going to college to gain knowledge and skills to empower their home communities. In sharp contrast, the same students resisted in self-defeating ways in their non-Step classes. This postcard illuminates the range in youth resistance, and the powerful role of classroom teachers as transformational mentors.

Keywords:

• college access
• critical pedagogy
• culturally relevant pedagogy
• youth resistance

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the Step teachers and youth, and to the co-editors, anonymous reviewers, friends and family who provided feedback.

Notes

1. Names of people and institutions are pseudonyms.