“We're Trying to Take Action”: Transformative Agency, Role Re-mediation, and the Complexities of Youth Participatory Action Research

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to illuminate the complexity of youth participatory action research (YPAR) through the use of two concepts: (1) transformative agency, a collective initiative to address conflicts and contradictions in activity systems, and (2) role re-mediation, the disruption of power relations. We demonstrate that these concepts, in comparison to the concept of civic participation, allow for an expanded consideration of the cross-contextual processes that are involved in collective mobilization to enact justice. To explore this area, we examine an afterschool YPAR program involving the adult authors and youth of color with intersectional identities—including emergent bilinguals and youth perceived as struggling academically. We illustrate three avenues of transformative agency and role re-mediation within the YPAR program: (1) engagement with critical fiction and non-fiction texts that expose power relations; (2) interactions between individuals within and beyond the YPAR space; and (3) production and dissemination of knowledge. Through this exploration, we illustrate how the lenses of transformative agency and role re-mediation can provide new understandings of change-oriented action in YPAR.

Funding

We thank the Spencer Foundation for supporting this research.

Acknowledgments

We offer our sincere thanks to the anonymous reviewers, whose commentary greatly enhanced this article. We also thank the youth in the YPAR program for helping us grow as people and scholars.

Notes

1. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual

2. The term “emergent bilingual” refers to students who are fluent in (at least) one language and are learning English. When referring to official classifications, we use the term English anguage learner or ELL.

3. The terms Black, Native, and White were used by the youth to describe themselves.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melanie Bertrand

Melanie Bertrand is an assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. Her research examines possibilities for youth of color to be included in educational leadership in order to further social justice goals and challenge systemic racism in education.

E. Sybil Durand

E. Sybil Durand is an assistant professor of English Education in the Department of English at Arizona State University. Her research examines representations of youth of color in young adult literature and how students and teachers engage such texts.

Taucia Gonzalez

Taucia Gonzalez is an assistant professor in the department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research examines opportunities for dual language learners with learning disabilities to learn within literacy communities and teacher preparation for equity and inclusion at the intersection of language and ability differences.