Assignment Description
This 15 page case study research should extend a theoretical position articulated in a reading, and utilize an in-depth literature review to explore a question. With instructor approval, students will select a community arts organization, to research that addresses the question: How is theory applied in practice? The analysis should be grounded in one of the articles or approaches we study in class, or from the reference list (in other words, a published scholarly article or book), and provide examples from the program or organization you are analyzing. Students must clearly state a research question related to praxis, which is explored in the paper, and draw upon publications in established journals, books, and reports, as well as interview. It should clearly state why are you are analyzing this CBO, and contextual the organization or program (historically, or within a field of practice – ie, arts-based civic engagement, out of school time, creativity and aging, etc).
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to apply theory to practice, by examining the organization Youth Radio within the context of the youth arts, community cultural development and arts-based civic engagement fields. Youth Radio is a media production organization that trains youth in media literacy skills through work-based learning opportunities, but they do so much more than that. They help youth become active agents in the media by not only giving them access to media tools, but also the skills to leverage those tools. This is a process they refer to as converged literacy: the convergence of skills that help youth claim their right to participate in society and act as agents of their own lives. In order for Youth Radio to reach this goal, they have instilled a unique educational framework into their programming known as collegial pedagogy. This is the idea that youth and adults are not treated as teachers and students, but as colleagues with mutual respect and shared responsibility/authority. This paper looks at how Youth Radio uses collegial pedagogy to build trust between adults and youth and how that in turn fosters converged literacy. These methodoligies are described in this paper as a way to demonstrate how trust is integral to the community arts field.