Youth Voices: Youth Radio, Literacy, and Civic Engagement Open Access

Abstract

Abstract
Youth Voices: Youth Radio, Literacy, and Civic Engagement
By Keisha L. Green

This study explores the relationship among youth radio, literacy, and civic engagement. Employing ethnographic case study methodology, I examine youth radio production as one of the ways in which black youth critically engage media to resist, reinterpret, or produce counter narratives in an urban Southeastern context. Findings reveal that the youth participants learn about the history of the black radical tradition in the Southeast and develop both critical and media literacy skills that enhance their ability to evaluate, analyze, and critique media messages. Such an exercise in freedom of expression and access to media exceeds the kind of literacy learning expected in public schools where the social, economic, and material inequities further exasperate the urban public school crisis, specifically in the area of language and literacy acquisition.

This study explores the ways in which urban youth are critically engaged in sophisticated learning during pursuits beyond school walls, as they participate in the construction of new media and engage in community action. Understanding the role of urban youth in community contexts is critical to the ways in which language and literacy classroom curriculum and instruction can productively build upon the holistic competencies youth bring to schooling contexts. The examination of youth radio as a space for literacy learning and democratic education provides insight into the ways in which we can address social justice issues in language and literacy education that support multiliteracy and multicultural education outcomes inside the classroom.

Youth Voices: Youth Radio, Literacy, and Civic Engagement
By
Keisha L. Green
B.A., Columbia College
M.A., New York University
Advisor:
Maisha T. Winn, PhD.
Committee Members:
Carole L. Hahn, Ed.D.
Joyce E. King, Ph.D.
Vanessa Siddle Walker, Ed.D.
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in Educational Studies
2011

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction...1
Organization of Dissertation...4
Chapter One: Statement of the Problem...5

An Opportunity...7
Purpose and Research Questions...7
Significance...9
Definition of Terms...10
Theoretical Framework...12

Chapter Two: Literature Review...17

Literacy Learning in Out-of-School Settings...17
Media Literacy...22
Youth Radio: "Making a World for Themselves"...24
Brief History of Radio and Connection to the Black Press...26
Youth Civic Engagement...29

Chapter Three: Methodology...33

Participants...34
Setting...34
Data Sources...37
Data Analysis...41
Positionality, Reliability/Validity, Limitations...42

Chapter Four: Literacy Practiced within the Youth Voices program...45

Literacy as a Social Practice and Community-Based...46
The Literacy Practices of Youth Voices...51
Popular Education as Literacy Pedagogy...51
Literacy Learning through Critical Inquiry and Dialogue...56
"Air-shifting": Literacy in Action...57

Chapter Five: Youth Voices and Civic Engagement...62
Chapter Six: Critical Literacy, Media Literacy, and Civic Engagement Converge...81
Chapter Seven: Discussion...98
References...110
Appendix A: Youth Voices Program Proposal...119
Appendix B: Description of Summer Institute...122
Appendix C: IRB Approval Notice...123
Appendix D: Letter to Parents...124
Appendix E: Participant Chart...125
Appendix F: Draft First and Second Round Interview Protocol...126
Appendix G: Preliminary Codes...127
Figure 1...67
Figure 2...87

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Educational Studies
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Education, Teacher Training Education, Language and Literature Education, Secondary
Keyword	community-based education popular education youth voices literacy critical literacy youth radio out-of-school contexts media literacy civic engagement culture-centered knowledge
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Winn, Maisha T, Emory University
Committee Members	King, Joyce, Georgia State University Hahn, Carole L, Emory University Siddle Walker, Vanessa, Emory University

Last modified

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	Youth Voices: Youth Radio, Literacy, and Civic Engagement ()	2018-08-28 15:47:13 -0400	Press to Select an action Download

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions