Abstract
Across the United States, researchers and youth workers alike have identified an increasing number of civically engaged youth who are organizing to improve their communities and schools. By taking an action-oriented approach, these youth are speaking back to the notion that they are uninvolved in society. This interview-based study explores the meaning-making experiences of youth organizers at Boston’s Hyde Square Task Force (HSTF) to better understand how they engage. Findings suggest that HSTF is engaging two broad groups of youth by focusing on both their personal development and their sense of community awareness. The study introduces an organizing model of youth engagement at the HSTF and calls on educators to consider organizing as an effective approach to civic engagement.
Response to this Article
Ben Kirshner, Learning in Youth Organizing
Recommended Citation
Mira, M. L.
(2013).
Pushing the Boundaries: What Youth Organizers at Boston's Hyde Square Task Force Have to Teach Us About Civic Engagement.
Democracy and Education,
21
(1), Article 2.
Available at:
https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol21/iss1/2
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, Other Education Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons