ERIC Number: EJ820436
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1467-9620
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Available Date: N/A
"There's Still Not Justice": Youth Civic Identity Development Amid Distinct School and Community Contexts
Rubin, Beth C.
Teachers College Record, v109 n2 p449-481 2007
Qualitative research describing and theorizing about the emerging civic identities of diverse youth is scarce. This study provides a textured view of how civic identity is constructed and negotiated by racially and socioeconomically diverse adolescents, based on interviews and in-class discussions conducted with students in four public secondary schools. Youth living in distinct contexts come to school-based civic education with varied understandings--shaped by disparate daily experiences--of what it means to be an American citizen and a participant in the civic life of a democracy. This investigator's examination of diverse adolescents' discussions of their in-school and out-of-school civic experiences suggests a "typology" of civic identity that runs counter to prevalent views of the civic engagement of urban, minority youth. The study illustrates sharp disparities in daily civic experiences of youth from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, and suggests that schools can either hinder or encourage development of engaged, action-oriented civic identities among students from various contexts.
Descriptors: Qualitative Research, Citizenship Education, Socioeconomic Background, Socioeconomic Influences, Racial Differences, Citizen Participation, Political Attitudes, Adolescent Attitudes, Interviews, Classroom Communication, Social Experience, Democratic Values, Personality Development, Urban Youth
Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
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