Lights on Afterschool Celebration Event

 The event I attended was the Lights on Afterschool Celebration. It was held on Remo which is a cool online video platform. For the first thirty minutes of the event everyone mingled at different virtual tables with labels such as advocacy, camp, etc. I was confused on how to navigate it at first but once I learned it was really cool and engaging to be able to table hop virtually and speak with different people about different topics. After we mingled the host Ayana introduced several guest speakers throughout the event. There were a few organizations that I was not too familiar with but learned more about. The first organization was Equity working groups. Their goal is create more equitable programs. They critique lesson plans and make them fair. One thing one of the speakers said was "Make time for the work.. Can't find time...Make time" and I really liked that because sometimes we get busy, have a busy/full schedule and feel like we don't have time for anything else but when you want something so bad and are passionate about it you can and will make the time for it. 

The second organization that I thought was very creative and involved is the PVD young makers. The speaker Keith said "Students deserve not just a seat at the table but a seat the decision making table" and I couldn't agree more. It's so important for young people to not only be able to express their wants and needs but to be able to put that to action and be apart of the conversation and change. It's important for youth to be able to help make decisions especially when it could affect them. One of their goals is to grow a community together through making. Together they made t-shirts and pins/badges to support the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement. Through intergenerational collaboration (people of different generations sharing talents and resources and supporting each other in relationships that benefit both the individuals and community) they teach technical, artistic, design skills and so much more.  He also stated that the students teach them and they teach the students and I thought that was really important as well. Just because you're the teacher doesn't mean you know everything or share the same perspective as someone else. It's nice when you're able to share ideas and see what others think/know, you can learn a lot. 

Lastly, the organization ARISE is the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education. Their mission is to prepare, promote and empower Rhode Islands Southeast Asian students for educational and career success. Something the speaker talked about that stood out to me was her talking about POLICE FREE SCHOOLS. Arise and two other organizations actually started "PASS"  The Providence Alliance for Student Safety. They started PASS to fight for safe and healthy schools that treat youth with dignity and respect. They want all school resource officers removed from Providence schools. They want Provide schools to hire health and safety staff focused on alternative measures of conflict resolution. They also want to increase the number of support staff in school. Below is the link for more details regarding PASS and their reasoning for wanting police/security officers removed from schools. 

These organizations connect to Youth Development in many ways. For one YDEV is a very creative space where when we are in person we have activities where we create/make things and connect with each other. In YDEV we teach each other and learn from one another. The students lead with the teachers. We are a community just like the organizations listed above. Our Anchors are Care, Identity, Advocacy & Social Justice and Leading With. These organizations represent all those anchors in different ways. All of the organizations listed above offer so much and are really great. 

PVD Young Makers - https://pvdyoungmakers.com/making-and-learning/

Arise - http://www.ariseducation.org/strategic-plan

Learn more about "PASS" - https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/counselors-not-cops-policefreeschools?fbclid=IwAR1XDUuM-aRH6eyyprNB3UWvg1tCskUNzJZxMDMS-ngr3oae6LYnJgu6AMA

YOUTH WORK IS... CARE

Before doing the readings I understood care in education and Youth Development as caring for all students equally. To understand and get to know all of your students. When I say understand, I mean to genuinely try to understand your student, where they come from, their life/ background, where they struggle, their needs and how they learn best, so you can care for them and support them the best way possible. To encourage and push youth to succeed and support them along the way. To provide them with basic needs. To show them warmth, love, attention and support. To accommodate all your students needs. To look after and protect youth, etc. For this post I chose quotes from "Nice is Not Enough" by Sonia Neito and "Dear White Teachers: You Can't Love Your Black Students if You Don't Know Them" by Bettina Love. 

"A warm, friendly, helpful teacher is nice but it isn’t enough. We have plenty of warm friendly teachers who tell the kids nicely to forget their Spanish and ask mommy and daddy to speak to them in English at home; who give them easier tasks so they won’t feel badly when the work becomes difficult; who never learn about what life is like at home or what they eat or what music they like or what stories they have been told or what their history is. Instead, we smile and give them a hug and tell them to eat our food and listen to our stories and dance to our music. We teach them to read with our words and wonder why it’s so hard for them. We ask them to sit quietly and tell them what’s important and they must know to get ready for the next grade. And we never ask them who they are and where they want to go." 

This quote stood out to me because I feel like as a teacher you shouldn't focus on what is going to be easier for your students, you should focus on what it going to challenge them and if they struggle with it, you should assist them. As a teacher you're not helping your students by giving them easy work because you feel bad, you're only allowing them to stay stuck or fall behind. It's also important to understand your students history and where they come from so you can best accommodate them and support them. You shouldn't try to change the child's at home language or how they speak. How can you "care" for your students but not get to know them? or challenge them? or understand them and their needs and support them? A smile and a hug is nice but thats not all the students need. 

                       

Even as we purport to care about all students equally, we also often tolerate policies in our districts and schools that harm students of color, especially those who are poor and those for whom English is a second language: unequal resources, punitive high-stakes testing, and rigid ability-group tracking are some key examples."

How can you care for your students, specifically your students of color if you are not challenging the policies in your school and district that are affecting students of color, who are poor and students whom English is their second language? Some teachers may feel like the policies is above their job and they shouldn't try to change it or care but they should. It affects their students and if you "care" about "all" your students you should try to dismantle the system and fight for new policies that support ALL students EQUALLY. Also, to make sure that all students have the same resources and access to additional support. 

"Future teachers should be required to take classes such as African studies, African-American studies, Latinx studies, Caribbean studies, Chicana/o studies, Asian and Southeast Asian studies, and Native American studies."

I feel like all teachers especially teachers without an understanding of other cultures and languages should have to take the courses listed above. Taking those courses may be a start to understanding and learning about it but even taking those courses would not be enough if you're not genuinely trying to understand your students and their culture/history. In addition to taking the courses I think teachers should have to volunteer or intern in urban communities to understand the challenges you may face teaching in that environment and how under resourced it is. 

I loved both articles. I think they were both very informative and eyeopening. I had similar views on what care in Education and Youth Development looked like but these articles definitely expanded my views. I think these articles did a great job breaking down what care really looks like in Educational settings. Care is so much more than smiling with and hugging your students.

YOUTH WORK IS... SOCIAL JUSTICE

Rhode Island for Community & Justice is a social justice nonprofit dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism and promoting understanding and respect among all races, religions and cultures through advocacy, conflict resolution and education. "It is our purpose to transform communities to be more inclusive and just by empowering people to lead institutional change. We are the voice that calls people to common ground, with respect for differences but with the understanding that people of all backgrounds have common values and needs that unite them."

Through their adult and youth programming, RICJ works with students, teachers, clergy, corporate and civic leaders to facilitate workshops, develop curriculum, convene race relations and inter-religious dialogues, and provide consulting on challenges related to bias, bigotry and racism. Our current focus on youth programs and juvenile justice reforms is due largely to the organizations belief that today's teens are tomorrow's leaders, and through them is the only way to create long-lasting positive change in our communities.

After exploring the RICJ website I've learned so much about their organization and what they do/offer. This organization offers three types of programs. The programs offered are Youth Empowerment, Justice & Policy Reform and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Trainings. What I love most about their programming and organization is how much they value youth and their voice. They have several high school students who are youth coordinators for their organization which I think is very powerful! That tells me that they take the opinions and thoughts of young people seriously. I think this program is a great model of Social Justice Youth Development because within this organization both youth and adults work together to change/better the community and systems. Something I really liked about their organization is that they have a Youth Empowerment program where their youth leaders learn facilitation skills and work to build understanding across lines of differences in their communities. Reading about that program made me think of YDEV and how I feel empowered in YDEV spaces and how within my classes i'm learning the same skills. 

YOUTH WORK IS... A PHILOSOPHY

"Positive Youth Development is a child-centered and asset-based approach to youth development (Pittman, et al., 2003), with adults acting as facilitators and coaches. Practitioners of this ideology believe that youth work programs should help children and adolescents further develop their strengths and interests (Pittman, et al., 2003). In this frame, young people are situated as individuals with emotional, physical, academic, moral, and social potential (Walker et. al, 2011)."

- This approach resonates with me because I am a firm believer in supporting youth to further develop themselves. Youth have so much potential, sometimes all they need is guidance. I feel as though sometimes adults underestimate the true capacity of young people by focusing on their deficits instead of their developmental potential. Adults acting as facilitators and coaches play a huge role in youths development. Not only do they develop their physical skills but their emotional and social skills by interacting with their peers and teammates. Engaging with their peers helps them feel connected as a community and together they explore their interests and gain knowledge of others strengths and experiences.

“The kids are playing games -- they are leading games, and they are laughing and learning.  Everyone knows each other’s names.  And I saw one coach pull a kid aside and ask how his grandmother was feeling now that she is out of the hospital. I was a competitive basketball player in high school.  Our practices didn’t look like this at all.  I remember being yelled at by my coaches, and we did a lot of challenging and repetitive drills, over and over until we ‘got it right.’  I thought sports were for people who could grit through the pain, and come out on top.  This wrestling program is so different.”

- Through observations and purposeful play activities I realized that there are multiple ways to construct learning spaces for youth. Before taking Ydev classes and engaging in purposeful play activities I viewed youth spaces very differently. Even from visiting some youth spaces on my own I would always witness the adults being in control, the children having no say and feeling isolated. More programs need to engage in students in a way where they laughing and learning. All programs should care for their students and check in on them to see if they're doing okay. You need more adults in youth spaces that really value and respect the children's thoughts and opinions and take them into consideration when planning activities. It's nice as a young person to be able to go to a youth space or program and be able have fun while learning. It's nice to be able to talk to the adults within the program about what's going on outside of the program and know that someone cares about you and your well-being. Also, I get sometimes coaches may get frustrated with their players but there are other ways to get through to them then yelling at them. I see coaches yelling at their players way too often and all it does it make it worse. I think encouraging words would actually motivate the players to do better and they may hold on to the words or motivation.

"Learning happens when youth are motivated to engage in experiences that allow them to create their own knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live."

- I feel like as a young person its hard to become motivated and engage in learning when you're not allowed to form your own thoughts and opinions. I feel it's most effective to encourage youth to contribute their thoughts and opinions. When I am in any learning space and am allowed to create my own understanding and interpretation of something I feel valued. When students are able to incorporate real-life connections into lessons they will be more engaged in learning because they are able to use their voice and form connections. Youth are active participants in building their own understanding. They do this by experimenting and observing. Youth are naturally going to find reasons and generate explanations for why things occur. You want to enable students to understand, participate in, and make informed decisions about their world. If young people are given the tools and training to understand and activate within democratic structures, they can contribute in powerful ways.