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BackgroundEducating children and young people (CYP) from marginalized communities about environmental crises poses a unique dilemma as educators strive to prepare them to deal with the climate crisis without compounding the stressors and fear of an unlivable future many already face. We explored how place‐based civic science (PBCS) can provide opportunities to engage youth in environmental understanding and action through teamwork in which youth feel that they belong to a group larger than themselves and gain a sense of hope from working with others toward shared goals. We argue that combining PCBS pedagogies of collective action and collaborative learning spaces can help to buffer against distress as CYP grapple with global environmental crises. MethodsWe drew from qualitative responses (student reflections and public presentations) of 486 6–12th graders (majority students of color) on what they learned from participating in PBCS projects. Projects involved egalitarian partnerships between adults from environmental organizations, teachers and student teams studying and acting together to mitigate problems and presenting their efforts in public venues. ResultsStudents’ qualitative responses revealed an identification with their team and its goal forged through the work, respect for their voice, belief in their capacity and confidence to take collective action and even enjoyment of working together to address community concerns. ConclusionsPBCS through collective learning/action in student teams and nonhierarchical intergenerational partnerships, and connections that CYP forge with organizations in the broader community, can help to build CYP’s agency and efficacy while addressing “emotionally heavy” issues such as climate change.
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Community-Driven Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing
This article calls for careful, calculated, community-driven co-design of mobile and ubiquitous solutions to bridge the gap in financing and capacity of marginalized communities as they battle for the safety and health of their members. Communities across the globe face incredible challenges to preserve their environment, lifestyle, prosperity, equality, and even democracy. In the past five years, the urgency of multiple global crises, including climate degradation that causes extreme weather and shatters ecosystems and the COVID-19 pandemic that caused a global health crisis and economic upheaval, has threatened an already delicate balance. However, the impacts of these events are uneven - vulnerable, low-income, and marginalized communities have borne the brunt of many of these crises, not having the infrastructure or capacity to address every single gap.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2209226
- PAR ID:
- 10520170
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications
- Volume:
- 27
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2375-0529
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 5 to 9
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3631588.3631590
