“…to just reach farther…” Communication, Collaboration, and Credibility- Empowering Marginalized Youth Through Learning 21st-Century Skills. Dr. Vera Jacobson-Lundeberg This study is about the role of communication and collaboration in self-empowerment and students sense of their own credibility

Equity Stance “I have also learned that the inseparable twin of racial injustice was economic injustice.” Carson/King I sought to address the inequality in society and therefore the schools, regarding economic injustice which turns into social injustice.

The Problem Statement The education system is not meeting the current demands of students and the globalized world 21st-Century Skills are invaluable for all students to succeed in both College & Career 21st Century Skills are undervalued and under-rated in the present educational system

Problem Statement II “…the best measure of opportunity is access to a good job” --President Obama 2014 “Roughly half of all young Americans arrive in their mid-twenties without skills or labor market credentials essential for success in today's increasingly demanding economy." --Pathways to Prosperity

Purpose of Education “Each child is a unique person, with unique needs, and the purpose of the educational system of this state is to enable each child to develop all of his or her own potential.” —Ed Code 33080

Literature Review Framework History of Public & Vocational Education Career & Technical Education CTE as Sustainable Reform Cultural Capital Theory 21st-century Globalized World 21st-century Skills Big body of literature so I organized it into this graphic

Literature Review Cultural Capital Theory Bourdieu 1977 Bourdieu & Passeron 1979 Anyon & Perez 2009 Lamont & Lareau 1988 Moss & Tilly 1995 Yosso 2005 Code Switching O’Neal & Ringler 2010 Bourdieu—constant reproduction of the status quo in education system system. Yosso—we all have capital—oppressed have navigational capital to negotiate power relationships within the dominant class. Yosso—”Community cultural capital”—6 types—aspiration, (resiliency), linguistic (bilingual), familial (cultural knowledge), social ((network with the community) navigational (moving thru power institutions), resistant ((knowledge and skills to survive the dominant culture) Code switching is a strategy that helps us communicate in socially and culturally appropriate ways” (O’Neal & Ringler, 2010).

21st Century Behavioral Competencies (Bancino, Trilling, Overtoom, Moss & Tilly, SCANS) Century Skills Employability Skills Academic Skills Social Skills Social skills—self control, self discipline, of physical behaviors, voice, non-verbal communication Academic skills—core academics, organizational skills, study habits Employability skills—teaming, leadership, appearance, dependable 21st C skills—communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, courage

Methodology Qualitative study— “the researcher seeks to establish the meaning of a phenomenon from the views of the participants”— Creswell 2009 Student perceptions of their experiences with 21st- century education—meaning was co-constructed by the researcher and participants “It is important to communicate because you want to know what is going on.”--April PAR, ethnographic b/c participants trusted me and knew me. Emic data—participants words. Etic data—my interpretation

Research Questions 1. What personal changes have students experienced with 21st-century competencies, namely communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, or courage? 2. How have these changes influenced the students’ personal, family, school, and/or community life? 3. How have the students comprehended, used realistically and incorporated these skills?

BUILD BUILD-- BUSINESS UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING, & DEVELOPING. An entrepreneurial afterschool intervention program that serves marginalized populations. Hybrid—9th grade in the school system then subsequent grades are off campus as an afterschool program. Social justice philosophy. The BUILD mission states, “to use entrepreneurship education to excite and propel disengaged, low income students through high school to college success”.

Research Design Pilot Study Dissertation Log Recruitment Interviews Informal Observations Participants’ Data Participants’ Journals Focus Groups BUILD stands for BUSINESS UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING, & DEVELOPING. It is an entrepreneurial afterschool intervention program that serves marginalized populations. Hybrid—9th grade in the school system then subsequent grades are off campus as an afterschool program. Social justice philosophy. Mission states, “to use entrepreneurship education to excite and propel disengaged, low income students through high school to college success”.

Participants Speak “I don’t know, they’re just kind of closed. Because it’s like, my city is low income and a lot of people don’t believe—a lot of people don’t have the motivation to succeed. And like, I don’t know how to say it. They don’t believe in themselves and they’re just like school is whack, I’m just going to go hang with my homies there. There’s a lot of violence. In the past month three people already got killed because of gang violence and not being engaged in something other than violence. It’s just like they’re closed to different opportunities that they actually have.” --Ronesha

Communication—a gateway skill Findings One Communication—a gateway skill “I have been able to present my ideas in a way to make them easily understood and to get my point across faster.” --Bobbie Freire said oppressed must fight for their own liberation so thru effective communication this liberation can be a reality Stewart said “the quality of your life is directly linked to the quality of communication.” Code Switching is natural and a tool used to achieve goals. Siena said that this is not fake as she chooses to act and speak differently depending on the occasion or her goal

Collaboration-a gateway skill Findings Two Collaboration-a gateway skill “Create stronger and better ideas for success to just reach farther” It is hard! In November the National CTE Ed Conference in Atlanta said 70% of employees that get fired is because they can’t get along . The participants shared stories of their struggles. At times they were no successful but they persisted in problem solving which is critical thinking and developed conflict resolution skills. They struggled to learn how to handle interpersonal conflicts by problem solving, setting boundaries, creating threats, ignoring others, thoughtful decision making and learning stress mngt. Realization—this is a study of human nature and human relationships

Credibility Findings Three “to make sure they understood what I was saying, and all the answers came out to what I wanted it to be. So a lot of them were understanding my point.” Bobby Unanticipated findings! Believability motivates and validates a person.--They are valued—makes them feel worthy not worthless and in turn increases their self belief and confidence. Learning to access their own power. Freire said to permanent liberate people must actively engage in dialogue to create action Communication and collaboration are tools to access power. The ability to effective comm & collab leads to credibility. To being valued and validated.

Findings These skills are not just employability skills to obtain a job. This type of sophisticated education is about human empowerment leading to dignity; teaching students how to access the power that lies within them to obtain their dignity. “…just get what you need to do done, no matter what.” Rosa Freire said oppressed populations are stifled and voiceless and without an adequate education can never access their power. Participants felt empowered by learning C & C skills that support success in college AND career which contributes to power—SELF EMPOWERMENT THRU PDE WANTING TO BE HEARD AND HEAR TO KNOW AND BE KNOWN TO UNDERSTAND AND BE UNDERSTOOD

Self-Empowerment Human Dignity Without effective C&C skills –without a voice or being heard or understood dignified treatment rarely happens.

Simply said, effective communication leads to self empowerment which creates respectful, dignified human interactions Dignity! PDE contributes to human empowerment by teaching HOW to access one’s own power! This is transformative education.

Equity, Policy, Programming Academic Development Career & Technical Development Personal Development A vision of possibilities “They first met up on Facebook or some other Chatting site and then they Can connect in reality.” Not a broken system as I originally thought but a system out of sync with a 21st-century world or a system out of balance

Where will it lead…? “It is better with a group of minds with different knowledge.--Bobby” PDE is sophisticated education centering on human empowerment that teaches students how to access the power that lies within them. “Revolution from Within” Marrying the principles of Dr. King, Freire and others---PDE is a way to liberate oppressed students They can learn to speak their truth to power while possessing basic human dignity

Recommendations Project Based Learning Longitudinal Studies Other CTE Studies Other 21st-century skills Assessment tools Teacher Training Programs “I had to be able to speak loudly and use good hand gestures so they understand what I’m trying to talk about—so that they could understand and comprehend everything that I was trying to get across to them.”--Donny PBL—curriculum design --students work in teams to solve real world problems—improves problems solving skills, research skills, and social skills Long studies—more studies where educators can view the big pic of participants success in life Other CTE Studies & other 21st century skills—CA just adopted and partnered with P21—on March 11—including a plethora of 21st century skills which need to be studied to assess and examine the worth. Assessment tools—intangible skills need multiple forms of assessment so studies in this arena need to be created. Teacher Training—create mandatory education re: PDE

One last voice… For me it’s necessary to be teaching it in school because where I come from, it’s like, its different because—well, not different—but most people are not exposed to these types of good skills that they should be having. --Ronesha

Thank you and I will now take questions. http://csueastbay-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/47488 veralee14@yahoo.com