Social Capital & Social Justice through Positive Youth Development

Indiana Youth Institute Advancing Equity Summit

Dr. Nia Imani Fields3/2021

Who am I?

What words come to mind when you hear…

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Next Steps & other Resources

What’s the Difference?

The Realties of COVID19…

• An accelerator of inequity

• A widening opportunity gap is leaving millions of youth behind

• Trauma and emotional distress will have negative effects on their ability to learn and mental health

Why PYD is Designed for a Crisis• The challenges of the

Great Depression helped shape 4-H positive youth development

• PYD emphasizes the whole child, not activities alone

• It provides buffering relationships and supportive contexts

• It supports and enhances existing youth assets

-National 4-H Council

“Educators have a responsibility to be aware of the disparities that exist both within our programming and in society. This is critical, because educators who aim to develop youth without acknowledgmentof and response to a young person’s possible societal inequities, are in fact perpetuating injustice.”

acknowledge inequity,

identify internal organizational & societal practices that are causing inequities, and

enact changes in organizational structures & outreach to contribute to social justice.

Educators have a responsibility to…

Social Capital

It is plausible to consider the value of social capital in the context of ‘solving problems’ partly attributed to social injustice.

Catts and Ozga (2005) also posit that social capital can be used as a “resource that combats social exclusion” (p.1).

Youth that have social capital are better able to navigateand negotiate the myriad barriers and challenges that stem from social injustice (Fields & Nathaniel, 2015). This ability is due in part to having stronger community connectionsand reliable, stronger adult allies.

Access to capital, “is not equally available to all members of society of a given community” (Calvert. M., Emery, M. & Kinsey, S., 2013, p.5). In fact,

some youth lack the social capital necessary to thrive in adulthood. Putnam (2000) asserts “in areas where social capital

is lacking, the effects of poverty…are magnified, making life much worse for children and adults alike” (p. 317).

University of Minnesota Social Capital Educational Model

Social Capital Framework

What’s one way your program develops social

capital (networks, trust, engagement,

efficacy/agency)?

Social Justice Youth Development (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2002)

Social Justice Youth Development

Critical Experiential Learning Model

How could you put this

into practice?

Fields, 2016

PYD as a conduit to Social Justice

Tools to combat Social

Injustice

Culturally Relevant

PYD

Social Capital

Experiential Opportunities

steeped in Service

Let’s focus on 4 questions…

1. How are you identifying and including diverse voices of history, theories, and experiences in your programs and teaching materials?

2. Through what processes are you recognizing, identifying, and reacting to learning environments that are predominately and historically filled with dominant cultures?

3. Have you created opportunities where youth and the community are intentionally involved in program planning and evaluation?

4. How do you invite, welcome, engage, and recognize the achievements of diverse youth? Are there barriers to engagement and recognition?

Step

1

Break into groups of +/- 5 and share & offer feedback. Success? Voids?

Step

2

Group Discussion: Let’s hear some reflective thoughts.

Dr. Nia Imani FieldsNfields@umd.edu

Calvert, M., Emery, M. & Kinsey, S. (2013). Issue Editors’ Notes. In M. Calvert, M. Emery, & S. Kinsey (Eds.), New directions for youthdevelopment (pp. 1-8). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Damon, W. (2004). What is positive youth development? American Academy if Political and Social Science, 591, 13-24. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.Ginwright, S. & Cammarota, J. (2002). New terrain in youth development: The promise of a social justice approach. Social justice, 29(4), 82-

95.Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into Practice (34)3, 160-165. Ladson-Billings, G. (2006). From the achievement gap to the education debt: Understanding achievement in U.S. schools. The Educational

Researcher, 35(7), 3-12.Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J, et al. (2012). The positive development of youth: Report of the findings of the first eight years of the 4-H study of

positive youth development. Massachusetts: Tufts University.National 4-H Headquarters. (2015a). 4-H National Headquarters Update. Retrieved from

http://nys4h.cce.cornell.edu/resources/Documents/4-H%20National%20Headquarters%20Update%20-%20Spring%202015.pdf National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Universities. (1999). Returning to our roots: The engaged institution. Kellogg

Commission.Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of the American community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.