Search results

The number of Latinx youth in after-school programs continues to rise, yet we know little about how urban after-school programs nurture the development of Latinx youth critical consciousness. This study draws on critical ethnographic research to explore the ways in which one after-school program developed low income Latinx youth critical consciousness. Using participatory observational data, this study examined praxis (critical reflection and critical action) between January 2016 and April 2019. The data revealed (a) Latinx youth critically reflected on educational injustice within multiple school settings, practices, and policies and (b) engaged in three types of critical action to challenge oppressive educational practices and policies. This research suggests the after-school program pedagogy and adult facilitator actions nurtured the development of Latinx youth critical consciousness. This study contributes to the out-of-school time youth development scholarship by highlighting the ways after-school programs afford Latinx youth with a transformative context to develop their critical consciousness.

Latinx youth are often engaged in critical action to transform social injustices, yet we know little about the wellbeing of Latinx youth activists. This study draws on critical ethnographic research to understand the multidimensions of wellbeing that Latinx youth experienced when they engaged in critical action toward anti-immigrant politics during the Trump Era. Data collected through open-ended interviews with Latinx youth who participated in social protests revealed that (a) concepts of wellbeing need to be extensively explored for a more nuanced understanding of its characteristics, and (b) when youth engage in critical action, they experience physical and socioemotional wellbeing in distinct ways. This research contributes to the critical consciousness and wellbeing scholarship by (1) adding to the dearth of research on Latinx youth physical wellbeing and critical action, (2) theorizing nuances of physical, mental, and socioemotional wellbeing as simultaneously present during critical action, and (3) centering the voices and experiences of Latinx youth, specifically Latina youth, who have historically been omitted from the literature.