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You
are here: Using New Educational Technologies to Empower Youth:
The Power of Youth-Adult Partnerships in e-Learning
by Gary Goldman and Barbara L. McCombs
It's time for this nation to involve and empower every young person in America to make significant contributions to their own lives and to the revitalization of their schools, neighborhoods, and communities by joining with adults, as full partners, in action to create change. America's strength as a nation has always depended on a strong education system that prepares its students to be contributing citizens and productive members of the workforce. In today's world, successfully educating all students, regardless of economic or family background, requires new levels of commitment and a call to action from every responsible member of our society.
By now, most people have realized that the world is no longer the safe, stable and predictable place that it once was. There are ever increasing and incredible changes on our nation's future horizon. What impact will this changing world have on education? How can schools prepare youth for this world? How do we provide the enrichment and empowerment they will need to be contributors in solving important world and community problems?
Today's youth represent an enormous untapped resource. Their energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and insight offer critical solutions to many pressing problems - ranging from how best to use technology in education to what is needed to create a peaceful world. The inclusion of their voices in the solutions has not only been overlooked, but we also believe youth voices have been ignored. Although many researchers and educators argue that students are central to educational reform, their views have not been included in most reform efforts. As a result, many of our current educational practices thwart the ideal of teaching to develop intrinsic motivation toward learning and subject matter knowledge. It doesn't have to be that way, and with the power of both emerging technologies and the simple notion of youth-adult partnerships, we believe youth voice must become legitimate and empowering for youth and adults.
The work of Gary Goldman and his institute have been dedicated for over 25 years to mobilize our youth nationally and worldwide by channeling the power of this generation of young people to build healthy, safe, and sustainable communities, in partnership with caring adults. He is the coauthor of, Empowering Students to Transform Schools, Corwin Press, CA. He champions our youth and is dedicated to demonstrating that all young people are very passionate about the issues that affect them and that they want to be involved in creating a better future for all in our global community. To realize this goal, Gary has developed a comprehensive and sustainable Youth-Centered Community model for urban, suburban and rural cities across America.
Barbara McCombs has worked for over 25 years to use the best research knowledge available to design new ways of motivating and engaging youth and adults in new ways of learning. Recently, this work has focused on applying the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles (APA, 1997) as a framework for designing exciting asynchronous online learning environments and new learning partnerships between students and teachers. The principles are seen as a tool for addressing reasons for student dropout, including feelings of isolation, alienation, frustration with difficulty levels, fear of failure, and lack of personal contact with instructors and peers. With the current third generation of distance learning (or e-learning) it is possible to use new and emerging technologies for two-way communication to occur regardless of distance, time, or space. With this new generation of technology there are also increases in learner control, dialog, and thinking skills.
With new educational technologies, students can be positive change agents at both the classroom and school levels. By focusing on school climate and culture, research confirms that it is possible to promote positive student learning environments and productive teacher working conditions. When implementing new technologies - if students are involved with ongoing planning and implementation of both policies and programs - schools also provide a powerful context for youth to become engaged in meaningful and relevant decision-making. In addition, when this infusion occurs, youth bring a sense of mission that positively affects youth, adults, and the entire community. Adults who experience collective action with youth report a sense of being more connected and effective in their work with youth and also demonstrate a positive change in beliefs about both the competence and motivation of youth in general.
Too often student voice is sought through the modern emphasis of accountability rather than a commitment to democratic agency. As an alternative, we suggest a transformative approach that includes the voices of students, teachers, and others involved in education to construct new ways of working together that are empowering in both process and outcome. First, students need to be involved in identifying important issues in their daily experience of schooling. Staff and students can join together in gathering data, making meaning, sharing recommendations for change with fellow students and staff, and moving these forward to the school's governing body. Second, as students begin challenging the curriculum, they can be empowered to move it away from a delivery model to a negotiated curriculum and pedagogy of joint meaning making. As this process is continued, student-induced cultural and structural changes need to be sustained by a new culture of dialogue. As a result, students will be empowered to use their ability to identify and articulate insights into curriculum practices, attitudes toward students will change, and exciting structural changes in schooling practices and adult-youth relationships will occur. The reciprocity of dialogue among students and staff then help them learn from each other. This model is transformative in its commitment to teaching and learning as a genuinely shared responsibility and as a redefinition of what it means to be a student and a teacher.
For student voice to be incorporated into the school functioning as an inclusive learning community, systems and structures are needed that allow dialogue to emerge as a central way of working. One of the challenges is not just sustainability, but the degree to which the system supports both student voice and teacher voice in a way that sustains both. Additionally, there must be a movement to construct new practices and create new ways for teachers and students to make meaning together. It is only then that schools will transform into learning communities in which the voices of students and teachers are acknowledged as legitimately differencing, of equal value, empowering these partners in dialogue about how we learn, how we live, and the kind of place we wish our school community to become.
In a recent survey of youth, we found that 92 percent of youth believe that working on volunteer projects in their own community can help change the way adults see youth. 100 percent believe that working on such projects help youth from different communities see each other differently. However, when these same youth were asked if they believe that adults know "how you really feel" about your position in society, 82 percent said "no", regarding adults in general and 79 percent said "no" with respect to their teachers. Furthermore, when asked if youth were given a true opportunity to come up with ideas about how they might deal with some of the problems facing them in modern society, as well as the resources to address these issues and assume the responsibilities that come with trying to solve such problems - 86 percent of the youth responded "yes." Significantly 100 percent also responded "yes" when asked, if given the opportunity and the vehicle - like youth-adult partnerships - could youth of different backgrounds come together to solve some of the problems they share. Again, 100% of these youth also believe that technology as it relates to the schools, can be used to really help students learn and 86 percent said they would like to have a chance to work with one or more of their teachers in helping to teach them how to use the computer in developing their lesson plans.
To realize this vision of empowering our youth with new technologies and new youth-adult partnerships that give youth legitimate voice, we believe several things are critical. The first of these is a change in attitude and a change in heart about youth and what they can contribute. Related to this is a willingness to engage in the kind of youth-adult dialogue that involves genuine respect for the views of youth. We must recognize the need for a learning environment where the opportunities for learning are not defined by the boundaries of the past, but the limits of the imagination. The following is one such example, from Gary's work through his Institute, of how a change in attitude and heart about young people produced the new youth-adult partnership paradigm that we are proposing.
In one Chicago inner-city high school, students made the decision to improve the quality of life and education for all students. They decided that this school must accept all students who wish to attend. When they began, a majority of the students performed well below the national averages at the time of admission. Thus, the school was charged with overcoming the overwhelming odds of increasing student achievement following 8 years of poor preparation. More than 65% of the student population was classified as low income, and many received public aid, lived in foster homes, or resided in institutions for delinquent children. Crime statistics in this neighborhood school were very high and life in this school community was very difficult for these students.
There was an invitation to come into this setting to work with 50 potential student leaders from all achievement levels. The students were a diverse group who needed to be constantly challenged to reach for new heights. One student in particular appeared to be uninvolved, and for a good part of the all day session, had his head down on the desk. An important part of what we do is recognize the subtle signals that students put out to determine what is really going on with them. It became obvious that he was "listening" in his own way to what was going on in the session, and thus, a decision was made to not confront him to "straighten up" but to see the unique qualities he possessed. This can only be done by having the courage to look beyond the behavior into the true spirit of young people.
When it was time for the entire student group to work on a vision for the school, "the problem student" sat by himself and made his own vision statement for the school. This is what he wrote:
A Declaration of Independence
When in the course of high school events, lots of changes go forth in our lives. We must follow our dreams, look for the unique goals in our lives. To explore the souls of our students. To give them a bright future. We want a peace of mind, a type of unity in our family. We must learn to have better communication among each other. Let success be our number one priority. Let education take us further in life. Try to be all that we might do. Let us have a form of dependability, work together, and find motivation to push forward. Give each other mutual respect, which will give us faith and self-esteem in each other.
Learning to understand one another. Our achievements. Our knowledge. Our spirit. Let us all make a sacrifice, and hope that we can trust, and believe in one another. Each and every person is likable and unique. Throughout our lives, we've had joyous times, and times of pain. Let knowledge be power and let us say, "A powerful source of leadership will rise among us!" and the spirit of our school will never vanish from our lives, but will grow for years to come."
This student's vision - supported by a unconditional adult-youth relationship - goes to the very heart of what needs to happen in our schools and communities. There is a vast potential, largely untouched among our young people, that must be recognized and tapped. We must see with new eyes. When we do, we will find that what is waiting to be discovered is the richness of the future-in our children's minds, hearts, and spirit. The change must start with all of us and we believe the time is now.
Finally, there is the need to use e-learning technologies in new ways that open the communication avenues between youth and adults on issues that are critical to all of us. As a step in this direction, we want to end this article with an invitation and a challenge: We invite you to respond to the following issues with youth, using the power of technology for an online chat. The issues we suggest to begin this dialogue are the following:
1. Youth can be trusted to make good decisions about how to use technology to enhance their own education. Adults should involve youth more in these decisions.
2. Adults know what is best for youth when it comes to how technology can be used in education. Youth should listen to adults and accept their views.
3. Youth know more about technology than adults and can be trusted to work in partnership with adults to design new ways of learning. Youth-adult partnerships are a better model for education than the current adult-dominated model.
Notes:
1 Our Institute (IQLI) is forming alliances with organizations to support our vision that encourages youth voices to be heard and engages them as partners in building a better world. One of the partnerships both authors are involved in, with other youth advocates, is an exciting new initiative, Youth Empowerment Partnerships (YEP!!!), a web portal intended to have youth impact public policy and become enlightened entrepreneurs. Contact Gary Goldman for information and dialogue: gargoldman@aol.com. Website: www.iqli.com
References:
APA Work Group of the Board of Educational Affairs (1997, November). Learner-centered psychological principles: A framework for school reform and redesign. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Goldman, Gary and Jay B. Newman (1998) Empowering Students to Transform Schools, Corwin Press, CA.
About the authors:
Gary Goldman, M.A. in Organization Development, is a nationally-recognized leader in education reform and youth empowerment and he is the coauthor of the book, Empowering Students to Transform Schools. He is President and Founder of the nonprofit International Quality Leadership Institute whose mission is dedicated to empowering students in partnership with adults as leaders, change agents, and lifelong learners for building healthy and safe communities. Mr. Goldman is also collaboratively working on a national Youth Empowerment Partnerships (YEP) utilizing the power of technology and youth/community development.
Mr. Goldman has hosted his own weekly Chicago radio show, Champions of our Children. He is currently developing a national television show dedicated to having youth voices be heard across America. You may contact Gary at GarGoldman@aol.com or view his website at www.iqli.com.
Barbara L. McCombs has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Florida State University. She is a Senior Researcher at the University of Denver Research Institute located on the University of Denver's campus in Denver, Colorado. She has more than 25 years of experience directing research and development efforts in a wide range of basic and applied areas. Her particular expertise is in the area of motivational and self-development training programs for empowering youth and adults. She currently directs a new Human Motivation, Learning and Development Center at the Denver Research Institute, which focuses on Professional Development of Educators, School Violence Prevention, Systemic Educational Reform, and Personal and Organizational Change.
Dr. McCombs is the primary author of the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles: Guidelines for School Redesign and Reform being disseminated by the American Psychological Association's Task Force on Psychology in Education. Her concept of a K-20 seamless professional development model is described in her book, published by Jossey-Bass in March 1997 and co-authored with Jo Sue Whisler, entitled The Learner-Centered Classroom and School: Strategies for Enhancing Student Motivation and Achievement. In addition, she helped create a video-supported program, And Learning for All, to inspire a new vision of American education bringing learner-centered practice to school administrators, teachers, parents, and school boards. She also created a two-video series, distributed by Phi Delta Kappa International, For Our Students, For Ourselves: Creating Learner-Centered Classrooms and Schools.
Her current research focuses on applying learner-centered principles to teacher education via emerging e-learning technologies and to violence prevention via school-based professional development strategies.
© December 2002 New Horizons for Learning
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