The Article

Assistant Professor Ernest Morrell describes in this article an outreach seminar called “Education, Access, and Democracy in Los Angeles: L.A. Youth and Convention 2000,” in which he helped lead 30 students in college-level research focused on the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

Discussion

The four-week seminar was established as a collaborative between UCLA’s Institute for Democracy Education and Access and the Los Angeles Basin Initiative, a University of California-wide outreach project targeted at students attending schools that produce few eligible applicants for admission to University of California institutions. The seminar was designed to advance the development of academic and critical literacy in Los Angeles urban youth and was attended by students who were all entering their senior year in high school. The program gave these students the opportunity to demonstrate to university faculty their capacity to engage in meaningful, college-level work. During the first two weeks, the students received background information on critical research, political conventions, and the key issues affecting participants inside and outside of the convention. Students had the opportunity to write extensively every day in the form of journals, interviews, surveys, and lecture and field notes. They also engaged in critical and meaningful dialogue with seminar leaders and participants. In addition to the opportunities to engage in upper-level writing and critical conversations, students acquired college-level research skills by relating theory to research design, conducting interviews and reading various forms of data. During the third week, they participated in the convention as well as visited the Shadow Convention and protest area. In the final week, the students returned to UCLA where they began data analysis and prepared to present their findings to a university faculty panel, community leaders, high school teachers and family members. In their presentations, the students were able to develop and draw upon existing expertise in ways that led to meaningful and critical awareness of social issues. Many expressed a vested interest in conducting research and felt that it mattered to their lives and community. As a result, the students were more willing to put in the extra effort and obtain what Morrell described as “extraordinary results that hold powerful, yet promising implications for all who are connected with urban students and urban issues.”

What It Means to You

Morrell provides insight into so-called “written off” students who were stimulated to a higher level of learning.  Do teachers in your district challenge these students or give up on them? How can your district use these more nontraditional forms of instruction to energize and engage students to reach higher levels of learning and understanding.

For More Information

Morrell, E. (2001). In Their Words, For Their Worlds: Academic and Critical Literacy Development in a High School Urban Studies Seminar. Center X Forum, 6-7. You can find the article online  at http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/democracy/teachers/labi.html.

< back to 2002 ed-research reports