Lessons in Adolescence
Lessons in Adolescence
Lessons with Dr. Daren Graves
This episode features a conversation with Daren Graves, Associate Professor of Education and Social Work at Simmons University and Adjunct Lecturer of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Daren’s work centers on racial identity development among youth. His most recent work is Schooling for Critical Consciousness, which shows “how schools can help Black and Latinx youth resist the negative effects of racial injustice and challenge its root causes,” a circumstance that has some particular relevance to Daren’s research focus on black boys.
Daren and Jason talk about the core features of racial identity development from the research literature, the concept of critical consciousness - plus what it means and does not mean in learning settings - the adultification of black boys and their resulting disproportionate representation in disciplinary incidents, how to best train pre-service teachers for a societal and educational landscape that is changing rapidly with respect to the racial composition of school-aged children, the intersection of racial identity development and social and emotional skill development, and the role of hip hop in the education of youth of color.
Additional Readings and Resources
- Simmons University.
- Harvard Graduate School of Education.
- Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Engaging Black and Latinx Youth in Analyzing, Navigating, and Challenging Racial Injustice, Scott Seider and Daren Graves, Harvard Education Press, 2020.
- American Educational Research Association Hip Hop Special Interest Group.
- Young, Gifted, and Black: Promoting High Achievement among African-American Students, Theresa Perry, Claude Steele and Asa Hilliard III, Beacon Press, 2003.
- Their Highest Potential: An African American School Community in the Segregated South, Vanessa Sidle Walker, University of North Carolina Press, 1996.
- Lessons in Adolescence Episode 9: Lessons with Dr. Lisa Harrison.
- Lessons in Adolescence Episode 2: Lessons with Laura Ross.
- Paolo Friere's "Banking Concept of Education" from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Bloomsbury Academic, 1968.
- CASEL Social and Emotional Learning Framework.
Dr. Graves will be giving a Youth-Nex Talk on Friday March 18th at 11 AM ET on "Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Tools to help cultivate Youth Resilience and Agency." To attend in person or virtually, please visit the event website for more information as it becomes available.
Remaking Middle School is launching a Middle School Listening Tour! If you are a parent, teacher, administrator, youth development professional, policy maker, or youth advocate of middle grade students, we would love to hear from you. Please visit http://RemakingMiddleSchool.org and click “Sign Up” for the Listening Tour.