Building Skills for Civic Engagement: Children as Agents of Neighborhood Change

“It Seems Like No One Cares”

“…Action-oriented photographic methods, most notably Photovoice, evolved from educator Paulo Freire's model of empowerment that suggested that education for marginalized groups needed to begin with issues of importance to their lives and communities and that these issues could be best identified and acted on through visual methods (Freire, 1970(Freire, , 1973Wang & Burris, 1997). These methods have proven effective in engaging young people in assessments of neighborhood features related to their well-being, while building civic engagement and fostering community partnerships and mentoring relationships (Dennis, 2006;Dennis, Gaulocher, Carpiano, & Brown, 2009;Gant et al, 2009;Nicotera, 2008;Walker et al, 2009;Wang, 2006;Yonas et al, 2009). These methods have proven effective in engaging young people in assessments of neighborhood features related to their well-being, while building civic engagement and fostering community partnerships and mentoring relationships (Dennis, 2006;Dennis, Gaulocher, Carpiano, & Brown, 2009;Gant et al, 2009;Nicotera, 2008;Walker et al, 2009;Wang, 2006;Yonas et al, 2009).…”

“…By providing participants with cameras and engaging in guided facilitation, participatory photographic methods aim to allow participants to share and reflect on an issue from their point of view, and promote discussion, consciousness raising, and eventually community change (Wang, 2006; Wang & Burris, 1997). These methods have proven effective in engaging young people in assessments of neighborhood features related to their well-being, while building civic engagement and fostering community partnerships and mentoring relationships (Dennis, 2006; Dennis, Gaulocher, Carpiano, & Brown, 2009; Gant et al, 2009; Nicotera, 2008; Walker et al, 2009; Wang, 2006; Yonas et al, 2009). PPM, as introduced by Dennis and colleagues (2009), is an emerging research method that integrates photography with contextual data through walk-along tours, guided discussion, and presentation.…”

Multiple Ways of Coordinating Volunteers With Differing Styles of Service

“…This reauthorization was hailed as a symbolic recognition of the importance of volunteerism across the generations by youth-serving organizations as well as gerontological societies. Articles on civic engagement and children (Nicotera, 2008), service-learning among students (Tomkovick, Lester, Flunker, & Wells, 2008;Wehling, 2008) and capturing older volunteers (Butler & Eckart, 2007;Kaskie, Imhof, Cavanaugh, & Culp, 2008) pepper the contemporary human service literature. The shifting sands of volunteerism not only include changes in vocabulary, but encompass changes in motivation, style and length of service, and the oversight of people who want to be of help (Brudney, 2005).…”

A Review of Research Connecting Digital Storytelling, Photovoice, and Civic Engagement

“…These studies relied on descriptive analyses to connect the uses of digital storytelling and photovoice to civic engagement, voice, and empowerment; youths’ perceptions of their own capacities for building community and influencing policy changes; identity formation; and learning in schools and in after school programs. Just three studies used mixed methods (i.e., pre–post interviews and focus groups) to quantify the effects of different interventions on youth perceptions of self-efficacy, agency, connections to community, and a commitment to community engagement (DeGenerro, 2008; Nicotera, 2008; Pritzker et al, 2012). That researchers have relied on qualitative methods, especially narrative research (e.g., Leitch, 2008), is not surprising given the emphasis on hearing youth voices and youths’ interpretations of their worlds based on image and text.…”