Conceptualizing Identity in Youth Media Arts Organizations: A Comparative Case Study

Abstract

In this article the authors explore the relationship between concepts of identity and the purpose, process, and products of youth media arts organizations. Since the explicit mission of these organizations is to work with adolescents to explore and represent identities, the authors develop our understanding of how organizations conceptualize identity development and how these concepts shape the digital film-making process and products. In a comparative case study of In Progress (St Paul, Minnesota) and Reel Works Teen Filmmaking (New York City), organizational leaders were interviewed, and a semiotic analysis conducted of the organizations' websites and other public, printed materials. The authors analyzed the films as products of these organizations' production processes to understand how these organizations define identity and what these definitions mean for how they do their work with youth. They found two distinct conceptualizations of identity: identity as community building, and identity as individualization. Unpacking these different conceptions helps us to understand how youth media arts organizations shape the identity development process and what is made possible for participating youth. This work can also lead us to more sophisticated models of adolescent identity development, particularly for non-mainstream communities who have often been saddled with dominant cultural models that do not quite fit.Digital media spaces such as YouTube, MySpace, Ning, and Break.com have made sharing video representations of personal stories a common practice. Creating and sharing videos is now relatively cheap and easy to accomplish, but the ability to tell compelling life stories using digital media is a far more complex practice to master than skill-based mastery of digital tools alone.

Authoring Self: GED Students Transforming Their Identities in a Composition Makerspace

“…Because of the focus on composition, makerspaces offer a place for participants to create and recreate their identities alongside their compositions. Halverson, Lowenhaupt, Gibbons, and Bass (2009) found that participants experimented with different ways of being because there were limited social consequences in makerspaces. Therefore, makerspaces can provide a space for students to evaluate their current ideations in a nonthreatening, creative environment.…”

Récits numériques de jeunes ayant vécu l’exil. Identité, école et migration

“…Ainsi, elle est à la fois l'objet et l'approche pour comprendre l'identité. Une interrelation intime réside entre la narration et l'identité (Ricoeur 1990) et celle-ci peut s'intensifier durant l'adolescence (Halverson et al 2009). Cette période de transition identitaire peut être positivement alimentée par différents procédés narratifs.…”

Representation radio: digital art-making as transformative pedagogical practice in the college classroom

“…While the literature chronicling new college students' participation in digital media literacy and production activities is sparse, the literature on out-of-school media production organizations who work with adolescents aged 14-20 shows the value of these opportunities for empowering young people through digital media literacy (Halverson & Gibbons, 2010;Halverson et al, 2009;Hull & Katz, 2006;Nelson, Hull, & Roche-Smith, 2008;Soep, 2006). While the literature chronicling new college students' participation in digital media literacy and production activities is sparse, the literature on out-of-school media production organizations who work with adolescents aged 14-20 shows the value of these opportunities for empowering young people through digital media literacy (Halverson & Gibbons, 2010;Halverson et al, 2009;Hull & Katz, 2006;Nelson, Hull, & Roche-Smith, 2008;Soep, 2006).…”

“…Specifically, producing autobiographical art supports adolescents in exploring possible selves and in affiliating with traditional stigmatized identities in adaptive ways (Halverson, 2009). Furthermore, artistic production processes support both individualistic and collectivistic conceptions of identity, opening up the possibility that multiple models for development can be accommodated within the same type of instructional setting (Doerr-Stevens, 2011;Halverson, Lowenhaupt, Gibbons, & Bass, 2009), an important feature for learning environments that hope to include students from a variety of home communities and to facilitate positive developmental trajectories.…”