[staff] Prensky on bringing youth into the educational design process
I was recently forwarded an article by Marc Prensky, a writer in the EdTech field famous (or to some, infamous) for coining the term "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants". Regardless of the helpfulness of this dichotomy, Prensky has views that often challenge educators to question their assumptions and was writing about things like games-based learning back in 2001, when there were far fewer voices on a subject that has now caught on.
In the article, titled "Young Minds, Fast Times", Prensky talks about the importance of bringing youth into the room when discussions about educational reform are happening. He makes very good points about both youth empowerment and how to create relevant educational design, but at the same time, I think his piece misses a lot about how youth voice really works when it comes to education.
When I first came to GK, I remember being handed a paper on youth-based program evaluation, and going to meetings at foundations where youth were not only invited, but actually involved in the process of discussing how projects they engaged with were designed. And throughout my time here, I've become familiar with what it means to run an organization based on the principle that youth need to have a place at the table during important discussions. I ran a digital media youth advisory for 3 years, an entity in place to advise MacArthur Digital Media and Learning grantees on a variety of issues from questions of ethics to consulting on curriculum development. GK has multiple youth on its board of directors, and I've worked with dozens of youth on projects where they engage their peers in educational activities.
One of the things that I've learned over the course of doing this work is that genuinely incorporating youth voice is not as simple as Prensky's readers might make it out to be, nor will it be a panacea for the problems that plague the world of education if it's not viewed in the appropriate context or conducted in the right way. For example, educators often invite young people to conferences they're holding based on a desire to have youth voices present, but then fail to incorporate age appropriate structures in which they can express those voices. Teens sit in lectures, as bored as they are in school, and are not really listened to.
Others assume too much of the capacities and context that youth come to the table with. Eszter Hargittai writes a lot about some of the conceptions people have about "digital youth", countering the idea that somehow by virtue of their age they're endowed with complete knowledge of the the digital world. More importantly, from an educational perspective, they often lack an awareness of what kinds of skills are important to have in the world, or even a sense of when they're learning or gaining skills. This is not to say that they can't have these perspectives, just that we shouldn't assume that they do.
And all of this isn't to say that Prensky is wrong to encourage people to bring youth into the conversation. He isn't. Youth voices are critical, do often bring an enormous amount to the table, and their presence can change the problematic power dynamic that's often in play in the educational world. However, involving youth can't be just be something that's tacked onto a larger process and done in an unconsidered way. Doing it right requires time and foresight, as well as training for youth involved so that they understand themselves and the educational process better. If that's done, then the overall conversation can actually benefit from their presence. If not, it's at best a well intentioned waste of energy and at worst an exploitative act done in an effort to seem inclusive.
Comments
Hey, Rafi--
Interesting points here--you point to the intriguing tension that exists for adults working on digital media and learning. Clearly having young people involved is essential--but the real question, as you point out, is how to do this productively. It's not useful to just dump young people in some seats around a table without leveraging their expertise and experiences; on the other hand, treating them as digital "natives" either assumes they can speak in mature and sophisticated ways about their experiences or treats them as anthropological items to be studied, as in natives that sociologists can survey and observe. It's a tough issue but an important one.
Posted by: Jenna McWilliams | January 30, 2009 5:23 PM
As I get ready to design a social media project for my own college students I wonder also about the ability of youth to a) find their voice and then b) know how to put it to use in such fora. There are always tensions between - just tell us what to do = and being freed of structures to being creative. All in all, I believe it to be an exercise in trust, but also a reminder that just because they are of a particular generation it doesn't mean they can reflect on the skills they possess or know the ones that are of importance. They still need some guidance in expressing such things especially when they have been socialized to be very passive.
Posted by: kirsti | February 13, 2009 12:18 AM
There's absolutely a big tension there, and I think that the answer lies in always being sure to take a developmental approach. In involving youth in the education design process,that experience should be scaffolded to help teens get to the place where they can effectively express their voice, and also requires trust, as you said, in knowing that they have something valuable to contribute to the process.
Posted by: Rafi Santo | February 13, 2009 11:02 AM