This study reports on the feasibility and acceptability of a social justice infused service-learning (S-L) program to promote Black adolescent mental health and educational equity. We convened a community advisory board to help adapt and pilot test, via open trial mixed method design, an evidence-based service-learning program for Black middle…

Critical consciousness refers to the ability to analyze and take action against oppressive social forces shaping society. This longitudinal, mixed methods study compared the critical consciousness development of adolescents of color (n = 453) attending two sets of high schools featuring schooling models that represent "opposing"…

This article analyzes students' perspectives on sustainable development, environmental justice, and concomitant environmental education programs at two international schools in Singapore. Data include surveys of over 250 students and 19 focus-group interviews with 300 students. In addition to having a detailed and nuanced understanding of the…

The current study examined the relationship between belief in a just world and self-reported academic resilience, and whether perceived academic competence mediated this relationship. Seven-hundred fifty-one students enrolled in a middle school and a high school (45.81% male, 15 to 16 years old) from two regions of China participated in this…

Black Muslim youth confront antiblackness and Islamophobia in US schools and society, yet few studies examine how this population navigates these intersecting oppressions. In addition, there has been a dearth of scholarly literature that explores the educational spaces in which Black Muslim youth are nurtured and affirmed. This article addresses…

In March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States. Every part of America has been affected while its existing inequities have been both highlighted and worsened. Millions of families lost income as parents, especially those of color and those employed in low-paying industries, lost their jobs. By May 2020, one in three children…

An open classroom climate, one where diverse opinions and discussion of social and political issues are welcome, promotes civic development among youth and fosters critical consciousness. Critical consciousness, defined as the capacity to recognize societal inequity along with the motivation and action taken to challenge such inequity and promote…

In most cases, the curriculum chosen for wide-use does not mirror or address the pressing needs of bi/multilingual learners, especially for those who are in middle and high school settings. In light of this and the increasingly negative national discourse surrounding minoritized students, our focus in this article is to offer in-service teachers a…

In this article, Nicole Joseph, Meseret Hailu, and Jamaal Matthews argue that Black girls' oppression in the United States is largely related to the dehumanization of their personhood, which extends to various institutions, including secondary schools and, especially, mathematics classrooms. They contend that one way to engage in educational…

This article intervenes in the long-standing conversations around which youth activism, literacies, and civic engagement take place. In an effort to expand the boundaries of activism to include the work of youth critical literacies within the classroom, this article highlights the work of four female high school students of color as they bring…

Critical consciousness refers to the ways in which individuals come to understand and challenge oppressive social forces. Philosopher-educator Paulo Freire argued that critical curiosity--an eagerness to learn more about and develop a deep understanding of issues of social justice--serves as an important catalyst to critical consciousness…

As professors of education in an urban community, we wanted to identify mechanisms that would allow young people in the urban core the opportunity to share their unique voices with the world and for us to better understand their views on social justice and social change. The purpose of this paper is to discuss adolescent student perspectives on…

Programs to help middle school students deal with racism and hate have been in place for some years, yet almost monthly we hear of students committing suicide or killing other students due to issues of isolation or harassment. Within the confines of a safe classroom, doctoral students in Educational Leadership addressed issues of stereotypes and…

This article argues that teachers in the twenty-first century need to incorporate queer theory into their teaching practice and their discussions about individual differences in order to advocate for those students most likely to be bullied in schools. It provides a brief background on queer theory, gives an introduction to central ideas of the…

This study investigates 1 middle level student of mixed heritage and his siblings as they assimilated and achieved within a small urban community. The main case focuses on 1 adolescent's experiences both in and out of schools. How this middle grade student identified and was treated had vast effects on his educational performance, adding insights…