YDEV 501
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT THEORY + PRACTICE DR. VICTORIA RESTLER
RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE VRESTLER@RIC.EDU
FALL 2022/ HBS 215/ THURSDAYS 6-8:30 PM CELL: 917-376-2045
Tyler Mitchell (American, b. 1995) is a photographer and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, working across many genres to explore and document a new aesthetic of Blackness. His work visualizes a Black utopia, offering a powerful and hopeful counternarrative to dominant representations. This piece is called Laundry Line (2020).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COURSE SCHEDULE
RESOURCES + SUPPORTS
LINKS
COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
As the first course for all students enrolled in the Youth Development Master’s program, this seminar will deepen your knowledge and analysis of the field through engagement with youth development history, theory, pedagogy, and sustained reflective practice. We will draw on the incredible knowledge and expertise in the room to build community and learn from each other.
Beginning with a critical childhood studies framework, we will explore some of the ways that childhood and adolescence have been constructed (social, medical, developmental, historical) and how these constructions are shaped by race, class, gender, and dis/ability. We will trace the history of the field of Youth Development, and consider the major theories and ideologies that support current frameworks. You will learn about leadership models and pedagogy in Youth Development including social-emotional learning, experiential learning, critical pedagogy, and youth leadership. Finally, throughout the course, you will be engaged in critical self-reflection--exploring both your own identities and social locations as youth development professionals, and your daily youth work practice.
TEXTS AND OTHER COURSE MATERIALS:
- READINGS: Rather than having you buy any books for this class, I have linked our texts in this syllabus. You must be able to access and refer to the articles in class every week -- and because you will be using your computer for ZOOM, it may be easiest to print them out. I will provide print-outs of course readings for anyone who is interested on our second meeting!
- COMPUTER, CAMERA, + ZOOM: Because this is a hybrid class you will need access to a computer with a camera and mic in order to participate. If you need to borrow technology or need a hotspot for internet access, RIC can help! The ITS Help Center will provide a mobile hotspot and/or a laptop on loan to you. Please contact the Help Center at helpdesk@ric.edu, or call (401) 456-8803 to arrange for loaner equipment. Every RIC student has access to a ZOOM account. To access your Zoom account, please go to THIS SITE and follow the directions. Check out THIS VIDEO for zoom 101.
ENGAGEMENT
This class is all about you and us and the community we make. Our time together will take many forms: interactive lectures, student-led discussions, group activities, and other forms of active, playful, and creative learning. The success of our class relies on everyone’s deep, vulnerable and committed engagement with course subjects, materials, and with each other. Engagement looks like: reading/viewing and critically reflecting on course materials, jotting down discussion questions, completing assignments, active listening, and participating in both synchronous and asynchronous group work. My expectation is that you will attend every class, fully prepared to participate. If you must miss a class I expect you to notify me in advance, complete all relevant work, and check in with a classmate about what you missed.
CLASS FACILITATION
In YDEV @ RIC, we use the concept of “leading with” as a way to talk about sharing power and collaborating with youth, staff and colleagues. One of the ways we approach “leading with” in this class is by sharing the responsibility for class facilitation. Over the course of the semester, you will lead discussion and activities for ~1-1.5 hours for one class session (either with a partner or solo). Sign up for your week HERE. Facilitation plans (using this template) should be emailed to me, the Monday before class. I am happy to meet with you in advance of your facilitation date to brainstorm and offer suggestions. I will use THIS RUBRIC for feedback.
READING REFLECTIONS
Writing is a tool for discovery, a way to shape meaning, and for us to reach new kinds of understanding. Over the course of the semester, you will engage in ~weekly, low stakes writing assignments on a personal blog as a way to critically reflect on class texts (including videos, podcasts, etc.); synthesize our learning over time; and explain ourselves (to ourselves and each other). There are eleven blog posts due over the course of the semester. Each week, you will post to your blog, read your classmates’ blogs, and offer a comment or question on one of your classmate’s posts. Posts are due Wednesday at noon and comments by class time on Thursday. I will offer comments on the first several blogs as well as midterm feedback. You can find our class blog at: https://ydev501.blogspot.com/; some great blog post models HERE; and some notes on commenting HERE. NOTE: I will provide writing prompts for many posts. These are optional--meant to offer a helpful way in. If there is something else that moves you or another topic from the readings that you would like to explore, please do!
EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY MAPS
Education Journey Mapping is a research strategy developed by Disability Studies + Critical Race Theory scholar Subini Annamma “to humanize research through centering the interactions, voice, and knowledge of students of color with dis/abilities” (2018). For this multimedia assignment, you will create a map of your educational journey up to this point. We will use these maps to author our own educational narratives, to share them in our YDEV MA community, and to dream new steps and stops along the journey. Extended description HERE.
LITERATURE-ART-EXPERIENCE REVIEW
A literature review is often the first step for any academic research project. And while the name can be confusing (literature? Like The Great Gatsby?), the idea makes sense–learning from others who have traced similar paths. A “literature review” explores existing articles, academic studies, or reports in order to find out what information already exists about your topic. This assignment is a chance for you to dig into a question in youth development that interests you and learn about what other folks have been thinking and doing in this area–in academic research, practitioner spaces, activism and the arts. Full description HERE. Due December 1.
ASSESSMENTS
External validation feels good. And it’s natural for us to seek it out and appreciate the glow of praise or good grades. But sometimes, this pursuit of external validation gets in the way of our own inner compass, of finding and following our purpose. Sometimes it gets in the way of risk-taking, growth and real learning.
You are the expert of how you learn and what you need in this space. And while I have created a flexible scaffold for our course with topics and readings, assignments and routines, you have a lot of agency here to shape the syllabus, edit assignments, and focus your efforts and intentions. In particular, I will regularly invite you to reflect on your learning goals in advance of assignments or activities, and your learning outcomes or experiences when looking back.
While you will get a final grade at the end of the term, I will not be grading individual assignments, but rather asking questions and making comments that engage your work rather than simply evaluate it. The intention here is to help you focus on your own goals and motivations for learning rather than mine. If this process causes more anxiety than it alleviates, see me at any point to confer about your progress in the course to date. If you are worried about your grade, your best strategy should be to join the discussions, do the reading, and complete the assignments. You should consider this course a “busy-work-free zone.” If an assignment does not feel productive, we can find ways to modify, remix, or repurpose the instructions.
SELF ASSESSMENTS
Throughout the semester you will be doing a lot of reflective work around how you learn and what you want to learn and get out of particular experiences and assignments. At various points throughout the course, I will also invite you to reflect on your work, learning and growth. In addition to short process writings, you will complete a midterm reflection and a final self-evaluation that includes the grade you give yourself. I reserve the right to change the grade, but I promise to take your own self-assessment seriously. My intention in decentering grades in our class is to decenter my perspective or assessment and recenter yours. I want this to be a rich learning experience for you and for it to be challenging and nourishing in the ways you need it to be.
HAUS OF GLITTER is a Providence-based Dance Company + Performance Lab + Preservation Society that works to shift the energetic center of the universe towards care, healing, justice and freedom. Their activist dance opera, The Historical Fantasy of Esek Hopkins imagines the missing stories from the legacy of Esek Hopkins’ disastrous slaving voyage on "sally", to consider what would life would be like today if colonization or slavery never happened. They write, “We believe that we cannot think ourselves out of racism. We need to feel ourselves out of racism.”
NOTE: This syllabus is alive! AAAHHHH! But for real, it is a living, breathing document and may change throughout the semester to accommodate our shifting ideas, interests and circumstances. I will alert you to any changes in class with advanced notice, but please also check the online version weekly.
WEEK 1- SEPT 1 WHAT IS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT (FOR US)?@RIC
READINGS | Course Syllabus |
ASSIGNMENTS | Nada:) |
IN CLASS HBS 215 | SLIDE DECK// Youth Development in pictures. Icebreakers and games. Shaping our syllabus together. Talking about grades and assessment. |
WEEK 2- SEPT 8 COLLECTIVE PANDEMIC TIMELINE–TOWARDS HEALING TOGETHER @RIC
READINGS |
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #1- Tell us a story about one important moment in the pandemic for you. It can be personal or professional. What happened internally or externally? What shifted, closed down or opened up? How did it feel? How are you making sense of it now? |
IN CLASS | SLIDE DECK// Blogging (model posts) /(model comments); |
YDEV 502// SATURDAY 9/10// 9:30-1:30PM |
WEEK 3- SEPT 15 WHERE DOES YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COME FROM? (TRACING THE ROOTS OF YOUTH WORK) @RIC
READINGS |
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #2- This post is what is sometimes referred to as K/L/M (or know/ learn/ more). What did you already KNOW--what did these articles affirm for you? What did you LEARN about the history and practice of youth development? And what do you want to know MORE about? OR What do you feel in your body as you read these texts? What kinds of knowings (bodily, emotional, lived experience, etc.) do you bring to the space of these readings and our class? |
IN CLASS |
WEEK 4- SEPT 22 DEFINING ‘YOUTH’ ZOOM
READINGS (FOR SATURDAY) |
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ASSIGNMENTS (FOR SATURDAY) | BLOG POST #3- Name and describe three beliefs or “characterizations”about young people that these authors discuss. What ideas about children/ youth/ adolescents shape these stereotypes and how are these stereotypes impacted by race/ class/ gender/ sexuality? Share a memory (recent or distant) when you experienced or witnessed prejudice as a young person. |
IN CLASS | SLIDE DECK// asset vs. deficit based lenses; class activity on childhood(s), race, class, and identity; introduce Educational Journey Maps |
YDEV 502// SATURDAY 9/24// 9:30-1:30PM |
WEEK 5- SEPT 29 HOW DO WE SEE (+ STUDY) YOUNG PEOPLE? @RIC
READINGS |
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #4- Put the key theories/ resonances/ teachings from these texts in conversation. Choose one takeaway from each piece--what jumped out at you, made you feel/ think/ wonder? How do these learnings speak to each other, line up, crisscross, or complicate? |
IN CLASS | SLIDE DECK// asset vs. deficit based lenses; class activity on childhood(s), race, class, and identity; facilitation |
WEEK 6- OCT 6 WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? (IDEOLOGIES) ZOOM
READINGS |
Explore the websites of the organizations below that align with your ideology (from the inventory). What do you notice about their language? Ways they talk about youth? Staff? Impact? Aims?
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #5- Ideology Double journal. Choose 3 quotes from the readings or org websites that resonate with your philosophy of youth development. Paste them into your blog post. Underneath, write up a short reflection on each: what does this quote mean to you? How does it resonate/ apply/ speak to you? | ||||||||||||||||
IN CLASS ZOOM | SLIDE DECK// ideologies (mini lecture) |
WEEK 7- OCT 13 IDENTITY: POWER, PRIVILEGE + INTERSECTIONALITY @RIC
READINGS | Nada |
ASSIGNMENTS | Educational Journey Maps due |
IN CLASS | SLIDE DECK// introduce Midterm Letter; Educational Journey Maps share out; anchors (IDENTITY, CARE, PURPOSEFUL PLAY, SOCIAL JUSTICE, LEADING WITH); |
WEEK 8- OCT 20 NO CLASS [INDIVIDUAL ZOOM CHECK INS]
READINGS |
OPTIONAL: Why English Class is Silencing Students of Color (Jamila Lyiscott) |
ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #6 How does whiteness and white supremacy culture impact the youth and educational spaces that you inhabit? What does it look like? Feel like in your body and movements? How does it sound? Taste? Slip by or call out? OR What is a space that you are/have been a part of that is grounded in values and practices outside of whiteness? Describe this space--the explicit and implicit beliefs and values that shape policy, practice, and relational work. What does it look like? Feel like in your body and movements? How does it sound? Taste?
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IN CLASS | Sign up for a 15-minute one-on-one check in HERE |
WEEK 9- OCT 27 SOCIAL JUSTICE YDEV @RIC
READINGS |
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #7: What is social justice youth development (SJYD) as described by Clemons, Ginwright and Cammarota? What does SJYD mean to you? MIDTERM LETTER DUE. Upload HERE With Clemons’ + Ginwright’s framing alongside your own understanding of SJYD, bring in an artifact that speaks to this concept in your life and professional world. It could be an email, idea, article, memory, injustice, image, activity, hope… (if it’s ephemeral--like an idea, make sure to write something down so you have a digital or physical artifact). |
IN CLASS HBS 215 | SLIDE DECK// FACILITATORS// Introduce Lit-art-experience review// Special guest: Rachael Clemons |
WEEK 10- NOV 3 WHAT’S CARE GOT TO DO WITH IT? ZOOM
READINGS |
OPTIONAL:
Watch from 22 minutes-48 minutes AND from 50 minutes-1 hour + 21 minutes |
ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #8: Tell us a story about a time in your life when you needed and received care. What did this look and feel like? How did SYSTEMS play a role in your story--how were institutions caring or uncaring? |
IN CLASS ZOOM | SLIDE DECK// Care, SEL, and radical healing; FACILITATORS; Research topic feedback circles//Sneaker guide to L-A-E-R |
WEEK 11- NOV 10 PLAY ZOOM
READINGS |
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #9: Resonances/ Questions/Critiques |
IN CLASS ZOOM | SLIDE DECK// FACILITATORS// Lit-Art-Experience Review check in// ADVISING |
WEEK 12- NOV 17 LEADING WITH @RIC
READINGS | None |
ASSIGNMENTS | Work on your lit-art-experience review |
IN CLASS HBS 215 | Reviewing and resourcing Let’s reflect on our semester. And resource ourselves going forward. |
WEEK 13- NOV 24 THANKSGIVING/TAKING (NO CLASS)
READINGS | Ninguna |
ASSIGNMENTS | Work on your lit-art-experience review |
IN CLASS | No Class |
WEEK 14- DEC 1 TOWARDS ABOLITION! ZOOM
READINGS |
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ASSIGNMENTS | BLOG POST #11: What ideas here feel close, like you can touch them? What ideas feel far away/ hard to wrap your mind around/ impossible? What does this have to do with youth work? With social justice? With your daily practice? Lit-Art-Experience Review Due (Dec 1) SUBMIT HERE |
IN CLASS ZOOM | SLIDE DECK// FACILITATORS// Introduce final self-reflection; |
WEEK 15- DEC 8 SHARING OUT/ CELEBRATING! @RIC
READINGS | Zip.Zero.Zilch |
ASSIGNMENTS | Self-reflections due. Lit-Art-Experience review share outs/ SUBMIT HERE Gifts (something for each person or for everyone, cheap or free, a poem a song, a playlist) |
IN CLASS HBS 215 | SLIDE DECK// Share outs; celebration; synthesis |
The Redaction is a project of visual artist and filmmaker Titus Kaphar and memoirist, poet, and attorney Reginald Dwayne Betts that examines the issue of money bail, the condition of the state and federal court system by which those arrested, but unable to afford bail, remain incarcerated even though they have been neither tried nor convicted.
CAREGIVING IN A PANDEMIC
Given the circumstances of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, parents and caregivers are facing unprecedented challenges. Many of us in the RIC community--parents, siblings, extended family members, and other caregivers--may at times be required to care full time for children alongside our work as Rhode Island College students, faculty and staff.
Rhode Island College supports diversity in all forms, including diversity in parenting and caregiving status. In order to teach and learn together amidst this global crisis, we must center principles of accessibility and equity for all in our community. You are welcome to bring a child to class (in person or on zoom) if you need to. Please reach out to me to talk about how this class can support and align with your caregiving responsibilities.
ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSION
If you need any learning accommodations please let me know and I’ll do my best to make it happen. This applies to folks with visible, non-visible, diagnosed or undiagnosed disabilities. I also encourage you to contact RIC’s Disability Services Center (DSC at 401-456-2776, dsc@ric.edu). If you have a diagnosis, DSC can help you document your needs and create an accommodation plan. By making a plan through DSC, you can ensure appropriate accommodations without disclosing your condition or diagnosis to course instructors.
BASIC NEEDS
If you face challenges securing food or housing, I urge you to contact Learning for Life as well as Dean Jeanine Dingus-Eason for support. Furthermore, please come talk to me if you are comfortable doing so. This way I can help connect you with other resources and supports.
L4L
Learning for Life (L4L) connects students to on and off campus resources and opportunities, empowering them to overcome obstacles on their journey to graduation. L4L’s team of trained Navigators serve as peer mentors for students and work to provide individualized support to meet student’s needs. L4L strives to help build a community where students feel accepted, included, and safe. The L4L network of resources includes, support for everyday living such as food accessibility, transportation, childcare, housing, financial resources etc. We are located in Adams Library, Level 1 and are open Monday- Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. The best way to connect with us is to call us at (401) 456-6320 or email us at l4linfo@ric.edu. We have virtual appointments available and will have contactless pick-up available for our food pantry. We also host free community lunches, workshops, and events. Visit the L4L website for more information or follow us on Instagram: @ricl4l or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RICL4L/