Play

The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race and the Gentrifying City [Chapter 3- Chillaxin] (Tyler Denmead)

(Re)Fashioning Gender Play on the Kindergarten Stage: The Complexities of Shifting Diverse Identities from the Margins to the Social Center (Haeny Yoon)

Resonances/ Questions/Critiques:

Reflecting on the readings from this week has led me to asking myself many questions in an effort to create a more equitable and just STEM program and model. Both readings have inspired me to ask these questions:

1. Is "play"/free time/chillaxin something that should be worked into our schedules, especially in summer camp where we have kids all day? And how do we do this?
2. Do the materials we provide, the roles we assign or other practices degrade our youth into singular identities?
3. I love the "transformation from 'troubled youth' into 'creative youth'" narrative, what can we model that similar.
4. How do we create our own data collection and impact tracking/evaluation system that keep us accountable to the youth, rather than shaping our programs to existing, and racist evaluations of impact and (racist/white supremacy culture) funders?
5. How can I train my staff to understand and practice love and equity through a holistic approach?

I dont have all the answers to these questions, I believe many of my questions need to be answered by the youth and our youth workers. I would like to find more resources around "play" for my staff to consider how to integrate an important piece of youth development into our daily schedules. During my visiting with sites, I would like to take more time to be an observer and examine our groups and their dynamics. Im wondering if affirming that our youth are citizen scientists would make for a better narrative than "troubled youth" or even what students are called now which is mentees.

As for data collection and evaluation, I feel blessed to have a funder that holds us accountable to our own measurements of success and not their own. However, our current data collection practices leave little space for a holistic reflection and not all questions are relevant. How and what data we collect are something I would really like to focus on and improve. I know my team will support this process but im not sure future funders will. It seems challenging already, trying to find investors for STEM Advantage and we are asking the question why don't people seem to want to invest in this program that has a clear and strong impact? I fear out of desperation we could conform to expectations that drive youth away from the programs.