Nicole Mirra
Nicole Mirra is an associate professor of urban teacher education in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She previously taught high school English Language Arts in Brooklyn, New York and Los Angeles, California. Her research explores the intersections of critical literacy and civic engagement with youth and teachers across classroom, community, and digital learning environments. Central to her research and teaching agenda is a commitment to honoring and amplifying the literacy practices and linguistic resources that students from minoritized communities bring to public life and articulating a speculative paradigm for civic education. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including American Educational Research Journal, Harvard Educational Review, Review of Research in Education, and International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. She is the author of Educating for Empathy: Literacy Learning and Civic Engagement (Teachers College Press, 2018) and a co-author (with Antero Garcia and Ernest Morrell) of Doing Youth Participatory Action Research: Transforming Inquiry with Researchers, Educators, and Students (Routledge, 2015).
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Papers by Nicole Mirra
Democratic Dialogue (3D) Project, a year long social design-based experiment aimed at foregrounding youth voice and fostering connection across lines of geographic and ideological difference. We trace the myriad ways that guns literally and discursively shaped the multiple ecological contexts of the 3D Project in order to detail youth sociopolitical learning and extend traditional models of civic education. We propose a paradigm of speculative civic literacies that privileges a collaborative push toward democratic interrogation and innovation over integration into existing civic and political structures.
of digital media outlets, the diminished role of information
gatekeepers, and entrenched ideological polarization, have made one
of the core competencies of political engagement — staying informed
about current events — an increasingly fraught endeavor. Fears about
misinformation, bias, and “fake news” have spawned an array of curricular
resources aimed at helping educators teach students how to
analyze information sources in hopes that a common foundation of
knowledge will contribute to reasoned and productive civic debate. In
this article, we argue that analyzing news sources is a necessary but
insufficient skill for fostering dialogue in public life. We suggest that
the development of authentic connections across partisan divides
require more expansive literacies grounded in civic storytelling,
inquiry, and collaborative social dreaming. We draw upon the practices
of 2 learning communities to offer principles and strategies for
fostering such culturally relevant media literacies.
with the concept. Further, this research review explores the role of
digital tools in the enactment of 21st-century learning, including how often teachers are leveraging the collaborative and interactive affordances of those tools. By leveraging a critical analytic framework, findings indicate a dearth of classroom-based research emphasizing democratic engagement and equity within 21st-century learning, as well as a hesitancy to use digital literacies to connect with wider publics. Analysis suggests a weakly defined understanding of what literacy learning in the 21st century means in classrooms today, which
speaks to the need for a stronger focus on social futures.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Framework—to understand the ways citizenship is defined and constructed at the national level. By reading these documents for
how they conceptualize civic-based educational outcomes, we interrogate the disconnects between this language and the civic contexts—and potential outlets for civic action—that young people are
navigating in the United States today. We examine how seemingly benign policy documents define citizenship in increasingly narrow visions of individualist passivity, and how such definitions run counter to the expansive visions necessary to honor the lived experiences of young citizens of color. Our analysis highlights how these policy documents structure literacy practices, including the variety of texts that students encounter, opportunities to analyze those texts, and specific forms
of engagement with media and messages found in society, in ways that stymie a Freirian reading of the word and the world. Ultimately, we suggest how educators might work within the limited pedagogical spaces of these policies toward liberatory ends.
Democratic Dialogue (3D) Project, a year long social design-based experiment aimed at foregrounding youth voice and fostering connection across lines of geographic and ideological difference. We trace the myriad ways that guns literally and discursively shaped the multiple ecological contexts of the 3D Project in order to detail youth sociopolitical learning and extend traditional models of civic education. We propose a paradigm of speculative civic literacies that privileges a collaborative push toward democratic interrogation and innovation over integration into existing civic and political structures.
of digital media outlets, the diminished role of information
gatekeepers, and entrenched ideological polarization, have made one
of the core competencies of political engagement — staying informed
about current events — an increasingly fraught endeavor. Fears about
misinformation, bias, and “fake news” have spawned an array of curricular
resources aimed at helping educators teach students how to
analyze information sources in hopes that a common foundation of
knowledge will contribute to reasoned and productive civic debate. In
this article, we argue that analyzing news sources is a necessary but
insufficient skill for fostering dialogue in public life. We suggest that
the development of authentic connections across partisan divides
require more expansive literacies grounded in civic storytelling,
inquiry, and collaborative social dreaming. We draw upon the practices
of 2 learning communities to offer principles and strategies for
fostering such culturally relevant media literacies.
with the concept. Further, this research review explores the role of
digital tools in the enactment of 21st-century learning, including how often teachers are leveraging the collaborative and interactive affordances of those tools. By leveraging a critical analytic framework, findings indicate a dearth of classroom-based research emphasizing democratic engagement and equity within 21st-century learning, as well as a hesitancy to use digital literacies to connect with wider publics. Analysis suggests a weakly defined understanding of what literacy learning in the 21st century means in classrooms today, which
speaks to the need for a stronger focus on social futures.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Framework—to understand the ways citizenship is defined and constructed at the national level. By reading these documents for
how they conceptualize civic-based educational outcomes, we interrogate the disconnects between this language and the civic contexts—and potential outlets for civic action—that young people are
navigating in the United States today. We examine how seemingly benign policy documents define citizenship in increasingly narrow visions of individualist passivity, and how such definitions run counter to the expansive visions necessary to honor the lived experiences of young citizens of color. Our analysis highlights how these policy documents structure literacy practices, including the variety of texts that students encounter, opportunities to analyze those texts, and specific forms
of engagement with media and messages found in society, in ways that stymie a Freirian reading of the word and the world. Ultimately, we suggest how educators might work within the limited pedagogical spaces of these policies toward liberatory ends.
Much more than a "how-to" guide for those interested in creating their own YPAR projects, this book draws upon the voices of students and educators, as well as the multiple historical traditions of critical research, to describe how youth inquiry transforms each step of the traditional research process. From identifying research questions to collecting data and disseminating findings, each chapter details how YPAR revolutionizes traditional conceptions of who produces knowledge, how it is produced, and for what purposes. The book weaves together research, policy, and practice to offer YPAR as a practice with the power to challenge entrenched social and educational inequalities, empower critically aware youth, and revolutionize pedagogy in classrooms and communities.
For researchers, educators, community members, and youth who want to connect, question, and transform the world collectively, Doing Youth Participatory Action Research is a rich source of both pragmatic methodological guidance and inspiration.
The chapters in this volume represent a bold re-envisioning of what education can look like, as well as illustrate what it means to open the doors to youth culture and the promise that this work holds. While there are certainly similarities across these diverse narratives, the key is that they have taken a common set of design principles and applied them to their particular educational context. The examples aren't your typical approaches to the classroom; these educators are talking about integrating design principles into their living practice derived from cutting-edge research. We know from this research that forging learning opportunities between academic pursuits, youth’s digital interests, and peer culture is not only possible, but positions youth to adapt and thrive under the ever-shifting demands of the twenty-first century. We refer to this approach as the theory and practice of “connected learning,” which offers a set of design principles—further articulated by this group of educators—for how to meet the needs of students seeking coherence across the boundaries of school, out-of-school, and today’s workplace. Taken together, these narratives can be considered “working examples” that serve as models for how educators can leverage connected learning principles in making context-dependent decisions to better support their learners.
The chapters in this volume represent a bold re-envisioning of what education can look like, as well as illustrate what it means to open the doors to youth culture and the promise that this work holds. While there are certainly similarities across these diverse narratives, the key is that they have taken a common set of design principles and applied them to their particular educational context. The examples aren't your typical approaches to the classroom; these educators are talking about integrating design principles into their living practice derived from cutting-edge research. We know from this research that forging learning opportunities between academic pursuits, youth’s digital interests, and peer culture is not only possible, but positions youth to adapt and thrive under the ever-shifting demands of the twenty-first century. We refer to this approach as the theory and practice of “connected learning,” which offers a set of design principles—further articulated by this group of educators—for how to meet the needs of students seeking coherence across the boundaries of school, out-of-school, and today’s workplace. Taken together, these narratives can be considered “working examples” that serve as models for how educators can leverage connected learning principles in making context-dependent decisions to better support their learners.