TY - JOUR
T1 - Teaching Citizens
T2 - The Role of Open Classroom Climate in Fostering Critical Consciousness Among Youth
AU - Godfrey, Erin B.
AU - Grayman, Justina K amiel
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305B080019 to New York University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. We especially thank Anna Gassman-Pines, Amanda Roy and Carlos Santos for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2014/10/9
Y1 - 2014/10/9
N2 - Building on previous research on critical consciousness and civic development among youth, the current study examined the extent to which an open climate for discussion—one in which controversial issues are openly discussed with respect for all opinions—relates to youth’s critical consciousness and whether this association differs for youth from racial/ethnic majority versus minority backgrounds. Critical consciousness consisted of three components: the ability to critically read social conditions (critical reflection), feelings of efficacy to effect change (sociopolitical efficacy) and actual participation in these efforts (critical action), in both the educational and political/community domains. Open classroom climate was operationalized at the classroom rather than individual student level to more accurately draw links to educational policy and practice. Multilevel analyses of the 1999 IEA Civic Education Study, a nationally-representative sample of 2,774 US ninth-graders (50 % female; 58 % white), revealed that an open classroom climate predicted some, but not all, components of critical consciousness. Specifically, open classroom climate was positively related to sociopolitical efficacy in both the educational and political domains and to critical action in the community domain, but was not related to critical reflection. Few differences in these associations were found for youth from racial/ethnic majority versus minority backgrounds. The exception was sociopolitical efficacy in the educational domain: open classroom climate was particularly predictive of sociopolitical efficacy for minority youth. The findings are discussed in regard to previous research on open classroom climate and youth critical consciousness; and implications for future research and educational practice are drawn.
AB - Building on previous research on critical consciousness and civic development among youth, the current study examined the extent to which an open climate for discussion—one in which controversial issues are openly discussed with respect for all opinions—relates to youth’s critical consciousness and whether this association differs for youth from racial/ethnic majority versus minority backgrounds. Critical consciousness consisted of three components: the ability to critically read social conditions (critical reflection), feelings of efficacy to effect change (sociopolitical efficacy) and actual participation in these efforts (critical action), in both the educational and political/community domains. Open classroom climate was operationalized at the classroom rather than individual student level to more accurately draw links to educational policy and practice. Multilevel analyses of the 1999 IEA Civic Education Study, a nationally-representative sample of 2,774 US ninth-graders (50 % female; 58 % white), revealed that an open classroom climate predicted some, but not all, components of critical consciousness. Specifically, open classroom climate was positively related to sociopolitical efficacy in both the educational and political domains and to critical action in the community domain, but was not related to critical reflection. Few differences in these associations were found for youth from racial/ethnic majority versus minority backgrounds. The exception was sociopolitical efficacy in the educational domain: open classroom climate was particularly predictive of sociopolitical efficacy for minority youth. The findings are discussed in regard to previous research on open classroom climate and youth critical consciousness; and implications for future research and educational practice are drawn.
KW - Civic development
KW - Classroom climate
KW - Classroom practice
KW - Critical consciousness
KW - Open classroom climate
KW - Sociopolitical development
KW - Youth
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U2 - 10.1007/s10964-013-0084-5
DO - 10.1007/s10964-013-0084-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 24395151
AN - SCOPUS:84891506106
SN - 0047-2891
VL - 43
SP - 1801
EP - 1817
JO - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
JF - Journal of Youth and Adolescence
IS - 11
ER -