Advertisement

The Urban Review

, Volume 49, Issue 1, pp 169–187 | Cite as

“We’re Friends, We Have to be in This Together”: Examining the Role of Culturally Relevant Peer Interactions in Urban Youth’s College Readiness and Access

  • Joanne E. Marciano
Article
First Online:

Abstract

This paper analyzes how and why ten Black and Latina/o youth attending an urban public high school engage culturally relevant peer interactions (Knight and Marciano in College ready: preparing Black and Latina/o youth for higher education—a culturally relevant approach. Teachers College Press, New York, 2013) in preparing for, applying to, and/or enrolling in college. The study reconsiders culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings in The dreamkeepers: successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1994) as an analytic tool for exploring youth’s culturally relevant peer interactions as supportive of their college-going processes (Tierney and Colyar in Preparing for college: nine elements of effective outreach. SUNY Press, Albany, 2005) and new media literacy practices (Ito et al. in Living and learning with new media: summary of findings from the Digital Youth Project. The MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, 2008. http://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/DML_ETHNOG_WHITEPAPER.PDF). Research findings include: new understandings of the reciprocal nature of youth’s culturally relevant peer interactions; and new enactments of youth’s college-going new media literacy practices. Recommendations for educational policy, practice, and research supportive of students’ college readiness and access are discussed.

Keywords

College access Urban education Youth co-researchers Culturally relevant education New media literacies 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  2. Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.Google Scholar
  3. Conley, D. T. (2012). A complete definition of college and career readiness. Eugene, Oregon: Educational Policy and Improvement Center.Google Scholar
  4. DePaoli, J. L., Hornig Fox, J., Ingram, E. S., Maushard, M., Bridgeland, J. M., Balfanz, R. (2015). Building a grad nation: Progress and challenge in ending the high school dropout epidemic. Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://gradnation.org/sites/default/files/18006_CE_BGN_Full_vFNL.pdf
  5. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1143–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Farmer-Hinton, R. (2006). On becoming college prep: Examining the challenges charter school staff members face while executing a school’s mission. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1214–1240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Farmer-Hinton, R., & McCullough, R. G. (2008). College counseling in charter high schools: Examining the opportunities and challenges. The High School Journal, 91(4), 77–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Farrell, E., Peguero, G., Lindsey, R., & White, R. (1988). Giving voice to high school students: Pressure and boredom, ya know what I’m sayin’? American Educational Research Journal, 25, 489–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Gibson, M., Gandara, P., & Koyama, J. (Eds.). (2004). School connections: U.S. Mexican youth, peers, and school achievement. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  10. Hossler, D., & Gallagher, K. (1987). Studying college student choice: A three-phase model and the implications for policy makers. College and University, 62, 207–221.Google Scholar
  11. Hungerford-Kresser, H., & Amaro-Jimenez, C. (2012). Urban-schooled Latina/os, academic literacies, and identities: (Re)Conceptualizing college readiness. Perspectives on Urban Education, 9(2), 1–14.Google Scholar
  12. Hurn, C. J. (1993). The limits and possibilities of schooling: An introduction to the sociology of education. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
  13. Ito, M., Horst, H., Bittanti, M., Boyd, D., Herr-Stephenson, B., Lange, P. G. & Robinson, L. (2008). Living and learning with new media: Summary of findings from the Digital Youth Project. Reports on Digital Media and Learning. Chicago: The MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved November 9, 2012, from http://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/DML_ETHNOG_WHITEPAPER.PDF
  14. Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A. J., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Building the Field of Digital and Learning. Chicago: The MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved October 3, 2010, from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9CE807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF
  15. Knight, M. (2010). Enacting care, preparing for college and increasing access for Black youth. Journal of Students Placed at Risk, 15(2), 158–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Knight, M., & Marciano, J. (2013). College ready: Preparing Black and Latina/o youth for higher education—A culturally relevant approach. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  17. Knight-Manuel, M., Marciano, J., Wilson, M., Jackson, I., Vernikoff, L., Zuckerman, K., et al. (2016). “It’s all possible”: Urban educators’ perspectives on creating a culturally relevant, school-wide, college-going culture for Black male students. Urban Education. doi: 10.1177/0042085916651320.Google Scholar
  18. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  19. Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 419–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Culturally relevant pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the remix. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 74–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Lenhart, A. (2012). Teens, smartphone, and texting. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Teens_Smartphones_and_Texting.pdf
  22. Lenhart, A., Smith, A., Anderson, M., Duggan, M. Perrin, A. (2015). Teens, technology, and friendships. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center. Retrieved November 10, 2016, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/
  23. Lewis-Charp, H., Yu, H. C., & Friedlaender, D. (2004). The influence of intergroup relations on school engagement: Two cases. In M. A. Gibson, P. Gandara, & J. P. Koyama (Eds.), School connections: U.S. Mexican youth, peers, and school achievement (pp. 107–128). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  24. Loza, P. (2003). A system at risk: College outreach programs and the educational neglect of underachieving Latino high school students. The Urban Review, 35(1), 43–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Marciano, J. (2015). Becoming Facebook friendly: Social media and the culturally relevant classroom. English Journal, 104(5), 73–78.Google Scholar
  26. Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2011). Designing qualitative research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  27. McDonough, P. (1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
  28. Morrell, E. (2008). Six summers of YPAR: Learning, action, and change in urban education. In J. Cammarota & M. Fine (Eds.), Revolutionizing education: Youth participatory action research in motion (pp. 155–184). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
  29. Oakes, J., Rogers, J., Lipton, M., & Morrell, E. (2002). The social construction of college access: Confronting the technical, cultural, and political barriers to low-income students of color. In W. G. Tierney & L. S. Hagedorn (Eds.), Increasing access to college: Extending possibilities for all students (pp. 105–121). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
  30. Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally relevant pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Sacks, P. (2007). Tearing down the gates: Confronting the class divide in American education. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
  32. Sallee, M. W., & Tierney, W. G. (2007). The influence of peer groups on academic success. College and University, 82(2), 7–14.Google Scholar
  33. Schmeichel, M. (2011). Good teaching? An examination of culturally relevant pedagogy as an equity practice. Journal of Curriculum Studies. doi: 10.1080/00220272.2011.591434.Google Scholar
  34. Solorzano, D. G., & Delgado Bernal, D. (2001). Examining transformational resistance through a critical race and Latcrit theory framework: Chicana and Chicano students in an urban context. Urban Education, 36(3), 308–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Stanton-Salazar, R. D., & Spina, S. U. (2005). Adolescent peer networks as a context for social and emotional support. Youth and Society, 36(4), 379–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Tierney, W. G. (2009). Applying to college. Qualitative Inquiry, 15(1), 79–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Tierney, W. G., & Colyar, J. E. (2005). The role of peer groups in college preparation programs. In W. G. Tierney, Z. B. Corwin, & J. E. Colyar (Eds.), Preparing for college: Nine elements of effective outreach (pp. 49–68). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
  38. Tierney, W. G. & Venegas, K. (2006). Fictive kin and social capital: The role of peer groups in applying and paying for college. In W. Tierney, K. Venegas, & de la Rosa (Eds.), Financial aid and access to college: The public policy challenges. American Behavioral Scientist, 49(12), 1687–1702.Google Scholar
  39. Trier, J. (2005). Sordid fantasies: Reading popular inner-city school films as racialized texts with pre-service teachers. Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 8(2), 171–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Venegas, K. (2006). Internet inequalities: Financial aid, the internet, and low-income students. American Behavioral Scientist, 49(12), 1652–1669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Villalpondo, O., & Solarzano, D. (2005). The role of culture in college preparation programs: A review of the research literature. In W. G. Tierney, Z. B. Corwin, & J. E. Colyar (Eds.), Preparing for college: Nine elements of effective outreach (pp. 13–28). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
  42. Walker, E. (2010). Building mathematics learning communities: Improving outcomes in urban high schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  43. Watson, V. W. M., & Marciano, J. (2015). Examining a social-participatory youth co-researcher methodology: A cross-case analysis extending possibilities of literacy and research. Literacy, 49(1), 37–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Watt, K., Huerta, J., & Lozana, A. (2007). A comparison study of AVID and GEAR UP 10th grade students in two high schools in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, 12(2), 185–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Wohn, D., Ellison, N., Khan, M., Fewins-Bliss, R., & Gray, R. (2013). The role of social media in shaping first generation high school students’ college aspirations: A social capital lens. Computers and Education, 63, 424–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Teacher Education, College of EducationMichigan State UniversityEast LansingUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options