The non-profit organization for whom I work, National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (NUA) actively engages in Amplifying Student Voice. The videos in this link capture adolescent voices in Newark Public Schools, one of our collaboratives. Amplifying Student Voice is one of the seven high operational practices that ground our work (Jackson, 2011, The Pedagogy of Confidence). Also highlighted here, is our work with Redwood City in the Bay Area. We believe that when students are provided a platform for their voices to be heard, they have much to teach us.

Through this lens, I was interested to see this article from KQED Education. See the link below. 

KQED Education asked middle and high school students from all around the country to submit audio or video commentaries about election issues that matter most to them. The Let’s Talk About Election 2020 Youth Media Challenge received over 500 submissions so far, and many of them in Spanish! It’s no surprise that young people are interested in climate change, gun legislation, and college affordability. The students from Longfellow Arts and Technology Middle School in Berkeley, CA—a dual-immersion program—submitted commentaries on a vast array of topics that span from female representation in government to police brutality. See what these 8th graders have to say.

Berkeley Dual Immersion Middle School talks about Election 2020

I see our youth as the way forward for Equity Consciousness and Action. 

 Quote: "The NUA Pedagogy of Confidence© (POC) is rooted in equity consciousness, an end to systemic racism, quality education for all students and sustaining the actions of change."  (NUATC website)