Manual Arts students address a full house at their AERA session.

So I’ve written about the Council for Youth Research in glowing terms before. However, I need to make it clear that the student representatives from Manual Arts set AERA on fire on Tuesday! The kids owned their presentation – again reporting their findings, providing a theoretical framework, and discussing how their work continues and the impact they are having on campus. Though there were two other presenters during this panel, the audience pretty much swarmed on these youth to hear about their learning process, their growth, and to glean insight from the critical lenses these students have polished throughout their research training.

A personal highlight: at one point an adult asked one of the students, “Can you talk about how you changed as a result of the work you did as a part of this project?”

Pausing for a moment, the student explained that one of the theoretical articles that really spoke to him was Solorzano’s work on “Transformative Resistance.” He explained that Solorzano defines four types of resistance: Self-Defeating, Reactionary, Conformist, and Transformative. Prior to being a part of the group, this student felt he conformed to the status quo. However, he’s now seeing his role as an agent of change through Transformative Resistance. The student framed his experiences within this theoretical frame and used it to posit his own personal transformation while also neatly laying out a graduate level text in a way that everyone in the room could clearly understand.

His response was followed by wowed applause.

Students were schmoozed by adults after the session – handshakes and business cards (along with catcalls of “full ride scholarships!”) were given.