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Masters of Social and Cultural Pedagogy

The Masters of Social and Cultural Pedagogy at Arizona State University is one of its kind in the United States. The program is offered through the School of Social Transformation. The Graduate Certificate in Applied Prevention Science provides course instruction about community-based intervention and prevention. The certification is offered through the Psychology Department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 

Inside of the Classroom at ASU

Through my program I studied works by Freire, Mezirow, Giroux, Dewey, and Horton, among others. These sessions led to critical thinking and collaboration with my peers to dissect, absorb and apply these readings. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, classes met over Zoom, but this mode of meeting did not stop my peers and I from grappling with challenging questions and having meaningful discussions. After completing my coursework during my first year, it came time to write my thesis. 

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I was fascinated by participatory action research and its potential to serve as a catalyst for social change. With my plans to participate in the San Diego Teaching Residency, I hoped to conduct a Youth Participatory Action Research Project with students at my school site. Thanks to the willingness of school staff and five civically-minded twelve and thirteen year olds, I was able to offer an X-Block, or an elective called Changemakers. These students learned the basics of research design, brainstormed a research question, and created a survey and focus group questions to conduct their study. The project might largely be thought of as "initiating YPAR" as the steps on the front end are rooted in Freirian practices and support student voice. The latter steps to the project were facilitated by myself due to timing constraints. Additionally, students have yet to choose how they would like the use these data. That being said, my thesis "Yes and-: Using YPAR to Recognize Identity and Issues in a Charter Middle School," documents the steps to creating a YPAR project and analyzes its results. Below is the presentation from my thesis defense which occurred on April 6, 2022. Additionally, here is the link to my thesis in full

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Outside of the Classroom at ASU

During my time at ASU, I worked multiple jobs that complemented my course content well. For the entirety of my first year, I worked with André House, a hospitality center for people experiencing homelessness in downtown Phoenix. I spent the year prior running services in a full-time year of service, so when that program ended, and as I started my Masters work, joining the advocacy team in a part-time role was a natural transition. In this position, I helped to coordinate campaign efforts to open a new shelter and conducted research among individuals at André House.  Additionally, during the first semester, I participated in a part-time Americorps position at Maricopa Re-Entry Center. My team and I facilitated psychosocial classes for men who are incarcerated and transitioning out of prison shortly. Following the first semester, I began a graduate research assistantship through the School of Social Transformation to evaluate Arizona's education landscape and possible readiness for its own teaching residency program. This article highlights the need for such a program and makes available our full report. 

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