Museums educators, teachers support youth change-makers across rural America

Many agree that youth involvement in civic engagement is important, but where do you begin, and what does it look like in practice? Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street collaborated with educators and youth in rural communities across the country to help answer this question.

Why is youth-led civic engagement important?

Youth civic engagement fosters a sense of responsibility, belonging and empowerment within their communities. In rural communities, it is essential because it empowers young people to take an active role in addressing unique local challenges, such as limited resources, economic development and social isolation. In addition, community engagement aids youth in understanding the value and contribution their town brings to the American story of innovation and growth. In these often tight-knit communities, youth engagement can have an immediate and lasting impact, as their fresh perspectives and innovative solutions can inspire real change and renew a stronger sense of belonging.

The process

Cooper Hewitt and Museum on Main Street collaborated to develop professional development training, toolkits and videos that provide a framework for educators to work with youth to promote civic engagement and empower youth to lead positive change in their communities. Educators from classroom settings, after-school programs and teen councils identified curriculum connections or existing initiatives to begin this work.

Hosted at the Raven Hill Discovery Center in East Jordan, Mich., educators from a wide range of learning environments came together in a “Designing for Change” professional development training. Educators discussed ways they could utilize Design Thinking and project-based learning approaches to address challenges in their communities with their students. — Hosted at the Raven Hill Discovery Center in East Jordan, Mich., educators came together in a “Designing for Change” professional development training. They discussed ways to utilize design thinking and project-based learning approaches with their students to address challenges in their communities. (East Jordan Middle/High School and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

The goals of a youth-led civic engagement initiative are to empower students as agents of change in rural communities, engage them in discussions about how history and culture relate to contemporary issues in rural America and build a network of community stakeholders to inspire sustained collaboration.

Professional development training for educators utilizes design thinking as a process for community engagement. While educators are most familiar with and have successfully used project-based learning, it’s closely intertwined with design thinking, together emphasizing active, student-centered learning. Project-based learning engages students through hands-on projects, fostering a deeper understanding and retention of subject matter. Design thinking, on the other hand, is an iterative process centered on designing “with” rather than designing “for” others. The process involves research, empathy, defining challenges or opportunities, ideating, prototyping and testing.

Design thinking complements project-based learning by encouraging the understanding of multiple perspectives, collaboration, learning from failure and creative problem-solving. Incorporating design thinking into project-based learning enhances the learning experience by fostering innovation and resilience.

In practice

Youths in Frankfort, Ky., identified teen homelessness and loneliness as critical challenges. In response, they started a care package program for homeless teens in their community.

The Teen Council cohort at the Nampa Library in Nampa, Idaho, felt the library could better serve local teens. They interviewed their peers and library staff, then proposed a Teen Loft space through a physical model prototype. The new space offers a welcoming environment with fun furniture, games, books and multimedia that cater to teens’ interests.

Luis Carlos Chevez and Rachelle Villarreal presented their project idea at the Raven Hill Discovery Center community showcase in East Jordan. Mich. Luis was standing in front of the portraits he drew of the community members the students interviewed. for article on design thinking — Luis Carlos Chevez and Rachelle Villarreal presented their project idea at the Raven Hill Discovery Center community showcase in East Jordan, Mich. Chevez was standing in front of the portraits he drew of the community members the students interviewed. (East Jordan Middle/High School and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

Due to the agricultural workforce needs, East Jordan, Mich., has experienced recent growth in its Latino community. An upper-level Spanish class at East Jordan High School wanted to connect with and welcome the town’s Spanish-speaking residents. The students used the design process to identify their challenge, generate interview questions, conduct, transcribe and translate their interviews in Spanish and analyze the findings to address their essential question: “How can we help Spanish-speaking community members feel more welcome, and how might we work together to help each other achieve our respective language goals?”

Through informal conversations and gameplay, the students introduced themselves to the new community members and listened to their stories. A newcomer student artist even captured the likeness of all participants in a series of graphite portraits. After multiple engagements, the students proposed actionable ideas to answer their essential question.

One project idea that emerged from this process was a series of bilingual cooking classes. Students collaborated with community parent chefs to shop for and prepare traditional dishes from Nicaragua, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela and Spain. They visited a local organic farm with a pop-up Mexican restaurant to interview the chef, purchased fresh local produce and toured TC Latino, a Latin American grocery store, to obtain additional ingredients. They also interviewed the store owners about their role in the Latino community. Together, they prepared these dishes for an evening of food, culture and language exchange.

Rosa Ambrosioleads East Jordan High School students through TC Latino, a multicultural grocery store in Traverse City, Mich. (East Jordan Middle/High School and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum) for article on design thinking — Rosa Ambrosio leads East Jordan High School students through TC Latino, a multicultural grocery store in Traverse City, Mich. (East Jordan Middle/High School and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

Challenging deficit thinking and tapping into their community’s “funds of knowledge” and “funds of identity,” parents who had never previously been involved were invited into the classroom to serve as culinary and Spanish language arts experts. Two communities that initially had no connection found new friendships and mutual understanding.

“East Jordan is not as homogeneous as I thought. Not only are there people with all sorts of language backgrounds, but there are people with a wide variety of perspectives and opinions.” — Michigan studen

Happy surprises

The youth-led project in East Jordan, Mich., resulted in their work being selected for presentation at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s “Making Home — Smithsonian Design Triennial” exhibition in New York City. The exhibition features 25 site-specific, newly commissioned installations that explore design’s role in shaping the physical and emotional realities of home across the US, US territories and tribal nations. The East Jordan project is the sole project led by youth in the exhibition.

How to start this work in your community

Identify a space for this work: curriculum connection, after-school program or existing project.
Choose a process or method: design thinking, a game-based approach or project-based learning.
Put youth at the forefront: focus on their individual strengths, and take on the role of facilitator.
Identify your community partners: parents, community leaders, business owners, school districts and faith-based organizations.
Find a platform to share this work: in school, at a town council meeting or during a community showcase.

Youth are often referred to as the nation’s future, yet they have limited opportunities to have their voices heard or to lead in shaping the future they envision. Today’s youth are more inquisitive than ever, with access to vast amounts of research and data, and they are seeking platforms where their voices can be amplified. Community-based work doesn’t always have a right or wrong answer and may require educators to facilitate rather than lead. Various paths and frameworks provide the necessary scaffolding for success in youth-led civic engagement. A great way to begin is by asking the youth in your life, “What bothers you? And what are you going to do about it?”

Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.

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