Learning in an informal, out of school space in Cape Town, South Africa: The story of 'Youth Amplified Radio Show'

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• Adam Cooper, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge
• Tuesday 19 February 2013, 13:00-14:00
• Room 2S8, Donald McIntyre Building, Faculty of Education, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Ting Ding.

All welcome.

This presentation explores how South African youth from poor, urban neighbourhoods learn about themselves and the society in which they live, in an informal space that comprised a youth radio show at Africa’s oldest community radio station. ‘Space’ is conceptualized not as a preexisting entity, but as something that is produced through social processes: in this case the production of the Youth Amplified space had profound implications for ‘how’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ young people engaged with learning in this context.

Youth from four diverse high schools in the Cape Town metropole (three of which are substantially under-resourced schools), took part in the project. The radio show was intended to 1) provide young people with opportunities to engage with materials- such as documentary films, newspaper articles, popular music and their own opinions and 2) comprise a research process which could illuminate how youth learn in this kind of space.

Themes that emerged from the actual live shows and off-air interactions included ‘race and inequality’, ‘the manner in which the institutional cultures of youths’ schools infiltrated the Youth Amplified space’ and ‘learning to play a role as a participant in talk radio without resorting to personal attacks on others’.

Implications of the research for youth identity formation, learning and other more formal learning spaces, such as the classroom, will be discussed.

This talk is part of the FERSA Lunchtime Sessions series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• All Faculty of Education Seminars
• FERSA - All Events
• FERSA Lunchtime Sessions
• Room 2S8, Donald McIntyre Building, Faculty of Education, 184 Hills Road, Cambridge

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