Bridging Theory and Practice: Critical Youth Studies and School Libraries

For those of us who work with teens in schools, there are some taken-for-granted assumptions circulating about our students. When I worked as junior high school librarian, I would routinely be praised for "tolerating" the hormones and stereotypically angsty teens in my school. We are probably all familiar with other stereotypes about teens that fill popular culture and media: teenagers are lazy, entitled, promiscuous, and/or narcissistic. However, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche says in her 2009 TED Talk about the single story: "the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete."

In reality, my students were so much more than these stereotypes. They were smart, funny, and insightful. They came from all over the world and spoke several languages. They used social media to amplify their voices and perspectives and to engage with communities both locally and globally. Yes, sometimes they were moody and unpredictable, but then again, so were many of the adults. And more than that, I think we should always question dominant thinking about teens that universalizes their experiences and frames them through a deficit perspective. Stereotypes like these could be hindering possibilities for youth. In this article I will discuss the practice implications of Critical Youth Studies (CYS) in school libraries—a theory that views adolescence as a social construct rather than a biological and developmental stage.

Critical Youth Studies

In her book Act Your Age! A Cultural Construction of Adolescence, Nancy Lesko (2012) discusses "four confident characterizations" of adolescence that are often relied upon for those who work with youth—but not always true. Each of these characterizations could have material consequences for youth in schools and libraries:

1. Adolescents "come of age." Many believe that adolescence is a time when students work through a long, coming-of-age process where they experience several "rites of passage" and emerge as adults. However, for some students a drawn out "coming of age" is a luxury—rather they have adult responsibilities at a young age.
2. All adolescents are all controlled by raging hormones. Erratic or irrational behavior is often attributed to raging hormones. However, by relying on this assumption we could be dismissing student actions or behavior that require intervention, possibly ignoring ways that we could help or support students' unique needs.
3. Adolescents value their peers' opinions above all else. Privileging of the individual is a cultural value that is not uniformly shared. In many ways collaboration and relationships with peers ought to be valued, but this framing positions it as negative.
4. Adolescence is signified by age. Assuming anything to be true about teens based on their age is problematic. There are too many exceptions, and it absolves us from attending to the unique interests and abilities of all students. Age can't be the only way we judge what youth are capable of—especially knowing what we know about how sociocultural factors like race, gender, and class affect how students learn in schools.

Developmental Perspectives and the "Teenage Brain"

Developmental perspectives (i.e. Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget) assume that youth move through linear stages of development. They are assessed based on the rate and manner in which they move along this trajectory. There is no room for moving backwards, and adolescents who do not move in the right direction are considered deficient, often "at risk" or too (im)mature. These perspectives suggest that there is a clear and linear trajectory between adolescence and adulthood with predictable biological developments, aligned with age, and attendant emotional characteristics. Justifications for teen behavior are often based in arguments from psychology and neuroscience (Dobbs 2011) that state that the "teenage brain" is not fully developed and that their delicate prefrontal cortex is not prepared to make rational decisions. However, others have suggested that some youth are simply genetically dispositioned to being impulsive at any age, and that the impulsivity is not necessarily an adolescent trait (Romer, Reyna, and Satterthwaite 2017). Regardless, research is largely inconclusive when it comes to determining how much and what adolescent behavior can be attributed to brain development and how much can be attributed to environmental and sociocultural factors like gender, race, and class.

Adolescence/ts in Schools

However, for those who work in schools, models of adolescent development are heavily relied upon and often unavoidable, and for this reason it is important to not abandon this thinking altogether, but rather to supplement it. The school librarian is in the unique, mediating position of being able to offer instruction, programming, and a space that challenges dominant characterizations of the teens we serve. We have a responsibility to support teachers in the work they do in classrooms that is often grounded in developmental paradigms, however we also provide something unique for students—a respectful space where adolescents can embrace autonomy. This is precisely the draw of makerspace programming and initiatives like genius hour that ask students to slow down, put deadlines and grades in the periphery, and explore their own interests. In other words, school librarians can question when certain models of adolescent development serve students and when they limit opportunities for them.

CYS in Libraries

Some research has been done that considers how assumptions and stereotypes of youth affect library service (Bernier 2013) and research for and with youth populations (Harlan 2016). However, the vast majority of that research has occurred in the public library and youth services sphere. School libraries, often bound by more prescriptive standards and high-stakes assessments, have yet to fully acknowledge and embrace these ideas. However, it is worth recognizing that our expectations for what youth are capable of directly impact teaching. There are several conversations and movements happening in school libraries that, at their core, advocate for inclusivity in youth spaces and that also recognize and respect youth.

Suggestions for Practice

With a more expanded view of who adolescents are and higher expectations for what they are capable of, school librarians can rethink and reevaluate some of the practices in school libraries that exclude youth or approach them from a deficit perspective. The following are just a few of the many possibilities for librarians who are looking to invite youth and youth voices into school library spaces:

• Create programs beyond the confines of classroom requirements, tests, and homework that allow students to explore their passions and work in a student-driven atmosphere.
• Consider how the library space is designed and how that design relies on biological and developmental imperatives. For example, what areas of the library are accessible, "off limits," or requiring supervision?
• Remove age-based restrictions on materials that make universalizing judgments about the kind of content that is appropriate for youth.
• Create opportunities for teens to be civically and politically engaged. As we saw after the Parkland shooting, young people have powerful voices and although many do not have the ability to vote, they can be involved in activist efforts that allow them to drive change locally and globally.
• Invite students' perspectives and input when developing programs and buying materials. This can be achieved through teen-advisory groups, student library volunteers, and action research that uses youth voice as a serious (and equal) factor in decision making.
• Engage students in inquiry that respects their own interests and offers them autonomy in their learning.
• Look for ways to offer students opportunities to participate in the local community outside of school and find ways to partner with community organizations.

Works Cited

Bernier, Anthony, ed. Transforming Young Adult Services. American Library Association, 2013.

Dobbs, David. "Teenage Brains." National Geographic. October 2011. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2011/10/beautiful-brains/.

Harlan, Mary Ann. "Constructing Youth: Reflecting on Defining Youth and Impact on Methods." School Libraries Worldwide 22, no. 2 (2016): 12.

Lesko, Nancy. Act Your Age!: A Cultural Construction of Adolescence. 2nd ed. The Critical Social Thought Series. Routledge, 2012.

Ngozi Adichie, Chimamanda. "The Danger of a Single Story." TED Talk. July 2009. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.

Romer, Daniel, Valerie F. Reyna, and Theodore D. Satterthwaite. "Beyond Stereotypes of Adolescent Risk Taking: Placing the Adolescent Brain in Developmental Context." Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 27 (October 2017): 19–34. doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2017.07.007.