Chapter 1: (RE)Conceptualizing Sociopolitical Designs for Learning and Practice: How “Social Justice” Became Unjust in a Youth Hackathon

Consider a discussion with youth in a racially and socioeconomically diverse school about how housing gentrification has contributed to the displacement of working class communities of color. Or a discussion about the root causes of obesity in communities struggling with poverty. Or about the history, contributions, and tensions, of radical political movements in the United States. Pedagogical and curricular approaches to education rooted in liberatory frameworks often engage youth in these kinds of justice-related discussions. These discussions are intended to raise student consciousness and agency, yet often unfold in unanticipated ways that do not disrupt or supplant oppressive narratives and ideologies and may actually reinforce them in ways that disempower youth. In this chapter, we review recent literature in the learning sciences to argue that sociocultural and sociopolitical conceptualizations of learning are necessary for (a) critically assessing both the affordances and limitations of learning environments created with explicit equity commitments, and (b) designing new contexts for learning that strive for justice both within learning outcomes as well as learning processes.