Sustainability and Social Justice

Date of Award

5-2018

Degree Type

Research Paper

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Community Development and Planning (CDP)

Department

International Development, Community and Environment

Chief Instructor

Laurie Ross

Second Reader

Eric DeMeulenaere

Keywords

Youth-Adult Partnership, Curriculum, Atmosphere, Vibe, Social Justice, Participatory Action Research

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of the atmosphere of a space, specifically related to educational and goal oriented spaces housed in Youth-Adult Partnerships, and guided by curriculum. Through participatory action research, myself and the peer leaders of Worcester’s HOPE Coalition have engaged in a deep reflection on our experiences in these spaces together. Through our dialogue we came to conceptualize the atmosphere or “vibe,” and theorized how it is created, how it changes, and how it impacts space and the people in it. We created a vibe identification system, and used it to analyze stories of particular experiences. Out of our analysis, and the themes that we identified, we came to conclusions that shed light on the importance of including an analysis of atmosphere when engaging with the theory and practice of curriculum development, and Youth-Adult Partnerships.

Worcester

Yes

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