Back to School: YA Literature and a Researcher’s Coming of Age
Abstract
I am a former journalist who entered the Molloy Ed.D. program in my 40s to better understand and better tell the story of the racially and socioeconomically diverse elementary school community that has been a transformative influence in my life and a defining influence in my kids’. In using a Young Adult fantasy novel to pilot a culturally responsive, place-based, arts-centric YA fiction book club for adults within that school community, I found an intriguing template: a way to explore community experiences both as my research focus, and, in the traditions of indigenous and participatory research, my emerging method. Of course, as in any good coming-of-age story, I took a roundabout way to recognizing the power that was within reach all along. This paper, which describes my first scholarly exploration of both YA literature and the existing boundaries of qualitative research methodology, shares that story in the hope of inspiring other educators and researchers to revisit adolescence (in any number of ways) and see what possibilities for growth and joy emerge. I am currently finishing my last semester of coursework and working on a dissertation design informed by the experience described here.
Presentation Description
.
Location
Room 106
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Bare, Kelly, "Back to School: YA Literature and a Researcher’s Coming of Age" (2022). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 44.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2022/2022/44
Back to School: YA Literature and a Researcher’s Coming of Age
Room 106
I am a former journalist who entered the Molloy Ed.D. program in my 40s to better understand and better tell the story of the racially and socioeconomically diverse elementary school community that has been a transformative influence in my life and a defining influence in my kids’. In using a Young Adult fantasy novel to pilot a culturally responsive, place-based, arts-centric YA fiction book club for adults within that school community, I found an intriguing template: a way to explore community experiences both as my research focus, and, in the traditions of indigenous and participatory research, my emerging method. Of course, as in any good coming-of-age story, I took a roundabout way to recognizing the power that was within reach all along. This paper, which describes my first scholarly exploration of both YA literature and the existing boundaries of qualitative research methodology, shares that story in the hope of inspiring other educators and researchers to revisit adolescence (in any number of ways) and see what possibilities for growth and joy emerge. I am currently finishing my last semester of coursework and working on a dissertation design informed by the experience described here.
