T406: Educating Incarcerated Youth, Practice, Research, Policy, and Advocacy

*Lottery-Based Enrollment* Our nation’s youth who are incarcerated are arguably our most disenfranchised population. They are disproportionately children of color, children with special needs, children living in poverty, and children who identify as LGBTQIA+ or non-conforming. Many of them dropped out – or were forced out of school and funneled through the school-to-prison pipeline. Each year, more than 450,000 cases are heard throughout our nation’s juvenile courts. Depending on a person's age and nature of the offense, some children are automatically transferred to an adult court and serve their time in adult facilities. Due to a primary institutional focus on safety and security, children who need education as a means to lead productive lives and to positively contribute to society often receive little exposure to high-quality education programs. What must we do to ensure the opportunity gap these children face does not continue to persist? The premise of this course is that educators, researchers, policy makers, and advocates are prepared to: work effectively with, support, and/or advocate for this disadvantaged and often ignored population. This course provides a lens for examining our nation’s juvenile justice educational settings, practical tools for teaching and leading in institutional settings, and a space for urgent dialogue about how we, as a society, will address the learning needs and equitable treatment of marginalized youth. Students will participate in a field visit to a juvenile justice facility and reflect on effective educational practices for the youth who are incarcerated. This course fulfills the Equity & Opportunity elective requirement of the Equity & Opportunity Foundations experience by: (1) studying and discussing incarceration’s historical contexts (Historical & Contemporary Understanding); (2) understanding how systems structure opportunity and (in)equities (Structural Understanding); (3) examining how systems vary across regional or cultural contexts (Comparative Perspective); (4) reflecting on individual identities, intersections, and commitments to participate in advancing justice (Personal Responsibility); and, (5) identifying and incorporating advocacy strategies (Strategies for Action). HGSE students wishing to take this course must enroll in the lottery. All other Harvard affiliated students interested in taking this course must email registrar@gse.harvard.edu to ensure you are added to the lottery.