Interest is growing among out-of-school time (OST) educators in integrating the arts into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programming (e.g., Kelton & Saraniero, 2018). Arts-integrated STEM-or STEAM-programming now takes place in a wide variety of OST environments, from relatively institutional learning settings, such as a library, to emergent or fluid settings, such as a pop-up program in a housing development community room.
Educators, parents, practitioners, and mainstream media often raise concerns about the dangers of social media for teenagers. Frequent social media use and exposure to sites that emphasize anonymity may be risky for young adolescents (Charmaraman, Gladstone, & Richer, 2018). However, with healthy limits, social media can improve social connectivity, enhance a sense of belonging, and provide forums for self-disclosure and identity exploration (James et al., 2017).
Programs that seek to engage participants in artsbased programming may be drawn to creative youth development (CYD), a youth-focused, holistic approach to learning through creative expression. As the Creative Youth Development National Partnership (2018) defines it, “Creative youth development is a recent term for a longstanding theory of practice that integrates creative skill-building, inquiry, and expression with positive youth development principles, fueling young people’s imaginations and building critical learning and life skills.” After a period of learning about CYD and exploring its suitability, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education in the Bronx, New York, launched an initiative to integrate CYD principles into its afterschool programs. Though Casita Maria built on a growing base of knowledge about these principles
Although SEL has been integrated into many schoolbased programs to support student success, afterschool or out-of-school time (OST) programs are uniquely suited to SEL development. OST programs provide the opportunity for niche, interest-based projects that are emotionally engaging for youth; they also foster close adult relationships and opportunities for youth agency and leadership, among many other features (Olson, 2018). SEL can have an incredibly powerful impact on equity efforts. It can enhance academic, emotional, social, and career wellness—areas of youth and human development that are all directly and severely affected by inequity. That said, the application of SEL to OST is rife with equity issues and concerns. These considerations are critically important in light of the reality of systemic oppression—the context in which everything “social” exists. One cannot consider the Veronica Benavides, Shakirra Meghjee, Tasha Johnson, Aasha Joshi, Christine Ortiz, and Victor Rivera
During that same time, the percentage of Black students attending a segregated school rose from 59 to 71 percent (Stancil, 2018). Segregation has been shown to cause deficits in social and economic supports for students of color. Schools serving predominantly Black students often have deteriorating buildings that are staffed with inexperienced teachers using outdated, Eurocentric textbooks (Kozol, 1991; Putnam, 2015). In addition, teachers in racially segregated schools are often unprepared to properly nurture students dealing with the trauma caused by racial segregation and poverty (Noguera, 2003; Tatum, 2005). Ultimately, the educational inequalities faced by students of color result in a higher risk for negative life outcomes such as school dropout, economic poverty, and incarceration (Noguera, 2003). Although schools themselves cannot address resegregation, they can mitigate some of the detrimental effects of racial inequalities. Students of color internalize racial inequalities in educational environments at critical times in their identity formation. This internalization can lead to attitudes and behaviors that Group Mentoring and Identity Formation for Young Men of Color
