Civic Literacy, Volume 2

Building Civic Futures in Out-of-School Literacy Learning Environments

LaMar Timmons-Long, Nicole Mirra, Antero Garcia

• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9780814102374
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages

In an era when education can extend far beyond traditional classrooms, this volume explores how young people engage with civic life and shape their futures through creative, critical, and collective action. This timely volume brings together a diverse group of scholars and practitioners who highlight the rich potential of out-of-school spaces, digital platforms, and community-based practices to nurture the next generation of civic leaders.

From youth-driven podcasts to speculative fiction and social media activism, the chapters in this book chart a range of innovative and empowering practices that support young people's development as activists, storytellers, and agents of change. Contributors examine how Black, immigrant, refugee, and urban youth are crafting new narratives of justice, belonging, and resistance—often in the face of systemic oppression.

In this volume, you'll discover:

• Civic activism through literacy practices, as Black youth challenge dominant narratives and fight for justice in educational spaces.
• Podcasting and digital storytelling as powerful tools for youth to engage in civic discourse, shape their identities, and amplify their voices.
• The role of critical speculative design and Afrofuturism in expanding the possibilities for civic engagement and envisioning a just future.
• Community-engaged learning that connects young people with place-based activism, from migrant girls in urban settings to refugee youth constructing multimodal counterstories.
• The intersection of digital literacies and global civic futures, highlighting transnational youth activism and the power of digital platforms to create solidarity across borders.

The first volume focuses on the future-oriented civic literacy learning taking place in K–12 classrooms. The third volume explores the transformative role of civic education in ELA classrooms and teacher preparation programs, focusing on social justice, critical literacy, and activism. This collection redefines what it means to be civically engaged in the twenty-first century and offers actionable insights for educators, community leaders, and anyone interested in empowering young people to create more equitable and inclusive societies. Join the conversation and learn how, outside the classroom, young people are building the futures they deserve.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: LaMar Timmons-Long, Nicole Mirra, and Antero Garcia
• Drawing from/for Justice: Black Children and Youth as Activists in Literacy Spaces: Francisco L. Torres and Astrid N. Sambolín Morales
• Podcasting as Civically Engaged Storytelling with Black Immigrant Youth: Neisha Terry
• “The Stories We Live By”: Creativity, Criticality, and Civic Futures: Jen Scott Curwood
• Dreamwalk with Me: Engaging Civic Literacy and Critical Speculative Design Praxis : Michael Dando:
• Not Just Acting Like Activists: Youths’ Civic-Focused Justice Work in Social Media Communities: Dominique Skye McDaniel
• An Afrofuturistic Hope for Literacy: Using Arts-Based Teaching to Cultivate Black Boy Literacy Genius: Julia Lynch and Beth W. Gafford
• Expanding Civics beyond Citizenship: Refugee Youths’ Multimodal Counterstories: Megan Heise and Meg Booth
• De- and Re-Constructing Journalism: Storytelling and Social Action: Emily Plummer Catena
• Tales of Resistance: Rebuilding Social Realities in Civic Imagination Workshops: Fabio C. Campos
• Coalitional Civic Literacies: Tracing Urban Migrant Girls’ Democratic Sense-Making in Two Virtual Inquiry Communities: Ankhi G. Thakurta
• Place-Based, Community-Engaged Learning in Challenging Contexts: Shanna Peeples
• Enacting Speculative Futures with Youth at Fan Conventions: Karis Jones, M’mah Cisse, Anais Santiago, and Kimonye Mays
• Transnational Fan Activism: Digital Literacies and Global Civic Futures: Grace MyHyun Kim
• Index
• About the Editors
• About the Authors