As part of the Youth, Culture and Education class I took as part of my doctoral program, I developed a user-guide for parents, teachers, after-school program developers, and anyone working with youth for establishing a participatory culture.

A participatory culture is “a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed on to the novice.  A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another…” (The MacArthur Foundation, 2006, p. 3).

I found much of the literature and research to be very inspiring and enlightening as an educator interested in social justice and impactful uses of technology.  You can read the introductory guide, with links to several good resources for those working with youth, by following the link to the Google Doc below.

Understanding and Enhancing Youth Participatory Culture by Matthew A. Moyer