Allen-Handy, A., Ifill, V., Schaar, R. Y., Woodard, M., & Rogers, M. (2021). The emerging critical pedagogies of dance educators in an urban STEAM after-school program for Black girls. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 16(1), 58-88.

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Project: Black Girls STEAMing through Dance (BGSD)

Abstract: The preparation of urban educators has gained widespread attention across education policy, research, and practice. As US urban cities have become more diverse, the teacher workforce has not kept up, and the racial/ethnic demographics of students and teachers are disproportionately incongruent. In order to eradicate an education landscape that perpetuates white, middle-class ways of knowing and being, often at the expense of the cultural practices and cultural wealth of historically marginalized students of color, urban teacher education must be centered toward justice and rooted in critical pedagogies. The literature, albeit bleak, reveals that these perspectives must also be applied to urban dance education. Dance education programs have been significantly eliminated from urban schools over time, and although dance has historical roots in African and African diasporic cultures, dance education continues to be Eurocentric. This phenomenological case study examines the emerging critical pedagogies of undergraduate dance majors and minors who served as dance teachers in an urban Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) after-school program for 7-12-year-old Black girls. Findings reveal that (a) navigating race, place, and space; (b) mentorship and practice; and (c) critical reflection and self-efficacy were critical components of the urban dance educators’ emerging critical pedagogies. Implications for urban dance education and the broader field of urban education are provided.

Allen-Handy, A., Meloche, A., Brown, J., Frazier, A., Escalante, K., Walker, M., Burns, I., Edwards-Chapman, N., Ervin, Q., Thomas, A., Thomas, M., Wortham, I., Bugg, D. & Dia, J. (2021). Preserving history for the persistent legacy of our school: A youth-led participatory heritage project. Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture, 50(1), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1515/pdtc-2021-0003

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Project: West Philadelphia High School-Preservation, Intergenerational, Cultural Heritage Project

Abstract: This in-process project report describes a critical youth-led participatory heritage project that seeks to document, preserve, and make digitally accessible oral histories, archives, and artifacts of an urban, predominantly African American high school with a rich history and legacy. As a long-standing community institution, the narratives emerging from this high school are intricately connected with the larger story of the city of Philadelphia. This article uses an equity-based lens to demonstrate how youth-led participatory heritage can contribute to youth empowerment, critical consciousness development, and critical digital literacies. Implications for schools and communities experiencing gentrification, displacement, and community change are provided, including how participatory heritage with youth can utilize collaborative, asset-based efforts to foster change that allows youth and communities to have agency over their individual and collective stories, community history and legacy, and their futures.

Allen-Handy, A., Meloche, A., Likely, R., Sterin, K., Thomas-EL, S., Richardson McCullough, C., Wenrick, R., Nicholas, D., Kaschock, K., Drummond, D., Jung, U., Jenkins, G., & Welsh, D. (under review, 2023). A sandwich effect: Gentrification and Black residential displacement in the university-adjacent West Philadelphia promise zone. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and the City.

Project: Anti-Displacement: The Untapped Potential of University-Community Cooperative Living

Abstract: This study examines the landscape of gentrification and Black residential displacement within the Mantua and Powelton Village communities of the West Philadelphia Promise Zone (WPPZ). Our intergenerational community-driven participatory action research (CPAR) team conducted a comparative longitudinal spatial analysis between Census Data from 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 investigating variables of both gentrification and displacement including changes in population, racial demographics, per capita income, and housing costs and value. Our findings demonstrate that targeted block groups within the WPPZ are exhibiting indicators of displacement; however, they are not progressing at the same rate. We found that Black residents are impacted by the neighborhood changes at the highest rates, and are being displaced from the North and the South, being squeezed to the middle resulting in a racialized pattern of gentrification that we deem a sandwich effect. We offer recommendations and strategies to combat displacement of Black residents in the WPPZ and other university-adjacent urban communities experiencing gentrification and swift community change.

Allen-Handy, A., Sterin, K., Meloche, A., Likely, R., Richardson McCullough, C., Datts, K., Wenrick, R., Nicholas, D., Kaschock, K., Drummond, D., Jung, U., & Welsh, D. (under review, 2023). The “inaccessible and inadequate” landscape of affordable housing in a rapidly gentrifying West Philadelphia: A view from Du Bois’ megascope. City and Community.

Project: Anti-Displacement: The Untapped Potential of University-Community Cooperative Living

Abstract: This case study of West Philadelphia provides an in-depth investigation of the descriptive statistics of the affordable housing landscape paired with the lived experiences of people residing within the rapidly gentrifying urban area. Like many U.S. cities, the back-to-the-city movement has been critically altering the city of Philadelphia, as capital investments are being made in majority Black, low-income communities to attract white, middle-class people. This case study documents a specific phase of gentrification in West Philadelphia by investigating the landscape of racially disparate access to affordable housing. Similar to Du Bois’ hyper-local study of Philadelphia's 7th ward (Du Bois & Eaton, 1899/1996), our hyper-local study collects a combination of quantitative and qualitative data examined through the lens of DuBois’ megascope as featured in his speculative fiction story, “The Princess Steel”. Using a community-driven participatory action research approach, we draw our findings from a triangulation of four sources: (1) empirical Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) mapping software; (2) photowalks; (3) focus groups; and (4) community-generated artistic artifacts. Findings demonstrate that the landscape of affordable housing in West Philadelphia promotes active displacement of Black residents through a combination of financial, political, and cultural forces. Without a racialized analysis of the gentrification process, the effects on neighborhood communities cannot be fully understood.

Allen-Handy, A., & Thomas-EL, S. L. (2018). Be(com)ing critical scholars: The emergence of urban youth scholar identities through research and critical civic praxis. Urban Education, 1-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918814589

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Project: Urban Youth Scholars Program at Science Leadership Academy Center City

Abstract: This phenomenological case study examined the emergence of critical scholar identities among five urban youth who participated in a 2-year critical research fellows program. The program was grounded on the theoretical framework of Social Justice Youth Development, which included the development of self, social/community, and global awareness leading to critical consciousness and social action. Findings depict the personal and programmatic components of nurturing urban youth’s critical scholar identities and contribute to the growing body of literature in critical youth studies and scholar identity development with marginalized urban youth.

Allen-Handy, A., Thomas-EL, S.L., & Sung, K.K. (2020). Urban youth scholars: Cultivating global leadership development through youth-led justice-oriented research. The Urban Review, 1-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-020-00568-w

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Project: Urban Youth Scholars Program at Science Leadership Academy Center City

Abstract: Educational researchers and practitioners have cited the need for new directions in youth leadership studies as it relates to globalization. Globalization is considered one of the most important economic, cultural, and social trends of the last century, yet there is much debate about the educational curricula that best support the development of global leadership in youth. Most existing global-focused programs (i.e. IB/AP) engender grave inequities in access and opportunities, particularly for urban youth, and do not often allow youth to critically interrogate the myriad injustices that plague the world. There is, however, a burgeoning body of scholarship centered on critical youth studies as a transformative process for youth development. This phenomenological case study shares the findings from the Urban Youth Schol- ars program, an after-school program focused on cultivating the global leadership development of five youth in the program. This study utilized a Social Justice Youth Development framework to explore the development of the youth’s self, social/com- munity, and global awareness through critical consciousness building and critical social analysis. Findings depict youth perceptions of global leadership development and include implications for scholars and practitioners for centering youth-led justice-oriented research as a tool for global leadership development.

Richardson McCullough, C., Datts, K., Allen-Handy, A., Sterin, K., & Escalante, K. (2022). Zip code colonization: Counter-narratives of gentrification’s traumatic impact on Philadelphia’s Black communities and schools. Journal of Trauma Studies in Education 1(3), 23-44.

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Project: Anti-Displacement: The Untapped Potential of University-Community Cooperative Living

Abstract: An American’s residential zip code persists as intricately connected to one’s educational and life outcomes due to the continuous implementation of a web of discriminatory public policies. As the forces of gentrification continue to alter the racial landscape of many cities, long-time Black residents experience traumatic changes affecting which educational opportunities exist in their neighborhoods and for whom. In this study, we use collaborative autoethnographic (CAE) methods to interrogate the traumatic ways gentrification has influenced the lives of three Black Philadelphians – a community elder, a young adult activist, and a mother-scholar. These counter-narratives highlight the interrelationship between place, education, and trauma through the lens of Black spatial agency. Implications for resistance and place- making within a gentrifying society characterized by racial capitalism are provided for educators, policymakers, developers, and community residents.

Sterin, K., Mathew, K.A., Allen-Handy, A., Manonsong, A.M., Genovesi, J., Thomas, D., Godfrey, K., Marcus, I., Peter, N., Blecker, H., et al. (under review, 2023). Stepping out and stepping up: Narratives of women of color in an urban STEM OST program. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research.

Project: Engaging Women in Engineering: Training Mentors to Make a Difference

Abstract: The science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields have a well-documented racialized and gendered participation gap between males, particularly white males, and women of color (WOC). Through a Critical Race Feminist lens, this qualitative research study uses life-story narrative analysis to understand the experiences of eleven WOC who participated in an urban STEM-focused out-of-school time (OST) program. Data analysis showed students story their experiences around three overarching themes: (1) Experiencing New Opportunities; (2) Cultivating Supportive Relationships; and (3) Expanding STEM Career Possibilities. Findings indicate that an urban STEM-focused OST program can activate an ecosystem of opportunities and support which can empower WOC to step out of their socialized comfort zones and step up to more advanced academic and career paths. Participant narratives demonstrate how their experiences in a particular urban STEM OST program opened doors and encouraged pathways otherwise historically made inaccessible to WOC in STEM fields.

Allen-Handy, A., Ifill, V., Schaar, R., Rogers, M., & Woodard, M. (2020). Black girls STEAMing through dance: Inspiring STEAM literacies, STEAM identities, and positive self-concept. In K. Thomas & D. Huffman (Eds.). Challenges and opportunities for transforming from STEM to STEAM education. IGI Global.

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Project: Black Girls STEAMing through Dance (BGSD)

Abstract: Black Girls STEAMing through Dance (BGSD) leverages a transdisciplinary partnership among four Black women professors in urban education, dance, industrial/ product design, and computing to engage Black girls in a STEAM-infused program to inspire STEAM literacies, STEAM identities, and positive self-concept. BGSD is in its third year of existence and operates across several contexts, including an after-school program for 7- to 12-year-old Black girls, a co-curricular mini course program for 5th and 6th grade girls, and a professional development course for teachers. This chapter highlights how the program was developed and how the use of dance to integrate STEAM is a promising platform to encourage engaged STEAM participation amongst underrepresented Black girls.

Allen-Handy, A., Thomas-EL, S.L., Bhuiyan, T., Carroll, X., Karlen, E., Medlock, I., Weeks, I. (2019). Urban youth/international scholars: Critical solutions in support of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. In P.A. Robinson, A. Allen-Handy, A. Bryant & C.W. Lewis (Eds.) Global perspectives on issues and solutions in urban education. Information Age.

Project: Urban Youth Scholars Program at Science Leadership Academy Center City

Abstract: