Student Perspectives on the Efficacy of Youth Participatory Action Research as a Tool for Institutional Change

• In Event: Youth Civic Engagement and School Community, Climate, and Culture: Reciprocal Possibilities

Abstract

Objective. This paper will present an analysis of the strengths and limitations of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) as a tool to change school environments from the perspective of students who have completed YPAR projects as a part of their high school coursework.

Theoretical framework. Sociopolitical development (Watts, Williams & Jagers, 2003) describes the concepts and processes by which students interpret and resist oppressive conditions, including the development of knowledge, analytical skills and the capacity for action. Youth explore the potential for alternative liberatory outcomes and begin to identify the pathways and roadblocks to systemic change. As they build knowledge of the institutions and systems they are immersed in, they will create new strategies for bringing about change, which reflect the expansive developmental trajectory. As sociopolitical awareness increases, youth may assess or criticize previously introduced approaches to transformative action.

Methods. Critical Civic Inquiry (CCI) used classroom-based YPAR as a tool for student participation in school reform decision-making. CCI took place in three classrooms, and followed a curriculum structured around the goal of conducting YPAR projects as high school coursework. The projects were completed over the course of one school year, and went through phases that included an introduction to YPAR, identifying a problem with the school, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting findings and potential solutions. Some students continued to work toward changing education systems through the CCI summer research institute, structured around the goal of student-led dialogue with teachers to identify positive and negative features of learning environments.

Data. Data sources include field notes and interviews documenting classroom processes and student narratives from the three high school classrooms. Additional interview and written data are included from the students who participated in the summer research institute phase of the CCI project.

Results. Data demonstrate that students were interested in changing schools, but they did not succeed at making structural changes at the school level. CCI students reflect on the benefits and limitations of using YPAR as a tool for educational change, and describe the ecological factors that limit student input into school reform. For example, repeated observations of student input being ignored by adults lead some students to conclude that YPAR projects will have little effect on school structures. At the same time, students note that developing knowledge of educational systems, gaining skills, and becoming organized increases the likelihood that they can generate the desired systemic changes.

Contribution. Scholarship about YPAR has promoted arguments about the value of YPAR for transforming students’ experiences and their institutions. Although several studies have discussed student learning through YPAR, few studies have discussed students’ impressions of YPAR as a vehicle for social change. This paper, drawing on students’ observations of school ecologies, and experience with YPAR, identifies student perspectives of YPAR including criticisms. Building on this student expertise is one way to improve strategies for successfully integrating YPAR into classrooms as a tool for institutional transformation.

Author

• Adam J. York, University of Colorado - Boulder