The Bind of Unilateral Power Dynamics and Youth Voice in School Politics

• In Event: The Politics of Student Voice: How Students Interrogate Policy Discourses, Processes, and Practices

Abstract

Purpose
Schools and school districts are increasingly turning to youth voice initiatives, including student advisory councils and youth participatory action research. Research about such initiatives has not yet fully elucidated the ways that adultism and other forms of inequity can derail possibilities for youth to authentically contribute to educational decision-making. Our paper explores this area by considering the relationship between adult-adult power dynamics, on one hand, to possibilities for youth voice, on the other. Our research aligns with the 2023 AERA Annual Meeting theme by helping to illuminate deeper truths about youth voice initiatives and the ways that power relations can either hinder or support “opportunities for just educational processes and systems.”

Theory, Methods, and Data Sources
We analyze interviews with teachers and administrators using the theoretical frameworks of bounded rationality and unilateral/relational power. Bounded rationality, a theory from the field of economics, suggests that human decision-making is not a rational process and is, instead, bounded by a range of factors, including power constraints and access to knowledge (Jones, 2002; Simon, 1997). Unilateral power refers to top-down power, whereas relational power refers to collective power in which any individual is both influenced by others and influences others (Loomer, 1976; Warren, 2005; Author, 2017).
We conducted a qualitative, interview-based study that consisted of both face-to-face and Zoom interviews (Brenner, 2006). Our goal was to speak to adult educators—teachers and administrators—on their experiences with and perceptions of youth voice initiatives taking place in their schools and districts. In total, we conducted 15 interviews with 12 participants, interviewing each participant once, except for three teachers. Each interview ranged from 30 minutes to 1 hour. Interviews were audio recorded and later transcribed.
The first phase of analysis consisted of the research team/authors open coding three transcripts while taking notes on themes and patterns (Saldaña, 2015). We then met as a group to create one cohesive set of inductive codes based upon our individual open coding, then later created a set of deductive codes based on relevant literature using MAXQDA software. We also wrote analytic memos (Saldaña, 2015) to reflect on observations and trends occurring in the data set. Lastly, we recorded instances of interactions with youth and/or school/ district adults, coding each as unilateral power and/or relational power.
Findings
Overall, we found that constraints on school adults’ power and knowledge can fuel unilateral power structures between adults and students. We also found that relational power is a potent lever to increase opportunities for youth voice.


Scholarly Significance and Connections to AERA Conference Theme
This study highlights many spaces for further inquiry, as well as future implications for education policymakers and diverse practitioners in education: (a) Conducting power analysis when examining the decision-making processes of teachers, especially as related to promoting student agency, because teacher voice can serve as an indicator and pathway for student voice; (b) teachers’ opportunity to influence change in little p politics through leveraging their interpersonal relationships; and (c) the potential of schools to be transformed by allowing school policy to be directed or at least informed by youth voice.

Authors

• Ashley D. Domínguez, University of Arizona
  Presenting Author

• Valencia Clement, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Melanie Bertrand, University of Arizona
  Presenting Author