Peers as Culturally Relevant Change Agents

Abstract

As the United States’ school-age population has become increasingly diverse, it is critical that the curricula, instruction, assessments, and interventions in schools are culturally relevant, reflecting the values and lived experiences of children and families. In this chapter, we posit that peer-mediated interventions are viable strategies that can be used to improve the cultural relevance of interventions in schools. After reviewing culturally relevant school-based service delivery, we offer four reasons supporting the use of peers as culturally relevant change agents: (a) communal orientation, (b) preference for racial/ethnic match, (c) overcoming cultural mismatches in schools, and (d) near peer modeling.

Reconceptualizing school safety for Black students

“…RJ practices can fit seamlessly into culturally relevant MTSS models, and common practices include restorative circles (i.e., meetings to repair harm and discuss group dynamics), restorative chats (i.e., adult-guided amend-making meetings), and classroom agreements (i.e., a process for creating classroom rules and culture describing how students and staff will interact with one another; Nese et al, 2021). These strategies are included in the various peer-mediated interventions that have strong theoretical foundations for success with Black students (Collins et al, 2021). Gregory et al (2016) found that teachers exhibiting strong implementation of RJ strategies had better relationships with their minoritized students and issued fewer office discipline referrals to Black and Latinx students than teachers who implemented RJ less effectively.…”