Social Justice Education in a Diverse Classroom: Examining High School Discussions about Race, Power, and Privilege

What Do Students Have to Do With Educational Leadership? Making a Case for Centering Student Voice

“…But engaging student voice in schools does not come easy. Along with others (Bertrand, 2014; Mansfield, 2012, 2014; Welton et al, 2015), we recognize that contesting the status quo and including students in school governance is difficult work. Add to that the fear that some teachers and principals have that they will lose their jobs if they become known as a justice advocate (Marshall & Anderson, 2008).…”

“…The work of Jones and Yonezawa highlights the ways school leaders can apply a constructivist approach to leadership with students. Without the invaluable insights of students, school leaders and staff would not have the necessary information to improve the learning conditions in schools (Halx, 2014; Mansfield, 2014, 2015; Welton, Harris, LaLonde, & Moyer, 2015). Furthermore, when students are provided the tools and opportunities to engage in building their own leadership capacity, they often unearth perspectives and insights from fellow students not typically or readily accessible to adults.…”

A Framework for Rethinking Educational Leadership in the Margins: Implications for Social Justice Leadership Preparation

“…The term “youth voice” is used to describe a variety of ways youth can participate in decision making, ranging from completing surveys to engaging in shared decision making with school administrators and others with official positions of power (Mitra & Gross, 2009). The term is also used in connection with projects involving YPAR (Bertrand, 2014; Lac, 2017; Welton, Harris, La Londe, & Moyer, 2015). Mansfield (2014) has explored youth voice as related to educational leadership.…”

“…Although general scholarship on YPAR, youth voice, and youth activism illuminates youth’s leadership in schools, little educational leadership scholarship considers this area. Exceptions include the scholarship of Welton, Lac, Smyth, and Bertrand (Bertrand, 2014; Lac, 2017; Smyth, 2006a, 2006b; Welton et al, 2015). As with YPAR scholarship beyond the educational leadership field, scholarship within the field sometimes characterizes youth’s leadership in other ways, such as student voice.…”

Applying a Developmental Lens to Youth-Led Participatory Action Research: A Critical Examination and Integration of Existing Evidence

“…Through YPAR, youth can leverage the insights they gain from conducting research to take a leadership role in evaluating the impact of programs and services and in advocating for positive change in relevant programs, policies, and environments (Brydon-Miller, Greenwood, & Maguire, 2003; Ozer, 2017). In addition, YPAR can be an important approach for racially diverse and traditionally marginalized youth to experience self-determination, social justice, and empowerment (Akom, 2011), and can help to raise awareness of disparities and to address inequity and inequality between diverse groups of youth (Caraballo, Lozenski, Lyiscott, & Morrell, 2017; Welton, Harris, La Londe, & Moyer, 2015).…”