Using Youth Participatory Action Research to Promote Self-Efficacy in Math and Science

Abstract

Youth participatory action research is a pedagogy in which students work together to explore an issue that affects them. The school counselor measured the impact on Latina students who participated in the project based on participants’ self-efficacy in attending college and being successful in math and science. Results indicated that students were more confident in their abilities in science and math and also believed they would attend college in the future by the end of the intervention.

Youth Participatory Action Research as School Counseling Praxis: A Scoping Review

“…A mix of empirical and conceptual articles (n = 9) explained how YPAR can be used as a framework for a group counseling process. Of these group-centric papers, a handful (n = 6) used photovoice to analyze school policies, share untold stories, identify barriers to academic achievement, examine community issues, and/or process race-related stress (Edirmanasinghe, 2020;Edirmanasinghe & Blaginin, 2019;Roxas et al, 2017; Figure 1. Manuscript selection process.…”

“…YPAR fosters critical consciousness in youth and belief that they can change circumstances that affect their ability to succeed in school and their social contexts (Anyon et al, 2018; Cammarota & Romero, 2006; Toraif et al, 2021). Youth advocacy skill developments, including relational empowerment, collaboration skills, and mobilizing community, are outcomes associated with YPAR (Langhout et al, 2014), as are bolstered academic development in math and science (Edirmanasinghe, 2020), English (Mirra, 2020), and social studies (Rubin et al, 2017). The dissemination of YPAR projects has occurred through various mediums, including by school administration (Kohfeldt et al, 2011), in partnership with family and community (Fisher-Borne et al, 2021), and online platforms (Ozer, 2016).…”

“…The dissemination of YPAR projects has occurred through various mediums, including by school administration (Kohfeldt et al, 2011), in partnership with family and community (Fisher-Borne et al, 2021), and online platforms (Ozer, 2016). Creative approaches to YPAR include engaging in project creation and dissemination through performing hip hop music (Levy & Travis, 2020), photovoice (Edirmanasinghe, 2020; Williams et al, 2020), and communicating findings and implications online via blogging, vlogging, and displaying participant artwork depicting relevant findings (Cook et al, 2020; Enright & Gard, 2018). Moreover, in recent years, scholars have used YPAR as a healing space for youth to unpack the sociopolitical stressors they experience (Goessling, 2020).…”

Supporting All Students: Multitiered Systems of Support from an Antiracist and Critical Race Theory Lens

“…The process helped students reflect on the impact of the problem on them personally while also showing them that the school staff valued their voice. More on YPAR can be found in Edirmanasinghe (2020) and Edirmanasinghe et al (2022). Last, the team reviewed their procedures for students, families, and community stakeholders to access the school counseling program.…”

Beyond Traditional Group Counseling: Moving Toward Healing, Catharsis, and Social Action

“…One benefit of YPAR is that there are multiple modalities to meet students' and clients' interests and needs. Evidence in school counseling literature demonstrates positive outcomes with the use of different presentation styles co-created by the school counselor-student partnership such as hip hop cyphers (Levy et al, 2018); mixtape creation (Levy & Travis, 2020); studio creation (Levy & Adjapong, 2020); photovoice (Edirmanasinghe, 2020;Smith et al, 2012;Williams et al, 2020) and traditional PowerPoints (Edirmanasinghe & Blaginin, 2019). While PAR/ YPAR provides a quasi curriculum through the structure, it is up to the counselor to facilitate the process during each group session and in final reflection and termination.…”