How can we modernize schools and classrooms around inclusive practices? Education reform that shifts away from the traditional school and classroom learning models could make schools more inclusive, democratic, and supportive. True modernization of schools should shift the paradigm of classical education by adopting new learning frameworks that address both academic and social-emotional learning. This article outlines two such frameworks: Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and Restorative Practices (RP). These innovative models promote inclusivity among students by incorporating social-emotional skills and social justice activism. The traditional classroom model is a standardized one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes the retention of knowledge with a focus on assessment. This system tends to favor students who are geared toward this type of learning while excluding students who may be differently abled. It is also positioned to reward students who are culturally or cognitively geared toward this one type of learning while leaving out students who are might learn differently. Similarly, the tradition of disciplining students with punitive consequences (detention, suspension, expulsion) can make existing disparities even worse and tends to be exclusionary. Punishments like these can cause feelings of alienation within the school community, especially when the discipline does not effectively reintegrate the wrongdoer. Likewise, the targeted individual and wrongdoer are rarely offered an opportunity to participate in meaningful conflict resolution. School leaders, therefore, should consider new practices that make all students feel welcome at school.
What is Youth Participatory Action Research?
Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a scaffolded learning model that engages students in a process of inquiry and action in their community. Through this innovative approach, students rise up as leaders in their community while developing skills in research, civics, data collection, organizational theory, strategic communication, and community organizing. They also build strong ties to their community by investing their energy into making positive change. This model also has the potential to increase students’ social awareness, self-confidence, empathy, and compassion. It promotes inclusivity by enabling students to address systemic and institutional barriers or disparities within their community. Through YPAR curriculum, Students in San Francisco identified and worked to change oppression and gender bias in their school’s dress code; Chicago students worked alongside social science researchers to implement restorative justice practices in schools; Boulder, CO students identified and proposed strategies for improving campus inclusivity, resources, and opportunities for students of color. YPAR could be as simple as asking students to identify disparities in their school and collaboratively developing a plan for change. Most importantly, this model gives students a voice and an opportunity to change their world for the better.
What is Restorative Practice?
Restorative Practice (RP) is a social science that studies how to improve and repair relationships among individuals and in communities by combining theory, research, and practice from the fields of education, sociology, criminology, organizational theory, psychology, and social work. Implementing RP is a simple way to promote empathy, active listening, and connection. The goal of RP is to foster healthier communities by repairing harm and restoring relationships that may have been damaged by crime or antisocial behavior. Restorative conferences or circles allow aggressors and targets to explore how the transgression has affected the community and what can be done to repair the harm. In education, these circles and groups offer an opportunity for students to build strong relationships by sharing their feelings and solving problems collectively. Restorative circles can be practiced as a proactive approach to preventing anti-social behaviors such as bullying. Proactive work could include regularly discussing norms and expectations for the school community. Instead of punishing students, restorative circles address the reasons for antisocial behavior and give all students an equal voice in building community.
A Shift Toward Inclusion
These are just some of the ways that school leaders can slowly move away from traditions that are often alienating students.