Using the YPAR Approach in Education

A paper by Kornbluh, Ozer, Allen and Kirshner discusses Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) as a promising methodology for engaging students. YPAR creates opportunities for academic learning, specifically mastering recent standards, while also offering developmental experiences that can elevate the civic development and agency of students.

In YPAR, students partner with teachers or other adults to study the political, social and economic forces influencing their lived experiences, examine a particular social problem through research, and develop an action plan which aims to raise conscientiousness or push towards systemic social or policy change. Here, the role of student voice, supportive adult relations, and a critical exploration of one’s environment guided toward a larger purpose are key to the success of a project.

This article uses two case studies of high school students engaged in YPAR in San Francisco and Denver to illustrate how YPAR can be enacted in practice. Overall, YPAR indicates promise for educators interested in promoting academic scores, social capital, and democratic education within both school and out of school time settings.

You can read or download Youth Participatory Action Research as an Approach to Sociopolitical Development and the New Academic Standards: Considerations for Educators from Sept. 2015 on link.springer.com.