Do Better: Youth-Adult Partnership in Education Settings

This post continues a series on youth-adult partnership as an anti-oppression tool.

Looking back at the start of school year 2020-21, I recall talk of applying lessons from that pandemic-driven school year to develop a new model for education. As schools return across the country for SY2021-22, I think it’s fair to say we failed to realize that promise. And it’s not because students didn’t speak up about their needs. On this first day back to in-person school for students here in Washington, DC, I offer some reflections about the need and potential opportunities for youth-adult partnership to reduce oppression in education settings. 

The education system is no less oppressive for young people than other youth-impacting systems, such as child welfare and juvenile justice. Education leaders exclusively control hundreds of hours of children’s lives each year, dictate what and how children and youth learn, and even who gets to learn, often without reference to what benefits or is relevant to youth. 

Children and youth, and indeed all of us, are harmed by decisions that whitewash history, inadequately prepare and support teachers to manage diverse classrooms and mental health needs, and prioritize standardized measures learning over the growth and development of lifelong learners.

Push out practices entirely remove youth who challenge teachers and administrators beyond what they’re prepared to handle. The entrenchment of law enforcement in schools, through School Resource Officers, exclusionary discipline policies, and searches or metal detectors at doors, goes even further to criminalize and excise the self-determination of students. System failures to adequately bridge the digital divide during the pandemic removed even more youth from the learning environment. 

How can schools and other educational institutions reimagine sharing power and accountability among adults and youth? 

Youth-adult partnership is a decision-making structure where youth and adults come to the table together, identify an issue or question together, and apply their unique skills, knowledge, and assets to solving it together. Better decisions result. 

Youth-adult partnership can occur between one adult and one youth arriving at a decision personal to them. For example, a teacher and student who’s been causing frequent “disruptions” could partner to identify the root cause of why the student is not engaged, and can co-develop an agreement for moving forward constructively. 

Youth-adult partnership can also look more formal and include groups of youth and adults. A common example is boards of directors with youth and adult members or advisory bodies of youth or families. 

Upcoming posts will highlight growing examples of youth-adult partnership in systems. Reach out to me if you have an example you think I should share or are looking for support to build a model within your organization or institution.

Youth-Adult Partnership is an Anti-Oppression Tool: A Series

Youth-adult partnership secures everyone’s right to self-determination, increases young people’s power over their own lives, and upends the pervasive privilege-oppressor relationship between adults and youth. Youth-adult partnership takes diverse forms but all center on shared power, shared accountability, shared resources, and shared language.

A first step for philanthropic, non-profit and advocacy organizations, juvenile justice and child welfare agencies, and education institutions that seek to reduce oppression should be investing in a sustainable infrastructure for youth-adult partnership. In upcoming posts, I will share practical opportunities for these diverse sectors to reduce oppression through youth-adult partnership.

The Everyday Oppression of Young People

Among the myriad ways humans find to “other” and oppress each other, I highlight the oppression of young people. Adultism, a common term for silencing youth voices and experiences, intersects with oppression of girls and young women, Black, Indigenous and other young people of color, youth with disabilities, and LGBTQ young people. 

However, adultism differs from other forms of oppression in the shift every person experiences over a lifetime from a position of oppression to one of privilege. The automatic and universal experience of aging leads us from a position of oppression as children and youth to one of privilege as adults. 

Human brains are well equipped to cloak and/or justify our oppression of others, thus oppressors rarely recognize their oppression for what it is. The universality of adultism makes it even less likely people recognize it as oppression; we accept it as the normal course of life. It shouldn’t be, and it doesn’t have to be.

Youth-Adult Partnership as an Anti-Oppression Tool

Youth-adult partnership takes a variety of forms but is fundamentally a decision-making structure where youth and adults come to the table together, identify an issue or question together, and apply their unique skills, knowledge and assets to solving it together. Everyone shares power, accountability, resources to support their participation, and a common language. Both youth and adults need increased support to make this happen.

In the various professional spaces where adults make decisions affecting youth, real opportunities exist to improve outcomes for organizations, adults and young people and to reduce oppression through youth-adult partnership.

The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange published a condensed version of this series in an article focused on the juvenile justice system.

Youth-Adult Partnership Models: Sustainability Champion

As I highlight champions of youth-adult partnership across the country , I’m reminded that different models work for different organizations. This post highlights one organization that has managed to sustain youth-adult partnership in organizational governance for an extraordinarily long time.

America’s Promise Alliance 

America’s Promise Alliance (https://www.americaspromise.org/) has sustained youth members on its Board of Directors and Board of Trustees for over a decade. America’s Promise reserves at least two seats on its Board of Directors for youth members and currently has three. Youth Board members have full voting and acting rights.

America’s Promise also has youth members on its Board of Trustees, a robust steering committee of leaders from among America’s Promise’s 450+ partner organizations. While not required, the organization does this to mirror its Board of Directors and incorporate youth voice into the fabric of their strategic programmatic work.

America’s Promise does not pay stipends or wages to its youth or adult Board members, but it does cover travel costs for the youth members.

Key to success #1: Cemented in Governance Documents

America’s Promise bylaws require youth seats on the Board of Directors.

Section 3.4 Youth Representation. Young people shall help shape and contribute to Alliance strategies and activities. No less than two (2) youth representatives aged 16-24 shall be nominated and elected to the Board for a term of two (2) years.

Key to success #2: Compromise

Initially, America’s Promise hoped to engage youth under the age of 18 on its Boards. However, the multiple trips around the country required each year and other challenges limited its success.

America’s Promise found that young adults over 18 were better able to meaningfully engage with the existing level of staff support. At the time, America’s Promise wasn’t able to dedicate the additional staff time they felt younger Board members would need and so decided to focus on 18-year-old youth and above until they could fill that additional need. As a result, America’s Promise has been able to meaningfully and consistently engage young adult leaders on its Boards for over a decade.

Key to success #3: A National Recruitment Network of Youth-Service Organizations

As a national-level organization with a vast network of youth-serving organizations, America’s Promise recruits youth Board members through a national call to these organizations. Developing and maintaining a pipeline of rising youth leaders can be a challenge, especially for organizations that do not directly serve youth. Connecting with partners provides meaningful support for ongoing recruitment and can give youth a home-based link through which to access help, training, and guidance as needed.

To learn more about how your organization can sustainably engage youth and adults as partners in decision-making, reach out using the Contact Me page.