Youth Engagement through and in Schools (EE)This is a featured page

This page presents a first draft of a summary describing how school-based and school-linked human development programs can engage students in program and school activities as well as school, agency, community and family decision-making.

This summary presents links to new educational, planning and assessment resources as well as research on engaging or empowering youth through school-community programs. These online and other documents have been identified through a variety of sources. Select items from the list in the right hand margin to find links to items of direct interest to educators and other front-line workers.

An Overview of the Issue

Schools provide a number of opportunities for engaging youth in meaningful ways that will empower them and create processes and structures that ensure greater student involvement in educational and school decision-making. These include instructional strategies such as self-directed and cooperative learning strategies, project-based learning, student webquests and other online learning, formal student leadership programs and obligatory community service programs. There are also many ways that schools can empower and engage youth through school-based peer helper and mentoring programs, voluntary student activity programs, clubs and other extra-curricular activities. The policy, procedures and practices of the school can emphasize student involvement, fairness and assumption of responsibilities by young people. Further, the decision-making processes of the school can be modified to enhance student engagement, including formal roles for the Student Council, efforts to manage a wide range of students and the frequent use of formal needs assessments and student surveys.

Youth engagement is the meaningful participation and sustained involvement of a young person in an activity which has a focus outside of himself or herself. Youth can be engaged in many things, and in many different ways. It may involve doing volunteer work, participating in a youth organization, playing in a band or a school orchestra, working for a political party or a non-governmental organization, or taking part in the activities of one’s church, mosque or synagogue, among many other things. Some youth will take a leadership role in these activities, helping to organize other youth in their efforts, while other youth will be satisfied to be participants in the activity or organization.

An expert on youth participation (Roger Hart) has described such involvement in an eight step Ladder, described below in reverse order. The bottom three rungs describe youth involvement that is not true participation whereas the top five rungs describe true participation.

Degrees/Levels of Youth Engagement and Participation

8. Youth-initiated, shared decisions with adults is when projects or programs are initiated by youth
and decision-making is shared among youth and adults. These projects empower youth while at the
same time enabling them to access and learn from the life experience and expertise of adults.
7. Youth-initiated and directed is when young people initiate and direct a project or program
Adults are involved only in a supportive role.
6. Adult-initiated, shared decisions with youth is when projects or programs are initiated by adults but the decision-making is shared with the young people.
5. Consulted and informed is when youth give advice on projects or programs designed and run by adults. The youth are informed about how their input will be used and the outcomes of the decisions made by adults.
4. Assigned but informed is where youth are assigned a specific role and informed about how and why they are being involved.
3. Tokenism is where young people appear to be given a voice, but in fact have little or no choice about what they do or how they participate.
2. Decoration is where young people are used to help or "bolster" a cause in a relatively indirect way, although adults do not pretend that the cause is inspired by youth.
1. Manipulation is where adults use youth to support causes and pretend that the causes are inspired by youth



Research collected by the Centre of Excellence on Youth Engagement indicates that activities and programs to engage youth can:

  • make youth more aware of those in society who are disadvantaged

  • help youth cope with stressful life situations

  • provide youth with supportive social networks

  • enhance their social skills

  • increase their sense of what kind of work or occupation they might enjoy

  • increase their sense of competence

  • increase their self-esteem

  • give them a better sense of what is right and wrong

  • decrease problem behaviours

  • increase their academic performance and their likelihood of going on to higher education

  • enhance their life skills in areas such as public speaking

  • make them feel empowered, valued and important

  • help them get along better with adults

  • increase their leadership abilities

  • increase their sense of social responsibility

  • reduce drug use, teen pregnancy and aggression
This summary and collection of resources is aimed primarily at adults working in or with schools systems who are interested in promoting youth engagement through school-based and school-linked programs, practices and policies.

There are numerous on-line sources of information and advice about youth engagement and empowerment, including:









The Canadian Association for School Health has identified several programs, policies and practices that can be used to engage youth effectively. They include:
Policy/Program Development

Working With Youth

Policy Models

Planning/Assessment Tools

Comprehensive Programs

Community-based

Community and School
Whole School Programs

School Climate/Policies

Staff/Volunteer Training

Consulting Students

Student Representatives
Instructional Programs

Active Learning

Project-based Learning

Online Learning

Community Service Learning

Social Support

Peer Helper Programs

Student Leadership Programs

Student Clubs/Sports

After School Programs

Mentoring Programs
Youth Services

Empowering/Friendly

Crisis/Help Lines

Advisory Services

Employment/Education
Services

Personal Counseling/
Support



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