Youth Social Action

An excellent new report by the RSA has dived into teacher experiences on youth social action and it's definitely worth a read.

The project wanted to understand how youth social action is experienced by teachers, encourage more schools to become involved in youth social action and enable more educators to implement youth social action to benefit teachers, pupils and the wider community.

It goes without saying that teachers play a huge role in guiding young people in their learning. In particularly primary schools, there is a large opportunity for teachers to bring citizenship education into the classroom, empowering children and fostering a deep rooted sense of community.

What are the teachers saying?

As part of this report, Teacher Tapp undertook a large survey with UK primary teachers to determine the state of play around youth social action.

• Over 60% of educators agree that teaching and non-teaching staff benefit from supporting youth social action
• Over 60% think youth social action can help to build positive community-wide relationships
• Youth social action supports positive change in the community as well as positive outcomes for the pupils

Yet almost half of all educators have no supported youth social action yet.

Not surprisingly, time and resources are cited as the hinderance as well as pressure to prioritise school improvement.

How can you bring youth social action into your school?

1. You may already be doing it!

Recycling projects, bug hotels, litter picking... you may find you're already bringing small social impact projects into your school but not actively acknowledging it as such.

2. Start small!

You can embed social action into other activities. Maybe run a school assembly to raise awareness around plastic pollution. This could then lead to starting up a regular litter picking club.

3. Develop this over time

It will be a constant learning process. Staff and pupils will make mistakes but confidence on both sides will grow. By being a two way street, both pupils and staff can learn from each other.

4. Partnerships for the goals

Look to local groups to galvanise action. Maybe it's a tree planting organisation, a mental health charity or a rewilding expert; these groups or individuals will have experience in exciting and inspiring young minds in their respective areas. Helping to develop the global citizens of the future.

Examples of youth social action

The full report has some excellent examples that schools can integrate. Why not take a look at trying some of the following?

• Organise a mini protest. Create some signs, write some letters to government and research the climate issues that are important to you
• Run a litter picking club - start with a whole school assembly before setting up a regular club with the pupils
• Start up a regular refill shop after school in your grounds to get parents and children involved
• Create some bug hotels!
• Hold regular repair and swap shops and get the older year groups to manage it on the day