THE CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES OF INCLUDING STUDENTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP: BUILDING AND SUSTAINING CHANGE

Abstract

Through action research, a new youth-adult leadership group emerged at Forest Hills Elementary (pseudonym). Applying theory to practice, the development of the Student Leadership Group provided a foundation of knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for establishing youth-adult leadership practices at Forest Hills. Scaling up reform within was more challenging however; building youth-adult co-leadership into school involves individual, group, and organizational capacities (Mitchell, & Sackney, 2011). I unpack my experience building a Student Leadership Group through the lens of Brasof’s (2015) capacity-building behaviors. Outcomes suggest that attention must be paid to shift and spread (Coburn, 2003) in order scale up and sustain student voice within a building.