Running head: PLANNING FOR ACTION

Advocacy: Planning for Action

Anaka Osborne

Johns Hopkins University, School of Education

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Targeted Needs, Goals and Action Steps

Based on my findings from my qualitative and quantitative data of my needs assessment,

my students and I were able to narrow our targeted need to improve the safety and sense of

belonging at home and in our communities. A hand- full of passionate students and myself were

able to identify three specific goals we would like to see in the community, for this need to be

addressed. The first goal is for the number of homicides in D.C. to decrease from 116 in 2017 to

95 in 2018 (Metropolitan Police Department, 2018). Our second goal is for more families at AIM

Academy to attend educational parenting classes/ sessions or family enrichment programs.

Lastly, we would like to see more recreational centers host community events, and increase their

advertising so that citizens in the communities are aware of the events.

All three goals require action and responsibilities on the part of myself, my students and

community stake- holders. For our first goal, we must track the homicide data in the city

monthly, and reach out to our city police chief, and local commander about our concerns and

suggestions such as increased police presence in areas with high crime rates. Our second goal

requires my students to conduct research of local classes that they hope parents attend.

Additionally, it requires us as a team to compile the information into a convenient, and reader-

friendly document that is engaging and informative to families. Finally, to increase students’

sense of belonging in their own communities, they will commit to attend more of the local

recreational events that already take place. In addition to events that community centers and

recreations already offer, my students will survey their peers each trimester to identify desires

and suggestions from a larger scale, that they can pitch to the recreation centers.
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Review and Summary of the Meeting

During our planning meeting, my students became highly engaged, and fervent to begin

the action phase. However, as Fletcher (2010) emphasizes in the authoring stage of youth voice,

it is important to plan, and ensure that my students will engage with skill and practical action

which requires diligent planning. Therefore, within our meeting we assigned roles for our

meeting times, as well as outreach responsibilities.

Within our meetings we have a timekeeper, a norms keeper, and a note taker. Outside of

meeting the students created three different committees to divvy up the responsibilities, and

action steps of each goal. We have a MPD committee who will track the crime data in the city,

introduce themselves, and maintain relationships with local commanders at the 7th District Police

Station, and be the liaison between students, community members and the police force. The

“Family Engagement” and “Youth Engagement” committees, share similar responsibilities

within their respective goals. Students in these committees will research local organizations and

classes and events for parents and students to attend. Create and maintain the community bulletin

board with various opportunities, event announcements and sign-up sheets. Additionally, they

will serve as a liaison between community members, students and families.

What I admired most about our planning meeting, was my students truly leading a large

part of this meeting and role- delegation. By taking a backseat, and still being able to listen to my

students during the validating and authorizing stages of their engagement, I started to truly

understand what youth- led advocacy looked like. They embodied a far greater sense of maturity,

passion and determination that I had ever witnessed. This is largely because these are issues,

ideas and actions that were created by my students, which therefore provides them with a great

deal of ownership and joy (Fletcher & Vavrus, 2006).

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How My Insights Will Influence My Teaching Practice

From this module, and my experience identifying my students’ needs, and helping them

find their passion and voices, I have come to realize that just like any other individual they are

people who have opinions and ideas, which they are capable of voicing (Fox, Bedford, Connelly,

2013). Far too often students’ voices are not able to move beyond the listening stage of

Fletcher’s (2010) Cycle of Engagement, because our responses and validations as adults are

either insincere, or nonexistent. My experience through my students’ meeting, their needs

assessment, and the opportunity for many of them to join me in the March for Our Lives rally,

has pushed me to include them in more of the decision making, and feedback for our daily

instruction and classroom curriculum.

Seeing how engaged, and persistent my students were during this time, I am confident

that they will carry many of these same characteristics into decisions that impact students on a

day to day basis. For example, I would love to listen to my students’ needs in the classroom to

make lessons more engaging and concepts sticker.

Highlights and Lowlights of My Experience

As I mentioned in my summary of findings, the highest point of this experience was the

impeccable timing of identifying my students’ needs, and igniting their passions and

responsibilities with the March for Our Lives rally. This was a time that allowed me to recognize

the reality of advocacy in many different scenarios. In times such as what I first experienced the

cycle of engagement can occur extremely quickly when passions and rages are high, and the

opportunity presents itself. I quickly saw my students express their needs through a survey, feel

the satisfaction of being able to voice their concerns to a politician in a letter, and design a

poster, and further act on those needs by marching in the rally. Observing my students plan and
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organize in the meeting was another highlight of my student- led advocacy journey. I loved being

able to see them in a new lens that allowed for so much growth and activism to shine!

Although, it is small in comparison, a lowlight of my experience is when I experienced

difficulties accessing resources I planned on using to inform my background context. Not having

access to the parent surveys from orientation, and not having enough time to organize and

include them in the quantitative or qualitative data was a little upsetting. However, the data and

information I gathered from the students was extremely informative and fruitful for the overall

experience.

New Aspirations, and Perceived Future Challenges

I have been motivated by my students to create a club next year were my students from

this year, as well as any others can continue this work. I feel change is often slow, but comes

with persistence and follow- through. I would hate to see all of the groundwork they have started

go idle, or left undone without their follow through. Furthermore, I would hate to miss out on the

needs and passions of other students in the building by not having the space to listen, validate,

authorize, act and reflect on their needs as well.

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References

Fletcher, A. (2010). Cycle of youth voice. Retrieved from https://freechild.org/cycle-of-youth-

voice/

Fletcher, A. & Vavrus, J. (2006). The guide to social change led by and with young people.

CommonAction. Retrieved from https://adamfletcher.net/wp-

content/uploads/2015/06/SocialChangeGuide.pdf

Fox, K., Bedford, M., & Connelly, B. (2013). Student voice and resilience in learning. ASCD

Express, 8 (25). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol8/825-fox.aspx

Metropolitan Police Department. (2018) District crime data at a glance. District of Columbia

Government. Retreived from: https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/district-crime-data-glance