Your Role in Teaching YPAR
Why This Matters
In YPAR, students are the researchers, experts, and change-makers—but they need adults who respect and support that leadership. Your role will shift from delivering knowledge to facilitating student discovery, co-learning, and making space for youth to investigate and advocate for what matters to them.
This requires confronting adultism—the assumption that adults know better, interrupt more often, or speak over students’ lived experiences. Even well-meaning guidance can become silencing if it overrides student voice. YPAR challenges us to listen more than we talk, and to trust student wisdom, even when it’s uncomfortable or different from our own.
YPAR invites you to pause, breathe, and ask:
Is what I’m about to say building student power—or protecting mine?
Reflection Prompts
How do you see your role?
Check all that apply:
Facilitator – I help structure the process, hold space for student ideas, and keep momentum going.
Co-learner – I am learning alongside students. I allow myself to be surprised, challenged, and changed.
Expert – I offer research, strategy, or content knowledge when requested or needed.
Coach – I ask guiding questions, push students to think critically, and support skill development.
Advocate – I work to elevate student voice, especially in institutional spaces where it’s often marginalized.
Other: __________________________
What do you need to feel grounded and supported in these roles?
(Think about what will help you stay flexible, affirm students, and not get overwhelmed.)
What potential challenges or tensions do you anticipate in playing these roles? (For example: balancing structure with student autonomy, giving up control, navigating school power dynamics, discomfort with not having all the answers, etc.)