Abstract
As students living in urban communities face unique challenges, social-emotional programming is needed that fosters multicultural enrichment and civic engagement. We developed and pilot tested Building Community, a small group intervention, to foster multicultural and civic engagement skills. Building Community is a culturally relevant short-term group intervention for upper elementary-aged students that draws upon the multicultural literature and Six Cs positive youth development and civic engagement research as reported by Zarrett and Lerner (Child Trends 11:1–5, 2008). A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to explore outcomes on multicultural development and civic engagement among five ethnically diverse elementary-aged students. Findings suggested an emerging sense of multicultural development and expanding awareness of ways to engage in the community. Although quantitative analyses revealed little change, there was a small increase in the Civic Attitudes subscale that corresponded with qualitative themes from interviews and artifacts. Implications for school psychologists and practitioners working with multiculturally diverse students are described.
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Acknowledgments
Program planning and implementation was made possible through administrative and voluntary support of the community-based afterschool program.
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In completion of the study, data analyses, and manuscript, we maintained compliance with ethical standards. All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Institutional Review Board from the University of Massachusetts Boston (study number: 2016076) and are in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was also obtained from all parent/legal guardians of the participants in the study. Child participants also received informed consent about their participation in the study.
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Appendix. Semi-structured Interview Questions
Appendix. Semi-structured Interview Questions
Personal growth
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1.
Since being involved in this group, what have you learned about yourself?
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What aspect of the group did you like the most?
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What part did you like least?
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How do you think you have grown through this group?
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Did you feel uncomfortable at any point throughout the process?
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Do you think you have gotten better at resolving conflicts with other people?
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In what ways do you feel more aware of current issues that people (from all different backgrounds) face?
Future volunteering/leadership
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What impact do you think the group has had or will have on the afterschool program and the larger community?
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Do you think you will do volunteer work in the future? Follow up: Tell me about the volunteer work you want to do.
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Do you feel like you know how to begin a volunteer project? Can you tell me about it?
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We talked about leadership in our group and how everyone can be a leader. Tell me about the ways in which you feel like/are a leader?
Perspective growth
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What does being a part of an ethnic group mean to you?
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What is something you have learned about others who are different from you?
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14.
Has your view on the world/your community changed at all since starting the group? If so, how?
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Cook, A.L., Brodsky, L.M., Walker, W. et al. Building Community Group Intervention: Exploring Outcomes on Multicultural and Civic Engagement Skills with Upper Elementary Students. Contemp School Psychol 25, 426–442 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00273-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00273-1