RADICAL EMPOWERMENT: PRACTICING THE PRINCIPLES IN A COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY COURSE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20319/ictel.2025.275288Keywords:
Community Psychology, Student Empowerment, Power Sharing, Pedagogy, UndergraduateAbstract
This action research case study explores the implementation of a radical empowerment structure in an undergraduate Community Psychology (CP) course at a rural university in the United States. CP as a field is focused on values such as collective wellbeing, empowerment and citizen participation, collaboration, respect for diversity, and sense of community. The university serves low income, first generation, and other non-traditional students – the focal constituents of much CP research and action. In Spring 2024, the author experimented with radical empowerment in which students designed the syllabus, assignments, weekly agendas, and grading schemes. Students reported working harder in this class than in any other, and the quality of self-assigned weekly homework, reflections, term projects, and presentations was exceptionally high. Students implemented a high level of peer-support, peer-revision, and accountability to each other. The experiment challenged the professor’s understanding of power and trust in education, as well as her role as an educator. Adjustments were made for the second iterations, while maintaining the central tenet of radical empowerment. This design is not appropriate for all subjects, but may be adapted to many full courses or course projects to empower students and cultivate ownership of their education.
References
Boyd, N. M., & Nowell, B. (2020). Sense of community, sense of community responsibility, organizational commitment and identification, and public service motivation: a simultaneous test of affective states on employee well-being and engagement in a public service work context. Public Management Review, 22(7), 1024–1050. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1740301
Brodsky, A. E. (2009). Multiple psychological senses of community in Afghan context: Exploring commitment and sacrifice in an underground resistance community. American Journal of Community Psychology, 44, 176-187.
Collins, S. E., Clifasefi, S. L., Stanton, J., Straits, K. J. E., Gil-Kashiwabara, E., Rodriguez Espinosa, P., Nicasio, A. V., Andrasik, M. P., Hawes, S. M., Miller, K. A., Nelson, L. A., Orfaly, V. E., Duran, B. M., & Wallerstein, N. (2018). Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR): Towards Equitable Involvement of Community in Psychology Research. The American Psychologist, 73(7), 884–898. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000167
Kloos, B., Hill, J., Thomas, E., Case, A. D., Scott, V. C., and Wandersman, A. (2021). Community Psychology: Linking Individuals and Communities, 4th Ed. American Psychological Association.
McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 6-23.
McNiff, J. (2017). Action research: All you need to know. SAGE Publications Inc.
Peterson, N. A., & Reid, R. J. (2003). Paths to psychological empowerment in an urban community: Sense of community and citizen participation in substance abuse prevention activities. Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.10034
Townley, G., Kloos, B., Green, E. P., & Franco, M. M. (2011). Reconcilable Differences? Human Diversity, Cultural Relativity, and Sense of Community. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47(1–2), 69–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9379-9
Weisi, H., & Ahmadi, R. (2024). Conceptualizing student voice in teacher-student curriculum partnerships within Iran’s higher education. Higher Education, 87(3), 795–812. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01036-6
Wolfgram, M., & Kendall, N. (2023). “Piling on the stress”: Low‐income students’ experiences in a neoliberal majoritarian university. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 54(4), 392–413. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12458
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Laura Kati Corlew
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright of Published Articles
Author(s) retain the article copyright and publishing rights without any restrictions.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
