Use extracurricular activities and inclusion-oriented clubs to build cross-group connections, while removing access barriers¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends activities outside the classroom as a strategy for fostering connections across groups. Extracurricular activities such as team sports, drama, chorus, and orchestra "provide particularly important opportunities for youth to work together toward common goals," and the review reports cross-ethnic friendships in extracurricular activities partly mediate the positive association between cross-ethnic contact and outgroup attitudes. It also endorses inclusion-oriented clubs and alliances such as gay-straight alliances and buddy programs, and peer mentoring. Equal access is essential: schools should provide transportation, limit out-of-pocket expenses, and remove policy and norm obstacles that deter participation.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Various groups of students need equal access to activities
• Student mentors require explicit training; teachers need training and administrative support to intervene in harassment

Constraints¶

• Low-income students, students with overweight, students with special needs, and gender-nonconforming students face documented barriers including cost, distance, teasing, tryouts, and gender-segregated structures

Target Learners¶

• Middle and high school students across ethnic, SES, gender, disability, and weight groups

Target Learning Goals¶

• Cross-group friendship formation
• Positive intergroup attitudes
• Peer acceptance of marginalized students

Affordances¶

• Proactive Inclusion Model

Related Strategies¶

• Build safety and belonging by detracking, offering low-barrier extracurriculars, and implementing restorative approaches in place of exclusionary discipline
• Encourage activities that support positive peer relationships through direct connections, clubs, and sports
• Use equity-oriented extracurricular clubs as spaces for sustained peer dialogue on urgent civic issues

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Juvonen, J., Lessard, L.M., Rastogi, R., Schacter, H.L., & Smith, D.S. (2019). Promoting social inclusion in educational settings: Challenges and opportunities. Educational Psychologist, 54, 250-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1655645