Mojtar-Mendieta, L., Rascón-Gómez, T., & Calderón-Almendros, I. (2025). Students as subjects. Resistance, youth agency, and inclusive education through participatory action research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2025.2454281
Abstract
This article explores the importance of student voice in fostering equity and inclusion within schools. The study explores the efforts of 16 Spanish secondary school students who, through a year of online meetings, developed a guide for students to make their schools more inclusive. The group consisted of young individuals of diverse social classes, abilities, nationalities, ethnicities and genders, among others, who engaged in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) process to collectively analyse and reconstruct their realities, forming a resistance group. Four years on, they stand as a benchmark in activism for inclusive education, where, despite the ongoing oppressive reality, their positions have undergone significant changes. Research, as a tool for educational change, enables students to transition from being “objects” of an exclusionary school to subjects with agency.