​Inside and outside their classrooms, students must be empowered through justice-oriented pedagogy to develop healthy self-awareness and prepare to be justice-oriented citizens. Students need accurate language & vocabulary (Denevi, 2004; Jill Ewing Flynn, 2012; Matias, 2013, 2013; Welton et al., 2015) to discuss issues with one another (Lucas & Clark, 2016), to express themselves in a classroom that values student voice and is led democratically (Swalwell, 2013a), and to engage society at large. They need skills and tools (Luminais & Williams, 2016; Welton et al., 2015) that can be worked into their own praxis in exploring and acting upon issues of social justice in their lived experiences. This common language and tool set should be the basis for peer discussions that lead to a praxis where students critique the world around themselves (Ayers et al., 2008; Freire, 2013) and work together to confront their forms of privilege, explore systems of inequity, and seek ways to be allies for social and racial justice (Kivel, 2011; Littenberg-Tobias, 2014). 

The skills, vocabulary, and academic context that facilitate a justice praxis are not resources that can be handed to students in a classroom through books, but a toolbox they must develop through experiences and scaffolded interventions. One framework for engagement designates different factors or interventions as initiating or sustaining, with both being necessary for student engagement towards personal growth (Pancer et al., 2002) and can be a starting point for planning. In this model, the engagement of a thoughtful teacher at the personal level or introduction of a student organization on campus at the institutional level can be an initiating factor for student engagement. Past that initial realization, ongoing peer support and collaboration provides necessary sustaining support to the individual in developing a new praxis (Sue, 2016) and developing a justice-oriented healthy racial identity. This model also recognizes the need for sustaining institutional support from a school, for example a campus climate that welcomes divergent thinking (Pancer et al., 2002; Tauriac et al., 2013).

 

Interventions and programs should give students the opportunity to develop leadership skills and become empowered (Berger Kaye, 2010; Starbuck & Bell, 2017) through meaningful activities. Students must discuss possible solutions to problems, consider the ideas of themselves and others, foresee challenges and adjust plans, and practice individual and collective skills, all while articulating themselves and accessing outcomes to develop leadership skills (Berger Kaye, 2010; Luminais & Williams, 2016). Student outcomes in leadership and identity formation are also strengthened and monitored through reflection activities (McQuillan, 2005). Such intentional opportunities in the context of a social justice or community engagement program also contribute to students beginning to see themselves as change agents (Cipolle, 2010) especially when they see meaning in the work they are doing (Pancer et al., 2002).