Perceived School Climate Norms of Equality, Perspective-taking and Youth Collective and Civic Actions

Schools can play a crucial role in encouraging young people to make constructive societal
contributions that transcend group lines and that benefit communities more generally.
Recognising this potential, the present research examined the relationship between perceived
school climate norms of equality, and in turn perspective-taking on two forms of constructive
contributions amongst youth in England: civic engagement and collective action intentions in
support of refugees. A total of 696 youth (aged 11 to 12) were asked to complete a survey in
school as part of a larger study on youth interaction experiences. Bootstrapped mediation
analysis conducted in Mplus found that perspective-taking mediated the link between perceived
school climate norms of equality and both collective action intentions and civic engagement.
Findings highlight the importance of facilitating school equality norms for promoting
perspective taking and, in turn, constructive engagement. This may have implications for
teacher training programmes as well as school-based interventions that aim to engage youth in
society.