Life or Death: The Use of Rite of Passage Interventions

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

ShaRon DukesFollow

First Presenter's Institution

The Rite Effect

Second Presenter's Institution

NA

Third Presenter's Institution

NA

Fourth Presenter's Institution

NA

Fifth Presenter's Institution

NA

Location

Session 8 (Vernon)

Strand #1

Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Safety & Violence Prevention

Relevance

This presentation is directly related to strands II and III. Research shows a positive benefit of student participation in extracurricular activities. Students who participate in an extracurricular activity are less likely to drop out of school or engage in delinquent behavior (Mahoney, 2000). Students also develop an association between academic development and the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular activity. A correlation is created where students, particularly those who are at-risk, recognize their responsibility of completing their academic work as means to participate in an extracurricular activity that brings enjoyment (Marsh & Kelitman, 2003). This presentation exposes educators to the idea of creating a caring curriculum within a school-based extracurricular activity to encourage achievement motivation.

Also, the elements within rite of passage intervention encompass the ideals of cultural development, leadership skills, student empowerment, and communication skills. The intervention offers students an alternative to gang activity and other risk behaviors that could lead to juvenile incarceration. With the guided practice of the intervention, educators can focus on emotional and social skills and safety and violence prevention.

Brief Program Description

This innovative presentation takes educators out of the classroom and into the instructional possibilities of sparking academic motivation and decreasing participation in delinquent behavior through extracurricular activities. Educators will learn how implementing a rite of passage intervention through extracurricular activities can have a positive impact on a student’s sense of belonging to the school community. By strengthening a student’s sense of belonging, educators can impact their academic motivation and student development which can lead to a prosperous educational experience. Through this presentation, educators will get a front-row seat of how this intervention impacted a rural high school with a high poverty rate and low academic performance.

Summary

Educators are continuously in search of pedagogical tools to assist students through the challenges of adolescence. Adolescence is identified as the years between the ages of 10 – 19 and typically grades 4 – 12. As youth develop during the years of adolescence, they will face periods of liminality. Liminality is defined as an invisible space where an individual is in a state of transition and in the process of being initiated into a different status in life (Gibbons, Robbs & Bevans, 2014; Atkinson & Robinson, 2012). Cohesively, the individual is shedding his or her past and beginning to cross the threshold to accept his or new identity of existence (Gibbons et al., 2014).

Liminality is considered a ritualistic space, triggered by an event (Beech, 2011). For adolescents, schooling is filled with periods of liminality. Liminality can be experienced when transitioning to a new school or grade level or when attending a special event such as prom or graduation. Adolescent students are growing independent of the adults in the lives and pursuing more autonomy and decision-making power (Stone, Duffy, Holland & Bowers, 2018). This pursuit can become turbulent as students seek to establish a new identity (Marshall, Grinyer, & Limer, 2018; Stone et al., 2018; Marci, 1980). It is imperative for students to successfully transition through liminality with the guidance of a caring & qualified adult (Blumenkrantz & Goldstein, 2011). Students without the guidance of an adult can seek assistance from a self-proclaimed leader who is unqualified to position them in a positive environment of cultural values and ethics (Beech, 2011).

This presentation highlights the importance of creating a rite of passage within the school environment to help students navigate the liminal periods of adolescents. The absence of a clearly defined rite of passage can lead students to create their own rite of passage and create an appeal for activities such as gang initiation, binge drinking, drug use and other risky behaviors (Karianjahi, 2015; Blumenkrantz & Goldstein, 2011). This presentation will walk educators through the implementation process of a rite of passage intervention within a school-based extracurricular activity and provide data on the benefits of the implementation within the areas of school belonging and academic motivation.

Evidence

People perform at their highest capacity when they are engaged in activity that brings enjoyment and energy (Shyrock, 2013). Research shows that adult-supervised, student driven, and school-based extracurricular activities greatly benefit students (Shyrock, 2013). Students who participate in extracurricular activities are less likely to drop out of school or engage in risky behaviors (Massoni, 2011; Mahoney, 2000). The implementation of the rite of passage intervention, a practice created by David G. Blumenkrantz and Marc B. Goldstein, within a school-based extracurricular activity allows educators to create a curriculum around clubs and organizations and cultivate a process for the whole student in the areas of social and emotional development. The presenter used this practice in her doctoral research with positive findings in relation to school belonging and academic motivation.

Atkinson, S. & Robinson, M. (2012). Arts and health as a practice of liminality: managing the spaces of transformation for social and emotional well-being with primary school children. Health Place, 18(6), 1348 – 1355.

Beech, N. (2011). Liminality and the practice of identity reconstruction. Human Relations, 64(2), 285 - 302.

Blumenkrantz, D.G. & Goldstein, M.B. (2010). Rites of passage as a framework for community interventions with youth. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 1(2), 41 – 50.

Gibbons, S.W., Ross, A., & Bevans, M. (2014). Liminality as conceptual framework for understanding the family caregiving rite of passage: an integrative review. Research in Nursing and Health, 37, 423 - 436.

Karianjahi, M. (2015). Church as village: rites of passage and positive youth development. Journal of Youth Ministry, 14(1), 5 – 31.

Mahoney, J.L. (2000). School extracurricular activity participation as a moderator in the development of antisocial patterns. Child Development, 71 502-516.

Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. Handbook of adolescent psychology, 9(11), 159-187.

Marsh, H.W. & Kleitman, S. (2003). Extracurricular activities: the good, the bad and the nonlinear. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 464 – 512.

Marsh, H.W. & Kleitman, S. (2003). School athletic participation: Mostly gain with little pain. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology of Education, 3, 217-243.

Marshall, S., Grinyer, A., & Limmer, M. (2018). Dual liminality: a framework for conceptualizing the experience of adolescents and young adults with cancer. Journal of Adolescents and Young Adults Oncology, 00(00), 1 – 6.

Stone, G.A., Duffy, L.N., Holland, H., & Bowers. E.P. (2018). Facilitating adolescent identity development through sister cities international. Tourism Analysis, 23(1), 109 - 121.

Shryock, Kathleen Wilson (2013). "Defining the Variables in the Student Activities Equation" The Advocate 7.2 (2013). Available at: http://www.alliance4studentactivities.org/letxequalsa/docs/bibliography.pdf

Biographical Sketch

Dr. ShaRon Dukes always believed she would find her space in the wide realm of education. Initially, she believed her career would begin as a high school English teacher. However, her passion was outside of the classroom. She recognized there was a curriculum taking place outside of the classroom that needed to be shaped. With a strong background in Student Affairs from the University of South Carolina (USC), she used her skills to develop extracurricular activity programs within public high schools to fill the gap in developing the whole student.

After experiencing the death and incarceration of several students, she pushed to further her research in developing the use of extracurricular activities and determining the necessary tools to increase academic motivation and decreases the chances of students participating in delinquent behavior. Her research with USC pushed her to focus on the liminal periods of adolescence and the benefits of using a rite of passage intervention implemented within a school-based extracurricular activity to combat the challenges of liminality.

Dr. Dukes has developed extracurricular activities from the ground up at local high schools in her area. She has seen an increase in graduation rate and academic achievement tied to her practices. She founded three mentoring programs, two orientation teams and a host of other student activities for social and emotional development. She is steadfast in spreading the word of her research and being a breath of fresh air in the field of education.

Keyword Descriptors

adolescence, liminality, extracurricular activities, academic motivation, school belonging, rite of passage, intervention

Presentation Year

March 2020

Start Date

3-11-2020 9:45 AM

End Date

3-11-2020 11:00 AM

Recommended Citation

Dukes, ShaRon, "Life or Death: The Use of Rite of Passage Interventions" (2020). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 100.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2020/2020/100