The Power Rainbow: a tool to support 3rd–5th graders in analyzing systems of power

 

Summary

The Power Rainbow is a pedagogical tool and framework to support children in power analysis — the ability to make sense of power and how it shapes our lives and societies. It is a graphic representation of nested systems of power, and it concretizes the abstract concept of systemic power through shape, color, and text.

The Power Rainbow scaffolds the type of structural thinking necessary to research and take action towards more just futures. The tool was originally developed to support children in Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR), but it can also be used in critical pedagogy more broadly, such as to support action projects in schools, in workshops with children and caregivers, and in understanding our own lives.

Key Takeaways

We offer the following practical steps and actions based on this research below (click to expand).

+ For Educators


  • The Power Rainbow is a pedagogical tool that can support children shifting from an individual or interpersonal perspective on injustice (e.g., people sometimes act unfairly towards one another) toward a more accurate, structural analysis informed by how power operates at different levels of society (e.g., individual unfair actions are influenced by institutions, laws, and cultural norms).

+ For Researchers


  • For researchers interested in doing Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) with children, The Power Rainbow is a valuable methodological and pedagogical tool to support youth in practicing and applying power analysis throughout the research process. To read more about how to use it in CPAR, explore https://www.imaginingmorejustfutures.com/the-power-rainbow.
 
Integration & BelongingSarah Dryden-PetersonCurriculum, For Researchers, Pedagogy, For Educators