Philadelphia Student Union members putting their developing skills into practice. Image credit: Decarcerate PA

PSU seeks both to utilize relational power networks to advocate for change in Philadelphia’s public schools and to provide Philadelphia youth with facilitation and apprenticeship to help them express themselves and organize together for education justice. Borrowing from Loomer’s discussion of power, it is clear that PSU was founded as an organization that would allow the community to build relational power around a particular organizational nexus in response to the growing unilateral power exercised by for-profit charter companies that were taking over a rapidly increasing number of schools in Philadelphia. PSU’s Twitter page reflects this continued focus, demonstrating how the organization prioritizes keeping parents informed and inviting them to bring their skills and experiences to help PSU’s work. PSU also creates alliances between parents, teachers, and students, further underscoring its focus on developing an organic network of power that aims to give voice to all in the community.

In terms of Kirshner’s framework for understanding different approaches to youth organizing, I would argue that PSU seems to use two different approaches across its various programs and organizing strategies: facilitation and apprenticeship. The student-led clubs in Philadelphia public schools are an example of the former. Faculty advisors are, presumably, present for each of the meetings, but the description makes it very clear that students are meant to be in charge of programming and leading conversations in their own school spaces. But the programming that PSU offers to its student participants outside of school hours at its own headquarters seems like it more follows the apprenticeship model; students are there to learn from one another but also to learn a specific curriculum from adults who have organizing experience. This particular curriculum for educating students about organizing and the arts may also be a particularly high priority for the community given that austerity measures and inadequate funding deprive many Philadelphia students access to this kind of educational breadth and depth at school. Thus, it seems that PSU leadership is interested in providing a robust instructional program to student leaders but that it also likes to step aside and let them organize and lead in their own spaces and in other spaces when they are ready to do so.