Factors Influencing Youth Participation in Schools across Ecological Levels: A Qualitative Study with Brazilian Teachers

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the teachers’ perspectives on the conditions that promote youth participation in Brazilian public high schools. Anchored in Gal's (2017) ecological model, the research employed in-depth interviews with 20 teachers from all five geographic regions of Brazil, analysed via reflexive thematic analysis. The main findings reveal youth participation as a multilevel dynamic, shaped by factors at the individual level—such as teacher competencies to promote student autonomy, cultural sensitivity, and active listening; at the school level—including collaborative leadership and peer networks that enable youth protagonism, but also resource scarcity and colleague resistance; at the family-community level—with family engagement and local partnerships amplifying sustainability; and finally at the sociopolitical level—where supportive policies such as youth parliaments coexist with polarising discourses and underfunding. Critically, competencies at the individual level proved insufficient without support at other levels—e.g., teacher efforts collapsed in the face of hostile school cultures or adverse political reactions. Its fundamental contribution is an ecological framework that reveals how isolated teacher competencies fail without supportive structures. In summary, sustainable youth participation requires integrated interventions at all levels, redistributing responsibilities through collaborative partnerships, while institutionalising teacher support and contextual safeguards.