[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-587197-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-587197-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","rightful-presence-in-education-systems-issue-brief-may-2025","Rightful Presence in Education Systems - Issue Brief, May 2025","","Issue brief examining “rightful presence” as a framework for building equity and justice in education systems. Traces the concept from scholarship on sanctuary cities and the global refugee crisis, then explains how it becomes actionable at the systems level. Defines key features including true belonging, inherent value, and shared power, followed by guiding principles and a contrast with inclusion, especially for students with disabilities, highlighting how power shifts enable meaningful engagement and belonging.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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systems?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It is a systems-level approach that builds equity and justice by presuming the rightful presence and inherent value of disenfranchised students, families, and communities, and by enabling true belonging and power shifts.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What are the key features of rightful presence?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The brief highlights true belonging, inherent value, and shared power, emphasizing comfort, safety, non-judgmental connection, unproven human worth, and students’/communities’ integral role in designing policies and practices.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does rightful presence differ from inclusion efforts?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Inclusion can reproduce a guest/host dynamic and start from exclusion, while rightful presence disrupts systemic inequities by assuming students who need specialized support belong from the start and by adjusting environments for meaningful 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in Education Systems  \nRightful presence as a concept was first introduced by authors like Jonathan Darling, Vicki Squire, Harald Bauder, and Emma Cox, in writings about sanctuary cities and the global refugee crisis (Bauder, 2016; Cox et al., 2019; Darling, 2014; Squire & Darling, 2013) . Education scholars like Angela Calabrese Barton and Edna Tan (2020) reimagined it as a way to explore issues of educational (in)equity at the classroom level.  \nSWIFT Education Center extended the concept of rightful presence, applying it at the educational systems level as a foundation for building equity and justice for students, families, and communities who often experience the inequities in the current system (McCart, Kelly & Sailor, 2023) . This brief defines rightful presence in education systems and provides one example.  \nWhat is Rightful Presence in Education?  \nWhat does it mean to have rightful presence? How does rightful presence align with or differ from other efforts, such as inclusion, equity, and belonging?  \nThe following description highlights the key features of rightful presence for building equity within an educational system.  \n“We believe an environment conducive to learning and personal growth is established first and foremost through the cultivation of a culture of true belonging. Efforts toward that goal must begin with the presumption of the rightful presence and inherent value of the disenfranchised. Inclusion efforts alone cannot bring about substantial  \nchange because they adhere to the same guest/host power dynamic that serves to normalize the existence of a group who is ‘invited’ and a group with the power to invite.” (McCart et al., p. 22)  \nTrue Belonging: To truly belong is to take a deep sense of comfort, safety, and peace, and connect it to an experience or place. Students, families, and educators feel most peaceful in a state of non-judgment and emotional connection.  \nInherent Value: Inherent value means a person’s value does not need to be proven to exist; it is assumed to exist, even if undefined or unconventional. It is the responsibility of educators and institutions to look until that value is seen. Rightful presence honors people’s humanity, intersectional identities, and culture.  \nShared Power: Rightful presence is characterized by a fundamental  \nshift in power. Students, families, and communities who most frequently experience systemic inequities become integral in the shaping and design of educational systems, policies, and practices. Rightful presence promotes the co-creation of school experiences that benefit students, educators, staff, families, and communities.  \nRightful presence lives in schools when previously excluded students, families, and communities experience a sense of belonging, while also holding the power to contribute to educational policy and practice decisions.  \nGuiding Principles  \nRightful presence starts with the following assumptions:  \n• All students have the inherent potential for meaningful learning when provided appropriate resources and support in an environment of true belonging.  \n• Environments are more conducive to learning and personal growth when co-created with and for students from identity groups that  \nmost frequently experience inequities in the current system.  \n• Systemic power dynamics need to be attended to, and often shifted, to ensure educational policies and practices are equitable and just for students across the intersections of race, ability, ethnicity, gender identity, religion (or spiritual preference), economic status, sexual orientation, nation of origin, age, and immigration status.  \nRightful Presence Contrast with Inclusion  \nA current example of how rightful presence is systemically being co-created is in the context of one type of equity effort that too often falls short of its ideal, that is, inclusion of students identified with disabilities. U. S.  \nlaw mandates efforts must be made to i","cbCait54uoLn97L9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCait54uoLn97L9","pdf",205773,"English","# What is Rightful Presence in Education?\n## Key Features for Building Equity\n## Guiding Principles\n# Rightful Presence Contrast with Inclusion","[{\"question\":\"What does “rightful presence” mean in education systems?\",\"answer\":\"It is a systems-level approach that builds equity and justice by presuming the rightful presence and inherent value of disenfranchised students, families, and communities, and by enabling true belonging and power shifts.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the key features of rightful presence?\",\"answer\":\"The brief highlights true belonging, inherent value, and shared power, emphasizing comfort, safety, non-judgmental connection, unproven human worth, and students’/communities’ integral role in designing policies and practices.\"},{\"question\":\"How does rightful presence differ from inclusion efforts?\",\"answer\":\"Inclusion can reproduce a guest/host dynamic and start from exclusion, while rightful presence disrupts systemic inequities by assuming students who need specialized support belong from the start and by adjusting environments for meaningful engagement.\"}]","Rightful Presence in Education Systems - Issue Brief, May 2025 | PDF",13]