Greg Walton

How can we support better relationships and a strong sense of belonging for all students in school, especially students who face stigma and negative stereotypes? During the CASBS fellowship period, Greg Walton will work with teams of researchers and school partners to develop an approach that empowers students by elevating their own voices to sideline biases and secure greater support for them from their teachers. This approach was first developed with students returning to school from a period in the juvenile justice system. In an initial trial, a one-page letter to a teacher of students’ choosing including students’ self-introduction, reduced recidivism to the justice system from 69% to 29%. In collaborations with teams of researchers and leading educators in the Bay Area and around the country, Walton is testing this approach more broadly as well as exploring adaptations for other student groups, including foster youth, students with chronic absenteeism, and refugees.

In addition, Walton will be writing a trade book during the fellowship year. This book will surface the normal kinds of questions all of us face at one time or another—Who am I? Do I belong? Can I do it?—and how we can find wiser answers to these questions that help us spiral upward and transform our lives.

Walton is associate professor of psychology and member of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Stanford University.