Purpose

With the recent increase in social support for democracy and diversity, the educational rights of disadvantaged groups have received more attention, but there are other groups that are still marginalized in the society. To cultivate positive and proactive attitudes in students towards diverse cultures and multicultural groups, this study designed the “Speaking Up for the Disadvantaged (SUD)” course by integrating the “prejudice reduction” concept proposed by Banks, a multicultural education researcher, and the “bystander intervention model” proposed by Darley and Latané, social psychologists. The purpose of the study is to explore the learning processes and outcomes of participants' prejudice awareness and bystander intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted the approach of interpreting phenomenology. Ten high school students were selected via convenient sampling to take 12 hours of the SUD course that consisted of 6 units. Classroom discussions, homework and interview data were collected.

Findings/results

The study found that the learning outcomes of the SUD course included understanding of everyday prejudice, stereotype deconstruction, prejudice awareness, and the knowing and doing of bystander intervention. The learning processes included developing the perspectives of bystanders, formulating the strategies of bystander intervention, and maintaining the willingness to act as bystanders.

Originality/value

This study found that factors such as gender, appearance, physique, and personality often position adolescents at a disadvantage by their peers. Some of these factors are often overlooked in the field of education and require more attention to ensure educational equity for all. This study also proposes educational practices and directions for future research.