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Mr Alistair Gumley et al.
Pascoe Vale Girls College Pascoe Vale, Victoria, Australia
Our context is Australian. Our context is Pascoe Vale Girls College. Our context is a female view across three year levels. Our context, like our voice, is authentic!
' Children should be seen and not heard ' is a parents ' axiom that may have its origin in Victorian England, in the mid 19th Century. Throughout perhaps the first half of the 20th Century, this was still the pervasive western cultural view of children, and it was not until the 1960s that popular culture suggests that young people began to be ' seen and heard ' , but the ' young ' did not necessarily encompass the young of school age. Such films as ' If ' (1968), Lindsay Anderson ' s surreal, anti-establishment commentary on traditional middle-class values (symbolised by an English boarding school that championed institutionalism over individualism), gave voice to a generation seeking radical disconnection with conformity - a student voice that challenged the status quo. The fact [sic] that the film was given an ' X ' rating (and ends in violent revolution with students shooting teachers) probably served to silence this ' revolutionary voice ' for yet another generation.
That we are contemplating a re-emergence or even rediscovery of the potential catalyst of a ' student voice ' as a motivation for changing organisational structures in schools may indeed be as much a reactive response to the proponents of education for employability and economic prosperity, as it is a genuine attempt to promote the humanising forces of participative democracy and authentic learning. Equally, now in the 21st Century, the ongoing unfulfilled promise of computer technology to impact markedly on school change and educational outcomes may have inadvertently given impetus to a renewed student activism and the call for student-led school change.
Caricatured as passive recipients of knowledge, as empty vessels, as tabula rasa, school students have been traditionally ignored in adult-directed and adult-controlled educational organisations since the inception of mass schooling. Fitful attempts to involve school students (and their communities) in bringing about positive school change have usually fallen foul of democratic tokenism and the lack of a coherent and sustainable vision for the participative involvement and engagement of students (and their communities) in the ongoing process that is school change.
Much like Oedipus, the education system that negates the part students can potentially play in their own (the student ' s and the school ' s) lifelong journey in learning lives in denial of the agents of its revitalisation - the student themselves. Student voices - the authentic opinions, skills, experiences and developing knowledge of youth in a school context - are clearly a resource for constructive change within any educational system. This ' voice ' is fragile and can easily be marginalised and ridiculed when it seeks to question institutionalised educational practices; practices that have been put in place by adults (the initiated) for the benefit of the students (the uninitiated). As the saying goes, ' If it ain ' t broke, don ' t break it! ' and so much that could be gained through appreciating alternative perspectives - those of the students - can be lost through an endemic institutional myopia. Students, for that reason, can be invalidated in (and through) a system that seeks, as its final outcome, to finally validate them as equal members; a contrary state of affairs as Alice in Wonderland might have concluded.
Alice might have asked the following question: ' It may seem a simple question, but who are the most important stakeholders in education? '
The answer, of course, is not at all straightforward, but if we see schools as providing the institutional building blocks (that are piloted by an adult culture), from which our children emerge to achieve independence and adulthood, why are they not provided with the experience of contributing to that community in an authentic manner? It may be argued (of course) that students are currently contributing in positive and productive ways, or are given permission to contribute, but much of which passes for student involvement seeks conformity, promotes partiality and offers tokenism, rather than allowing students growing inclusion at the centre of a decision-making process that governs their success and failure as learners.
Student voice alone, however, will not improve education, but the developmental continuum towards adulthood that involves school organisation is perhaps more worthy of greater student participation (and the better for it!) than it is to ignore such a major player in the learning game. Often, the sensitive and sympathetic hearing of student concerns and issues serves an important role in increasing the integrity and validity of the consultative process that desires positive school change.
What follows is our school ' s ongoing attempt to initiate and come to grips with viewing students as a potential resource for ' authentic ' school change and to offer them the respect and collegial courtesy to contribute to the ongoing process of school transformation. Fundamental to this view is that when we, as teachers, consider our students from the following perspective, promise and potential become action and not just empty rhetoric:
' Students are the most important customers in our schools and universities. They are not dependent on us. We (the teachers) are dependent on them. They are not an interruption to our work. They are the purpose of it. They are not an outsider to our endeavours. They are a part of it. We are not doing them a favour by teaching them. They are doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so ' . (apologies to Gandhi).
Effective participation in the decision-making possibilities of the day-to-day running of a school supports civic leadership experiences for students, as well as stimulating higher rates of attendance, participation and collegiality.
Most schools take considerable pride in their student leadership by fostering positions for sporting and academic leaders, school or house captains, debating, creative and performing arts and a variety of other community endeavours. Student leaders become exemplars of active involvement in the school day, and their influence on their peers should not be underestimated. Potentially, at least, student leaders are agents of change within the school community.
It is remarkable that, when Pascoe Vale Girls College was established back in 1956, that somebody had the fortitude and courage to build student ' leadership ' into the fabric of life at the school. At the time, the person or persons concerned could not have imagined how students would, in the year ' s ahead, ' step-up and step-out ' into the brave new world, in so many unique ways.
' Leadership ' is an interesting concept because it implies so many things and often is only limited by one ' s own imagination. Here, at the College, we are constantly looking to forge new opportunities for students, whether they be tailored ' Leadership ' programmes run at the school level, or taking to the skies and attending national or international conferences. In many respects, we have moved a long way from the early days at the College, only now to be recognised as one of the leading schools committed to quality initiatives for young women.
If we glance back over the years, and the many photographs from the College archive, some things have not changed. Whilst the faces and the uniforms are a little different, one thing remains constant and that is the sense of ' spirit ' our students possess and display in all aspects of their growth. This streak of ' determination ' , for lack of a better word, has characterised the ' Paco ' girl over time and has been carried through to the present, manifesting itself on a much grander scale.
Historically, the College has always had ' Captains ' , in one form or another and this year we had the pleasure of inviting one of the first College captains, or prefects, back to speak at the annual Leaders ' Conference.
Form Captains, House Captains and SRC (Student Representative Council) members have all contributed to the growth of our leaders and, in doing so, have enriched the lives of our students and the College community.
In more recent times we have seen the development of the Young Leaders Forum - a new group that has replaced the SRC and has a specific focus of exposing students to leadership conferences and initiatives. In 2003 and 2004 this group has had representatives travel to Adelaide and Sydney for the Young Leaders Foundation National Leadership Days. They have also travelled to NSW for the annual Alliance of Girls Conference. In 2002, perhaps the boldest of projects was attempted by sending four student delegates to the Global Young Leaders Conference, in Washington and New York, in the USA. We have currently established a Leo ' s Club that works on community projects, with the aid of the Glenroy Lions Club. Students at Year 10 continue to participate in the Association of Girls High Schools annual leadership day and this year we have had students on the organising committee.
The College has also participated in the United Nations Youth Summit, the City of Moreland Youth Summit and a special youth services training day. We have taken our heritage seriously, by sending delegates to the Shrine of Remembrance for ' Legacy Day ' , ANZAC Day and a multitude of other events, such as International Women ' s Day celebrations.
In ' stepping-up to step-out ' , we encourage girls to participate, not only in their own learning, but also in the learning of others. Our focus now, in the 21st Century, is to provide a greater internal voice for students within the very organisation that guides their lives for six years.
The catalyst for this exercise was an impulsive response to the need to find a ' voice ' for students beyond the daily routine of school learning or school organisation that provided students with the opportunity to play a more significant and authentic role that was beyond mere tokenism.
It was hastily decided to co-ordinate a full day on the topic of ' student voice in school change ' that would allow students to think, listen and then respond (individually and as a group) to the task of achieving at least 1,000 words from each year level (Junior School, Middle School and Senior School). The day (interrupted by the usual school demands of tests and student involvement in other activities) was planned around the following scheme:
Period 1: Introduction, general discussion and conceptualisation
Period 2: Scenario exploration, free brainstorming and essential questions
Recess
Period 3: Small group discussion and organisation of responses
Period 4: Internet research and drafting of responses
Lunch
Period 5: Revising and editing responses
Period 6: Final responses presentation - published to the Internet, with separate papers from Years 7 & 8, Years 9 & 10 and Years 11 & 12
As such, the outcome for the day was to present a snapshot of student views from across the student organisational spectrum that generally reflected the perspectives that were seen as issues in school change, for each separate level of the school.
In order to encourage a relatively free voice and broad range of responses but also an achievable outcome for their efforts, students were given the following problem solving scenario: What if? Imagine that you have been given the opportunity to redesign your ideal school, as a student, and bring it to Pascoe Vale - what would you do? '
Additionally, the following statement was prepared and circulated to students:
' The school that you currently have may not be the school that you ' d like, or even the school we ' d like. What type of school would you like, if you had the chance to design a school? What type of school would like as an individual, but also as a year group? Is your current school just as you want it to be? Or are there things you would change? Are the buildings right? Should you sit exams? Are you allowed to express yourself? Are uniforms a good thing? '
Students were asked to consider the following questions.
These were not the only questions that students could ask and there were really plenty more that could have been developed, but it was not our intention to replicate previous work in this area. Rather, we sought a spontaneous response that was unfettered by adult constraints, as far as possible.
Students were asked to brainstorm as many questions as they could think of, select the best ten and the best ten topics that were important to them. Following this organisational strategy, each student selected a topic to write on and then all responses were collated and published over the Internet.
Some guidance was given to students on the formulation of essential questions, i.e., those that require a decision or a plan for action. When writing essential questions, students were advised to avoid ' What is ' questions, such as ' What is a school? ' or ' What is learning? ' . While these are important questions, they do not require anyone to make a decision or plan a course of action. Instead they were encouraged to present action-based questions, such as: ' How can I plan a better school that truly educates everyone? ' or ' What is the best strategy for improving learning at Pascoe Vale Girls College? ' Each of these questions requires a decision be made from among the various strategies that could potentially be developed.
Three separate papers were produced by the students themselves, providing an authentic snapshot across three year levels - junior, middle and senior. Each response was written as a separate paper.
Although students worked in school levels, and largely independently, common concerns were clearly revealed:
Interestingly, while varied learning styles were clearly seen as differentiating the achievement of the student body, one student commented on the need for continuity in teaching style! Similarly, one major area that was not commented upon by students was the provision of technology and student access to it. This may reflect a significant contribution that technology can be assumed to have made in our school context. On the other hand, it was enlightening that students were (implicitly, at least) less concerned with technology than they were with the quality of student-teacher relationships.
It is edifying to note that the authentic student voice from this school tended to see educational success as being predicated on quality human relationships, common goals and achievements, mutual respect and teamwork.
Words must now be seen to produce actions, if student voice is to make meaningful contributions to any school change. The initial recording of responses to a general problem-solving scenario, informed only by student aspiration, must be developed further into realistic organisational goals that will allow barriers to change to be removed, and bridges built to allow the free interchange of knowledge about the learning-teaching cycle that is our school.
The paper was written by Mr Alastair Gumley (teacher) with support from Mr Michael Walton (teacher and Student Welfare Co-ordinator), Ms Samantha Caldone (Year 7), Ms Asika Pelenda (Year 7), Ms Amanda Rowley (Year 7), Ms Simone Deluca (Year 8), Ms Zoe Michalak (Year 8), Ms Catherine Phillips (Year 8), Ms Briana Phillips (Year 8), Ms Ashleigh Facchin (Year 10), Ms Viana Powell (Year 10), Ms Bianca Celano (Year 11), Ms Whitney Robertson (Year 11), Ms Monica Torcasio (Year 11) and Ms Lisa Tinker (Year 11).
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