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When the number of votes cast for a TV reality show is greater than for an election, we begin to worry about the level of participation in politics by young people. We can respond to this concern by remodelling our system of representation to make it more relevant or we can ' promote ' the benefits of our current political system.
Too often, student councils aim for the latter. A powerless and status free group of students attend meetings where they debate morsels of decisions that have fallen from the teacher ' s table. The students rarely receive training in how to represent their peers or contribute effectively to the decision-making process in the school, and the extent of their leadership skills are measured in how many of their classmates they colluded into voting for them.
This paper offers one school ' s attempt to remodel its system of representation. It is not intended as a definitive model but rather to add to the excellent debate around the issues of student voice, of which this conference is an example. It argues that, since the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 19991 and the subsequent establishment of a UK youth parliament, capacity for true student representation has grown. In the same way that adult disaffection with politics is leading to greater local and regional control, student disaffection needs to be tackled through radical reform of the power and representative structures within our schools and local communities. We must ensure that our role is to grow capacity from an early age, rather than view student voice as opinions to be harvested.
The personalisation agenda demands that learning be constructed around the pupil ' s needs. This implies very localised control and responsibility on the part of the student, whilst also demanding that they have enough control over their learning environment to shape its evolution. Students have this control and choice in the newly developing environments on the Internet and I strongly believe that the personalisation agenda is one that schools must grasp with both hands if they are to remain relevant institutions valued by students.
Currently, students have been unwittingly disempowered by a system that removes their right to choose what to learn and takes control of their route to success by breaking up and compartmentalising the learning process. The need to supervise some has grown into a mistrust of the many, which defines the school child framework of expected behaviour. If we are to provide students with the confidence and belief in their own political voice, I believe we need to enhance the skills of leadership and representation, creating opportunities for them to exercise these skills, whilst solving real and relevant problems within a role of recognised responsibility. Such roles must be graded, such that students are able to progress towards greater responsibility, more extended line management or greater budget control if, and when, they demonstrate ability. Just as they can progress upwards, failure and demotion must be equally real and seen as a valid part of development.
The only logical progression of such roles would require a coming together of the systems and policies governing teaching staff and students, such that common forms of appraisal and management operated throughout the school. In this way problem solving must be modelled by the leadership team through open and transparent systems of governance in which it is clear why a given decision has prevailed. If we wish students to excel in such a system, we must demonstrate that they are operating in a meritocracy in which political weight is not determined by age. Year 11 students operating within such an ethos can be inspired by a year 7 student who has clear leadership skills, in the same way teaching staff can be. This is especially the case if the role or service that the year 7 student holds is of direct benefit to the older student, such as opening up ICT facilities for their use at lunchtime.
Although I accept that the capacity does not exist currently in the student body for such power sharing relationships, I believe that it will emerge as the personalisation agenda and the anonymity of the Internet begin to grow capacity and belief in students. It is essential that, as adults, we remain problem-based rather than outcome-based. Students, given the opportunity to respond, frequently amaze adults with their depth of thought and maturity but having had a glimpse of the enormous energy and innovative potential that exists in the school, it is rarely translated into training programmes that build and enhance. My concern with current initiatives is that a number of excellent students will be ' farmed ' from each school and provided as examples of the potential that exists. Having been ' elected ' in this way, just as with our own government we will replace them with the next generation of exceptional students but the mechanisms for local engagement in the process remain absent.
A common manifestation of this process is the assumption that Sixth Form students are automatically more able to represent their peers. Schools often look towards their older students as part of prefect systems, to provide such student involvement. Although such a starting point requires much less controversy, it generates three fundamental problems:
An excellent example of how structured frameworks determine behaviours appeared in a recent reality TV show, in which teachers and students swapped places. Both sides very quickly began to take on characteristic behaviours of the other. One frustrated twelve year old exclaimed that his students (the teachers) were so immature and had not completed their homework. In reality, the position, the student was taking on, has clearly defined structures and policies that lead to a shared experience and understanding of the role. This shared understanding serves to support individuals and gives them the confidence to challenge their own ability.
The structure underpinning the new role of students has to be created with the same attention to detail.
Four years ago I set up a leadership programme for primary and secondary students called the ' Access Manager Scheme ' . The students were set the problem of ensuring that all of the school ' s ICT rooms remained open for general use every lunchtime and break time. The following structures were put in place to support the students, whilst aligning the role as closely as possible to the adult equivalent.
1. A handbook, arranged as policy documents, coving ' What to do if…. ' type of advice.
2. Detailed job descriptions adapted from the staff documents.
3. A senior management team of students or an ' executive ' that was able to modify, review and develop policies.
4. A system of appraisal and professional development.
5. Training in conflict resolution and interview techniques for the recruitment of new students.
This problem fitted the criteria discussed earlier in that:
Initially, the younger access managers were poorly respected by the older students, who refused to follow their instructions. A great deal of input was required by staff - but not the input the older students expected. In each case, the teacher who was called to help was under strict instructions to defer to the Access Managers on duty and remind the older student of the complaints procedure for questioning the actions of the manager. Leaders began to emerge and were promoted to Grade 2. These leaders were then able to take over the role of conflict resolution, manager appraisal and capability procedures, ensuring the reputation of the service. These Grade 2 managers took over the role of the executive body that was able to review the policies I had originally constructed and take ownership of their evolution.
In the second year of the scheme, the concept began to spread into other aspects of school life, including teams that kept tutor rooms open for students, student organised clubs, music tuition, charity events, and even training for employees of a local human resources department.
Teams of students visited local primary schools to deliver leadership training to younger children and establish Grade one students as young as year 3. Students developed their own methods of assessing emotional intelligence, so they were able to be open about why they felt applicants for posts they had created were successful or not, and hence form effective development targets for them.
In the third year of the scheme, students were able to represent the views of others and take on the responsibility of feeding back their negotiations. They understood the role of policies and the need for an agreed framework. They became keen to restructure the existing student council within the school, eventually taking over its operation. Four teams acquired budgets for development, including one team that constructed a bid for a deaf alerter system to be installed in the college and then managed its implementation. Two groups of students received teacher training, which then allowed them to take on the joint responsibility of KS3 curriculum delivery.
In the fourth year, Ofsted conducted a case study that concluded that the scheme was a ' unique ' and ' outstanding feature of the college ' . The students organised and provided one-to-one training for other schools that wished to form their own schemes. This included a video pack the students produced for training new recruits. We conducted a trial of a new qualification we had designed together with City & Guilds, which provided the opportunity for recognising leadership skills.
In summary, the scheme provided a growing number of students, who had the confidence and credibility to represent their peers together, with the political knowledge to suggest changes to policy and understand the practicalities of enforcing implementation. Such students, as expected, began to flap their political wings in a variety of arenas, from setting up a local newspaper constructed by primary and secondary students (as a regular insert in the most popular local paper) to conducting staff training on the assessment of emotional intelligence.
If we consider student voice to be making sure we know students ' view in order to influence policy, then we are automatically assuming that it is we, the adults who will be doing the policy making. If, on the other hand, we consider student voice to be a part of a more inclusive political system that extends the same rights that adults currently have to children, then we must ensure that the skills of political representation are present.
A route that provided a ladder of leadership skill qualifications would allow schools to begin formally recognising its young leaders. Allowing such systems to contain peer assessment and upward appraisal would embed the credibility, whilst increasing the capacity within schools for later growth. Such systems would allow schools across the country to put forward students who have the ability to represent their peers and involve them more fully in the political process.
New technologies are enabling a future of increasingly dispersed networks, in which students are able to take increasing responsibility for what they learn, how and when they learn it. This personalisation makes increasing demands on students, as well as providing them with a new age-free framework in which to operate. If schools are to remain the main venue for learning, then their structures must reflect and accommodate these changes in pedagogy, by providing a greater emphasis on skills development, creativity and smaller group working. In this sense, student leadership schemes are enabling this necessary change of structure, by increasing the number of effective adults able to provide guidance to others, whilst, at the same time, providing an exemplar of problem-based learning and skills progression.
Mr Dan Buckley is currently a Principal Consultant for Cambridge Education. As winner of both the BECTA National ' ICT in Practice ' award for Secondary Leadership and of the National Teaching Award for Innovative Use of ICT, Dan has considerable experience of leading-edge innovation in schools.
Prior to his current role, Dan worked at Eggbuckland Community College, as it became established as a nationally recognised centre of excellence in e-learning and student leadership. Dan has presented to national audiences, both in this country and abroad, on subjects from transforming workload to personalising learning. He currently sits on a number of national working parties, including the BECTA student voice initiative with Intuitive Media.
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