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Mr Nick Martin, Ms Non Worrall & Mr Rajeeb Dey
Networked Learning Group, Networked Learning Communities & English Secondary Students AssociationEngland, United Kingdom
' The School that I ' d Like ' (2003), the report of the Guardian newspaper ' s competition, in which young people were asked to imagine their ideal school, shows very clearly just how large the gap is for the children who entered the competition between their current experiences of schooling and the ideals they describe. The impact of reading their entries is profound. We need to reform our school practice so that children stop being, ' Sick of not being listened to, being treated like kids ' (p.2), with no opportunity to contribute to shaping the nature of schools and schooling. Such judgements indicate how far the current situation in many schools may be from Hargreaves ' vision of student voice as the most powerful gateway for personalising learning.
We, the authors, who work within the Networked Learning Communities Programme, are wholehearted champions of Student Voice initiatives - by which we understand the multiplicity of school and classroom improvement approaches designed to involve young people as partners and agents of change.
However, we have also become increasingly aware that valuing young people ' s voices and engaging them as improvement activists in classrooms and schools is not easy. If the potential of Student Voice is to be fully and positively realised, it is time to examine what it means to different groups and individuals, to describe what is currently happening and to debate what we hope might be the outcomes in individual schools and the education system as a whole.
Student Voice activity is one of those initiatives that can deeply divide the teaching profession. In one camp are the teachers who believe that giving students a voice and agency in all matters concerning their education would be like opening Pandora ' s Box. Once students have a glimpse of what it is like to be part of a governors ' meeting, to interview a new member of staff or to observe a lesson and give feedback to the teacher, there will be no closing the box! Such teachers, perhaps believing that students lack the maturity to be trusted in such roles, fear that, before they know it, students will be designing lessons, co-writing schemes of work or even teaching their fellow pupils.
In the other camp are those teachers who see Student Voice activity as the Philosopher ' s Stone. Some may believe that everything pupils are actively involved in will be magically transformed. By developing shared approaches that students feel they have helped to shape, these teachers expect to ensure that all students will become fully engaged in the school ' s agenda. They advocate, for example, that asking the student council for their thoughts on the behaviour policy will somehow transform the behaviour of all the pupils in the school.
The truth, of course, must lie somewhere between these two polar extremes. Student Voice does have the potential to improve, or even to transform, our schools, particularly by enabling schools to deliver aspects of the personalisation agenda. However, handled clumsily, it can also disappoint and disillusion students and teachers alike.
Although Student Voice activities have been well documented in countries like Australia, USA and Canada since the late 1970s, it is a comparatively new phenomenon in the majority of English schools. Nonetheless, it already features prominently in the current government ' s agenda in a number of ways:
The message is loud and clear. There is an official endorsement of the need to listen to the most immediate consumers of education.
The first issue concerns the nature of ownership. The title of this Online Conference: ' The power of Student Voice and how it can be used to bring about school improvement ' raises an intriguing question. When talking about Student Voice, what exactly is it that we are trying to improve about our schools? - and who decides what it is? It is likely that, if students were to be asked this question, they might well respond very differently from either their headteacher or teachers, depending upon the culture of the particular school, the nature of the existing relationships and the history of active listening between teachers and learners. Perhaps here, then, in the question of culture and relationships, lies a first clue to the problem of disentangling the relationship between Student Voice and school improvement.
The second issue relates to purposes. In some of the student voice literature there would appear to be a tacit assumption that teachers, by listening to pupils or actively involving them, will be able to effect further improvements in educational outcomes, such as raised SATs and examination grades. There may be some truth in this but is this the only thing that students themselves want? Is it what teachers assume will be the key result of students having a greater voice and improved engagement with their learning? For example, contrasting and essentially different expectations are explored by McMahon and Portelli (2004). Given the potential for conflict around purposes, it is apparent that it is becoming increasingly urgent that those in positions of influence, at all levels of the education system, should examine carefully the attitudes and assumptions underlying their championing of student voice that lead policy makers, schools, teachers and students to encourage Student Voice activity.
The final issue relates to legitimacy and agency. In some ways the term ' student voice ' can be misleading. Are advocates seeking to increase the opportunities for young people to have their say in classrooms and schools, so that teachers can act with better information about student perceptions? This could be termed ' passive voice ' . Or, alternatively, does student voice imply active involvement in interpreting shared meanings with teachers, planning actions and enacting solutions? This could be viewed as active agency.
There is no doubting the attraction of Student Voice for large numbers of schools, teachers and pupils. One of the evident outcomes of networked enquiry activities has been the rapid growth in commitment to student voice work. There are now significant examples of schools and networks where pupils are encouraged to explore ways of improving their school and their learning environment, often arising from the openly declared vision of committed activists.
School Councils UK says that ' effective ' School Councils can make a positive contribution to every aspect of the school community and have been shown to improve academic performance, reduce exclusions and are a significant benefit to relationships amongst pupils and between teachers and pupils. By ' effective ' they mean democratically elected council representatives with a student chair, secretary and treasurer who all receive training, plus their own budget and supportive staff. It has also been shown that students who participate in democratic processes concerning their education become more aware of such procedures and how political structures in society work.
A recent review, conducted by EPPI on citizenship education and the provision of schooling, strongly highlighted the importance of pupils learning about citizenship ' by experiencing it in action, through the ways in which they learn, ways in which they are taught and ways in which their [school] lives are organised ' . The report then went on to suggest that ' citizenship cannot be learnt in isolation but is enacted as a community of practice ' . Such comments seem almost to invite the question: what are our students learning about democracy if their only experience is a school council made up of teachers ' preferred candidates, with an adult chair, no budget and an agenda written or monitored by the headteacher?
Stantonbury Campus, from the MKLearn network in Milton Keynes, noticed a marked drop in the number of problems related to transition coming to the attention of the Head of Year after they started their Year 11 Mentoring programme of Year 8 pupils. The Year 8 pupils had been targeted by the middle schools as those who might have problems when transferring to the considerably larger secondary school.
An investigation undertaken by a teacher researcher in a Cambridge Super NLC school, where ' Students as Researchers ' had been developed for six years. This study identified the student researchers ' own perceptions of the impact on their learning, from being part of the initiative. The principal influences on academic learning were identified as: managing time, applying research skills to school subjects and improved analytical skills. However, the students also indicated the powerful effects on the social aspects of learning, of working as a team, learning as a team and sharing ideas and tasks.
The Lancet also reported on an evaluation of ' Students as Teachers ' , that looked at sex education programmes taught to Year 9 by Year 12 students, and compared them to the more traditional programmes led by teachers. The study involved 8,000 students in 27 schools and found that a school-based sex education programme taught by older students helped girls to delay their first intercourse, but interestingly had far less impact on boys.
The English Secondary Students ' Association (ESSA) is being developed by students and is the first of its kind in the UK. It will enable the views of secondary students to be addressed at a national level and promote students as the key stakeholders in their own education. It has already received funding to produce a toolkit addressing the issue of effective communication between students and adults in schools - a vital skill with which to equip all students if we are serious about power sharing in schools. The toolkit will be designed to help develop ' Students as Leaders ' and, particularly, to help the most disenfranchised, who are often at risk of exclusion, to feel more engaged in the school community. It will empower students to speak with confidence on matters affecting them.
ESSA ' s focus will be on developing an accredited ' Student Leadership ' programme, led one of the secondary schools in the Warwickshire Inclusion Network, to work in partnership with Warwick University, the Local Education Authority (LEA) and the local Education Business Partnership. More than 300 Year 9 pupils across the LEA have so far graduated with the diploma. These students have designed a personal challenge to improve their own learning, as well as designing, delivering, evaluating and assessing a group challenge to improve the lives of others in their school or wider community. There is already evidence from the first cohort of students that participation brings added value, in the shape of improved SATs scores.
Within these examples, and in many other schools and networks, there are many different examples or permutations of the relationships between the underpinning philosophy, the selected processes chosen to implement Student Voice and the Student Voice activities adopted. Some schools have begun by openly debating their reasons for extending pupil involvement in many aspects of school life. Others have started by tinkering with one particular feature, such as the quality of school meals. Yet others have focused on developing the ways in which the existing School Council functions. However, our experience with increasing numbers of Student Voice programmes within networks indicates that the more openly teachers and students participate in discussions exploring the reasons for, aims of, and perspectives about Student Voice, the better.
There are a number of implicit assumptions that need to be explored before a school or network embarks on the journey of increasing the level of Student Voice in their schools. Posed from a variety of perspectives, these might include:
It is also essential to ask whether there are aspects of schooling that are regarded as off-limits to Student Voice. Would students be welcome in a teacher ' s disciplinary hearing, for example, just as patients can attend disciplinary hearings on a doctor ' s conduct? Should we be honest with ourselves and ask the question: is our agenda one of compliance - ensuring that children fit more comfortably into the requirements of current ways of doing things - or one of democratic development, based on a desire to change the hierarchical nature of schools into learning environments where personalised learning is a genuinely achievable goal?
Are we prepared to listen to all students ' voices or just those that resonate most sympathetically with conventional adult views, reinforcing traditional hierarchical control patterns? In short, whose interests are paramount - the pupils ' , the adults ' , the school ' s or society ' s?
In such a complex scenario, asking the right questions in order to be able to explore competing educational standpoints becomes even more critical. We will need to be able to achieve deeper understandings about Student Voice if it here to stay.
The questions posed above, and others that might be more context specific, need to be brought out into the open, challenged and fully explored before starting out on the journey of increasing Student Voice. Failure to do so can lead to confusion over purposes and expectations that, in turn, can lead to resentment and disillusionment on the part of both teachers and pupils. For example, one school in Bedfordshire conducted a survey of all its pupils on a range of issues about school life. The teachers leading the enquiry were genuinely pleased with what the pupils had to say and reported to the staff that the vast majority of pupils thought it was a good school, they enjoyed their lessons and liked their teachers. A year later, the school repeated the survey but received a very different response. This time, the pupils were negative about the school, lessons and teachers alike. Obviously, distraught by the results, the teachers asked a few of the pupils to help them understand what had happened. The pupils replied that when they had been asked for their views the year before, their expectations had been raised; they thought things would change, but nothing did. So they took the opportunity of the second survey to force the teachers to take notice of their views.
Whilst there can be no doubt that involvement in Student Voice activities can give students experience of active citizenship, concerns still exist about the type and quality of those experiences. Who is ' privileged ' to participate? To what extent are students being given ' serious things to do ' (Holdsworth 2004). Students themselves, as well as teachers, often draw attention to what has been called the ' acoustic of the school ' - just whose voices are being most listened to? Are we simply generating a different elite among students? Student Voice activities may change the ways in which some students engage in learning but how far are teachers and students changing the face of schools into truly inclusive learning communities?
Many of the networks of schools we have worked with have clearly demonstrated that, when managed sensitively and with full and authentic communication by all parties, Student Voice is not a Pandora ' s Box that releases a host of unacceptable and potentially destabilising effects. The fear amongst many decision-makers, that when students are given the chance to express their views they will ask for less homework, longer holidays and to abolish exams and uniform altogether, should be dispelled. At a workshop hosted by ESSA, for example, students expressed a desire for ' encouraging a discursive classroom environment which included student feedback on lesson styles ' , and a need for ' more curriculum variety ' . Time and time again, pupils have shown that they can demonstrate the necessary maturity when given extra responsibility. They do not expect, or in fact even want, the keys to the city when they are asked for their ideas on how to improve their school. Crucially though, they do expect their views to be treated with respect and for things to change for the better as a result of their involvement. Whether requesting improvements to the physical environment or a more varied and flexible curriculum, students have demonstrated their ability to highlight positive changes and suggest ways forward that chime powerfully with the aspirations shared by teachers and parents.
So, is Student Voice the Philosopher ' s Stone? Alchemists believed that the mythical stone would transmute base metals into gold and hence make the bearer incredibly wealthy. Many of them dedicated their lives to finding the Stone, but often discovered on their journey that what they truly valued above all else was what they had possessed all along. If the rapid growth of the Student Voice movement leads to a true appreciation of the ' treasure in our own backyards ' (Soo Hoo, 1996), the students (who on average constitute 95% of a school ' s population) may at last be allowed to play an equal part in the ' challenge of changing schools ' .
We should also remember that the final gift left in Pandora ' s Box was hope. If we can access the power of Student Voice, not only to alter the way that students and teachers perceive themselves and each other, but also to redefine what it means to be a student or a teacher, then we may be able to transform our current education system from its inherited transmission model to one of personalisation.
Burke, C. and Grosvenor, I. (2003). The School I ' d Like. London & New York, Routledge Falmer.
Fielding, M. (2001). ' Students as Radical Agents of Change ' , in Journal of Educational Change, 2 (3): 123-141 .
Fielding, M. & Bragg, S. (2003). Students as Researchers: Making a Difference, Cambridge, Pearson Publishing.
Hadfield, M. & Haw, K. The Voice of Young People Hearing, Listening, Responding. School of Education, University of Nottingham.
Holdsworth, R. (2000). ' Taking Young People Seriously Means Giving Them Serious Things to Do ' , in Taking Children Seriously, ed. J. Mason and M. Wilkinson, University of Western Sydney.
Jackson, D. (2004). ' Why Pupil Voice? ' in Nexus (2), (Cranfield, National College for School Leadership).
Macbeath, J., Demetriou, H., Consulting Pupils: A Toolkit for Teachers, Cambridge.
McMahon & Portelli ( 2004). ' Engagement for What? Beyond popular discourses of student engagement ' in Leadership and Policy in Schools, Vol. 3, No 1, pp59-76.
McGregor, J. & Tyrer, G. (2004). ' Recognising student leadership in Networked Learning Communities ' , paper presented at BELMAS July 2004.
Soo Hoo, S. (1993). ' Students as partners in research and restructuring schools ' in the Educational Forum, 57, 386-393.
School Councils UK: www.schoolcouncils.org
The Lancet: www.thelancet.com/journal/vol364/iss9431/contents
ESSA: www.studentvoice.co.uk
TLRP: www.consultingpupils.co.uk
Jean Rudduck: www.qca.org.uk/ages3-14/downloads/Pupil_voice.pdf
(pupil voice and citizenship education)
EPPI: eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWeb/home.aspx
Mr Rajeeb Deyis the National Co-ordinator of the English Secondary Students ' Association (ESSA). ESSA has been Rajeeb ' s brainchild, for which he received a Millennium Award from UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.
ESSA is working to become the representative body for secondary school students in England. It aims to support students in expressing their views about education by providing workshops and a network of support with other secondary school students. The people who make decisions about ESSA ' s activities are young people who are at school or have recently been part of the education system. It will be the first organisation to represent students at a national level in the UK and will work to ensure that students are engaged in decision-making processes across the spectrum, from the local school level decisions to national educational policy making. For more information please visit: www.studentvoice.co.uk.
Mr Nick Martin is currently working for the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) as a facilitator for the Networked Learning Communities. He facilitates six networks including the Gung Ho network, which consists of six primary schools in the Dudley and Sandwell area, to the Beds North South network which is a cross-phase network of 24 schools from all over Bedfordshire. As co-leader of the Pupil Involvement in Networked Learning, Development and Enquiry Group, he has organised and led several events, including a National Conference for over 300 pupils and adults from all over the country, who came together to share ideas, resources and learning. As a result of an event at the dti, he created a resource for helping pupils and adults to create a vision of pupil involvement in school improvement, learning and teaching. Nick is currently leading on the launch of a new website for NLCs (www.nlcexchange.org.uk) which will provide an online environment for networks to share their news, calendars, events, activities, resources and learning.
Ms Non Worrallis currently working for the NCSL as a facilitator for the Networked Learning Communities and as a member of the Impact Investigation Team. She facilitates five networks in the Midlands Region, including networks which cover a wide range of primary and secondary schools, in addition to being part of a team of independent researchers evaluating the long term impact of college programmes such as NPQH and Consultant Leaders. An experienced English teacher and Deputy Head, she has established both whole school Student Voice initiatives, as well as classroom enquiry projects working with students as co-researchers. She was a member of the Learning Without Limits research project at the University of Cambridge and a Co-Leader of the Cambridge Schools University Partnership for Educational Research, created by Professors David Hargreaves and Donald MacIntyre in 1999, which became a Networked Learning Community in 2002.
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