“It is not enough to simply listen to student voice. Educators have an ethical imperative to do something with students, and that is why meaningful student involvement is vital to school improvement.”
Adam Fletcher, Meaningful Student Involvement Guide to Students as Partners
The history of pupil voice has been far from linear. In 1989, it was brought to the forefront of our education systems globally when the UN Convention Article 12 affirmed a child’s right to express their views on matters which affect them. Despite this global aspiration for our children, in reality, it has become apparent to me that pupil voice is sometimes still somewhat superficial .
Roger Hart claims this is the unintentional impact of us underestimating the competency of children. There have been numerous developments in our government’s policy aiming to nudge teachers and leaders in a different direction. The Every Child Matters agenda is heralded as instigating a multitude of change. It encapsulated a clear nationwide ambition to ensure the voices of children and young people became effectively heard. Following this, the government laid out a five-year strategy for our children, expressing an intention to enable children to move away from being passive recipients within education but become partners in their learning.
A decade and a half since these policies, probably printed and posted back then, arrived in our school staff rooms, I wonder what our children would say about their place as school “stakeholders”? I would guess the vast majority would have no idea what a stakeholder is… The irony here is that children are a school’s most prevalent stakeholders. However, their opportunity to genuinely contribute to the development of their schools remains utterly disproportionate.
I know it is on the tip of your tongues, so before you start, I am talking about something ‘bigger’ than your school council (we will get there). I am talking about how do children talk about their learning? How do they talk to teachers about the development of a curriculum that forms the foundations of the experiences they take forward into their future? Do they know how to reflect on what their schools need to make it a better place for them? Would a teacher in your school let a child talk about what they liked most about a lesson and what their wishes would be to make it better? And if they would, what would they do about it?
No more questions, for now.
I have dabbled with a few experimental ideas in how to create genuine platforms for pupil voice into my practice. These have been, mostly, within the safety of my four classroom walls. Here are some snippets:
I tend to talk about learning a lot, my own and theirs, and this very much oozes through the voices of my little learners. This helps children gain an understand of how to behave ‘like a learner’. I am really lucky that the school I work in truly values learning behaviours; it even forms as one of our appraisal targets.
I have devised systems where the children are at the heart of my intervention systems. I am proud that it has become something that is done with them based on their daily learning experiences rather than done to them based on data analysis and gap filling (although there is still a place for this). Together, we have carefully studied the difference between mistakes and misconceptions. This has helped interventions in our classroom become not only an effective vehicle for pupil voice but also pupil progress.
I make sure children have opportunities to present their learning to me and each other, and as part of this, teach them how to be reflective. Before lockdown 3.0 within my teaching team, we devised some questions which help our children reflect on their learning during our project units (what you may know as the wider curriculum or topic). This includes not only questions regarding what they are curious about and would like to learn about next, but also which topics they found difficult and why. We listen to their feedback, and the children know this.
Back to school councils. Once upon a time, I lead a school council. It was a fabulous opportunity. The children were just that, fabulous. They led schools assemblies, hosted well-being session across school during their lunch time (making worry eaters) and even gained an Anti-Bullying accreditation for the school.
I think they are an incredible platform for pupil voice, my only ‘eurgh’ with them lies within my passion for inclusion. I have recently realised how school councils, although being well intentioned, do not always succeed in genuinely representing all pupil groups (how often does your lower-ability-pupil-premium-boy with a possible label attached to them get a chance to be on the panel..?)
Enough of my big ideas, here is one I recently stumbled across from someone else…
I worked with a wonderful leader last term, as part of some CPD, who spoke of pupil learner councils. These occur inside the classroom. All children play a part, with a variety of roles, which change each time. This means everyone gets to feel a part of it, and to me encompasses something more inclusive. Whilst thinking about strategies for all children, she also spoke of children leading their own parents evening dialogues, very similar to the systems Alison Peacock describes in her book ‘Creating Learning without Limits‘ (an amazing read!) That is a very ‘big idea’ and very much venturing beyond the realm of my classroom walls. However, I have full faith my senior leaders would relish the opportunity to put this into practice.
I guess the capacity of pupil voice is very much something which lies in the potential of a school culture. I’ll leave that thought with you to do with it as you please.
So, I have laid down just a few ideas. These are very much of the beginning of something I feel incredibly inquisitive about.
Unfortunately, these practices feel like distant memories and the potential a far off thought. Whilst stuck in a world of synchronous and asynchronous remote education, I am finding the reality of pupil voice in my practice being one built upon mic muting and cold calling. Yet it is something I cannot wait to get my teeth into in the future and definitely, in my opinion, a pursuit worthwhile.