Opportunity for Authentic Student Engagement through Student Voice

Michele Bledsoe, Director of Equity and Social Emotional Wellness, Puyallup School District, Washington

Michele Bledsoe, Director of Equity and Social Emotional Wellness, Puyallup School District, Washington

We’ve known for some time that adult educator behavior is critical to student outcomes and student success in academics, social emotional skills, and behavior. What does that mean in our post-pandemic educational reality? As we continue to recover from the pandemic, it is critical that we bring students to the center of our reform efforts, and what better way to do that than to let students use their voices to inform our practices and behaviors. Educators are desperately trying to reengage students in the educational process. Students are desperately trying to find an education that is interesting and meaningful to them. By inviting students into productive conversations, we can address the needs of the adults and the students collaboratively.

In 1989, the United Nations published the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which includes the idea that children have a right to express their views on matters that affect them. Children under the age of 18 around the world attend school so asking students for input is an authentic opportunity for children to express their views, also known as student voice (Groundwater-Smith, 2016; Hart, 1992). Student voice is defined as authentic student input or leadership in instruction, school structures, or education policies that can promote meaningful change in education systems, practice, and/or policy by empowering students as change agents, often working in partnership with adult educators (Benner et al., 2019; Friend & Caruthers, 2015; Hall 2017; Pearce & Wood, 2019; Thibodeaux et al, 2019). Including student voice and active student participation have strong roots in social studies lessons on democracy and citizenship (Carr & Kruggel, 2020: Grau et al., 2016; Hall, 2017; Hart, 1992; Preus et al., 2016).

In order for students to share their voice, school staff must create space through opportunities (Pearce & Wood, 2019; Zumbach et al., 2021). Several studies found that a strong sense of trust between students and adults in the school is required for student voice and participation to be effective (Benner et al., 2019; Funk et al., 2012; Keyes, 2019; Ng, 2018; Preus et al., 2016). Thibodeaux et al. (2019) assert that students need choices in the ways they express their voice. Activities to express student voice should be offered in relation to students’ developmental stages, which acknowledge that each student is unique, progresses at different rates and has different levels of interest (Funk et al., 2012; Hart, 1992). Students can participate and share their voice through surveys, focus groups, student produced photographs, videos or plays, participation in student government or other decision-making groups, student-led conferences, and interviews. (Benner et al., 2019; Friend & Cauthers, 2015; Pearce & Wood, 2019). One highly effective method of student-initiated participation is youth participatory action research, which is an example of youth-initiated shared decisions with adults from Hart’s Ladder of Participation (Benner et al., 2019; Friend & Caruthers, 2015; Funk et al., 2012; Groundwater-Smith & Mockler, 2016; Hart, 1992; Rouncefield-Swales et al., 2021). When students and adults work together to solve a real-life problem at their school site, increased levels of trust and deeper adult-student relationships are reported (Friend & Caruthers, 2015; Groundwater-Smith & Mockler, 2016). A review of 80 studies on student voice found that effective student voice initiatives must: (a) be based in dialogue; (b) include staff and students, while allowing students to respond in a variety of ways that align with their age and development; (c) include all students, especially students who have been historically marginalized;, and (d) deliver genuine opportunities to influence the school system and make change (Pearce & Wood, 2019).

"By inviting students into productive conversations, we can address the needs of the adults and the students collaboratively"

In order for school staff to create space for students to participate and have a voice, the adults must acknowledge that the adults traditionally held the most power in school organizations (Friend & Caruthers, 2015; Groundwater-Smith & Mockler, 2016; Hall, 2017; Hart, 1992; Pearce & Wood, 2019). Friend and Caruthers (2015) discuss the paradigm shift that is required for educators to allow students to have ownership of their learning and the agency to contribute to the betterment of an organization. One finding in their research is that reform efforts often discuss what students cannot do or have not experienced, instead of what students can do. Inclusion of student-generated ideas implies that children are capable to contribute and have valuable input (Friend & Caruthers, 2015). School staff must be intentional about which students are offered the opportunity to share their voice (Friend & Caruthers, 2015; Hall, 2017; Pearce & Wood, 2019; Preus, 2016). Hall (2017) found that schools often ask the students who are easiest to ask, and therefore, only hear what they want to hear. Researchers in this field recommend asking a diverse population of students to participate in student voice activities to ensure that a variety of perspectives are included (Friend & Caruthers, 2015; Pearce & Wood, 2019). Pearce & Wood (2015) go farther and ask schools to actively prepare all students to participate by teaching skills such as speaking, collaborating, and researching.

There are strong links between engagement and positive classroom and school climates (Fatou & Kubiszewski, 2018). Students who feel heard and respected in schools may be more likely to see the school experience as relevant. They may also be more likely to report feeling connected and have a sense of belonging (Dary et al., 2016; Davis & Chitiyo, 2019; Fatou & Kubiszewski, 2018). Creating opportunities for students to share their voice and be engaged in classroom, school, or policy change has to be allowed and invited by adults.