Student Voice in School Reform: Building Youth-Adult Partnerships That Strengthen Schools and Empower Youth
... More modern definitions of student voice such as Mitra's (2008): ...
... Large numbers of students describe their experiences of school in terms of anonymity and powerlessness (Noddings, 1992). Large schools, ability tracking, and the commonly held view of students as consumers of education (Erchul & Martens, 2010), have created distance between students and adults (Mitra, 2008). This distance has a significant impact on many students' ability to learn, social/emotional development (Fullan, 2001), and is a key reason why many students eventually leave school prematurely (Bridgeland et al., 2006). ...
... Student perspective research has revealed clear connections between student voice, educational leadership, and positive youth development (Mitra, 2008). Student voice initiatives in schools have expanded notions of distributed leadership (Copeland, 2003), and collaboration, to include young people in school-based reform efforts. ...
The need for principals to have the time and tools to focus on instruction and student
learning has continued to intensify. At the same time, the incongruence between what principals want to do instructionally and have time to do, creates dire consequences for school leaders and their work in making a difference in schools regarding staff and student improvement.
This study examines whether and how principals take their lead from students, and use student voice, to create more responsive schools, and more responsible models of leadership. In order to describe and explain whether and how principals have used students’ perspectives to meaningfully structure their experiences of school and learning, I explore how students can naturally inform the work being done by principals in order to bring students’ attitudes and feelings about school, learning and leadership into the dominant discourse on effective administrative practice.
I consider issues of student agency and voice within four very different elementary
school settings. Further, I consider the challenges students face, and the ways principals are preparing to address these challenges. In this study I address roadblocks to responsive leadership in urban, suburban, and rural schools using a cogenerative qualitative approach that principals and students can use to create new dialogue and shared theories that are focused on improving
both administrative function and the instructional programs of their schools. This approach has revealed a new shared theory which includes students in models of school leadership. Central to this theory is a call for principals to use more student-driven approaches to guiding their principalship, so that students can be empowered as learners and school leaders in their own right.
... This specific aspect is captured in Table 1.1 presented on the next page: Rudduck and Flutter (2000) Rudduck (2007) also asserts that "student voice is most successful when it enables students to feel that they are members of a learning community, that they matter, and that they have something valuable to offer" (p.587). However, more recently, Mitra (2014) and Holquist (2019) call for research to include student voice related to school change aimed at classroom practice and empowerment to influence educational decisions that shape their own experience and that of their peers. ...
... 2. Student involvement in whole school change specifically for teaching and learning (Rudduck & Flutter, 2000;Mitra, 2014;Holquist, 2019) Tensions 1. Piecemeal vs systemic thinking approach to change in schools (Betts, 1992;Bunyard, 2010) Having identified gaps and tensions as a practitioner who has by now been intrigued by the theory behind educational change, I next turn my attention to the nature of systemic change in schools. Hopkins (1996) argues that to navigate change successfully, schools need learning staff that includes the whole school, not only teachers or students. ...
... More recently,Mitra (2014) identified a lack of research around experiences of schools that include student voice related to school change aimed at classroom practice.This study offers a close examination of the Student Drive Team specifically tasked and supported to make decision making contributions through the partnership between the two Drive Teams aimed at whole school change for cognitive teaching and learning. This research contributes new evidence of the possibilities opened to students to engage, contribute, and develop student voice to be taken seriously into account when conceptualising whole school change for cognitive teaching and learning. ...
Thinking about change in a Thinking School: Conceptualising whole school change in the context of an English secondary school This thesis examines a qualitative case study of whole school change based on the perceived experiences of members of a Staff Drive Team and a Student Drive Team in a coeducational selective secondary school. The Staff and Student Drive Teams are a special feature of Thinking Schools, tasked with driving whole school change for cognitive teaching and learning that encourages an intentional, explicit, and long-term commitment to the process of teaching and learning for, of, and about thinking. This study seeks a further understanding of whole school change through a systems theory perspective by considering the role of practices, processes and structures involved, as well as their interrelationships. The philosophical underpinnings of this research encompass constructivist principles from an interpretive relativist position. The case study draws on two non-participant observations, two initial focus groups, 16 semi-structured interviews and two final focus groups as primary data sources combined with contextual secondary information from three school development plans, ten agendas of Drive Teams meetings and three Thinking School accreditation reports. The semi-structured interviews are analysed adopting Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), with Content analysis (CA) employed for the rest of the data. An integrated theoretical and analytical framework is developed to interpret the findings, drawing from previous research on whole school change (Thomson, 2010) based on systems theory with influences from systems thinking (Senge, 1990) and ecological development (Bonfenbrenner, 1979) and subject to autopoietic connotations. This research concludes that initial struggles with resistance to whole school change were reframed and translated into openness to change achieved through systems thinking. The findings indicate that the Student and Staff Drive Teams experienced the whole school change for cognitive teaching and learning as ongoing systemic change and as a multiple-loop, multi-layered learning process supported by risk taking, reflection, teams interrelations, non-negotiable whole school change, common values and language, and continuous learning. From this case study, a ‘petal’ model of whole school change is proposed as meriting further attention.
... Η λειτουργία των μαθητικών συμβουλίων έχει θετικό αντίκτυπο σε πολλούς τομείς, Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη παράγοντες επιρροής η Mitra (2008) διακρίνει τα οφέλη της μαθητικής φωνής σε τρεις άξονες για τους μαθητές: αυτοπεποίθηση, συνεργασία και επικοινωνία και προσωπικές και κοινωνικές δεξιότητες. Οι Griebler και Nowak (2012) πραγματοποίησαν μία εκτενή μελέτη σε επιστημονικά άρθρα που είχαν ως αντικείμενο μελέτης τα μαθητικά συμβούλια. ...
... Οι επιπτώσεις ως αποτέλεσμα της συμμετοχής των μαθητών στα μαθητικά συμβούλια, αφορούν την ανάπτυξη προσωπικών δεξιοτήτων ζωής, αλλά και ακαδημαϊκών επιδόσεων. Αναλυτικότερα οι μαθητές αναπτύσσουν δεξιότητες επικοινωνίας, όπως η ανάπτυξη της κριτικής σκέψης (Mitra, 2008) και η ανάπτυξη επιχειρημάτων (Griebler & Nowak, 2012). Επίσης αναπτύσσουν ή βελτιώνουν την αυτοεκτίμηση και αυτοπεποίθησή τους (Johnson, 1992·Taylor & Johnson, 2002·Cotmore, 2004· Keogh & White, 2005· Griebler & Nowak, 2012. ...
... Επίσης αναπτύσσουν ή βελτιώνουν την αυτοεκτίμηση και αυτοπεποίθησή τους (Johnson, 1992·Taylor & Johnson, 2002·Cotmore, 2004· Keogh & White, 2005· Griebler & Nowak, 2012. Η απόκτηση αυτοπεποίθησης πραγματώνεται μέσω της εκτίμηση των άλλων, της απόκτησης μιας ταυτότητας ικανής για να επιφέρει αλλαγές και της λήψης ηγετικών ρόλων (Mitra, 2008). Τέλος σε μικρό αριθμό ερευνών παρουσιάζονται θετικά αποτελέσματα και στις ακαδημαϊκές επιδόσεις των μαθητών (Cotmore, 2004· Keogh & White, 2005·Griebler & Nowak, 2012. ...
Η εκπαίδευση για τη δημοκρατία παραμένει πάντα ένα επίκαιρο θέμα. Το σχολείο οφείλει να παρέχει ένα πλαίσιο ώστε οι μαθητές να διαπαιδαγωγούνται με την ανάπτυξη πολιτικών δεξιοτήτων για να ενταχθούν σε μία ελεύθερη πολιτεία. Ο παιδαγωγικός θεσμός των μαθητικών συμβουλίων λειτουργεί προς εκπλήρωση του παραπάνω σκοπού. Η παρούσα έρευνα θέλησε να διερευνήσει τις απόψεις των μαθητών, ως μέλη της σχολικής κοινότητας που πρωταγωνιστούν στη λειτουργία του θεσμού, για τον ρόλο της σχολικής ηγεσίας. Μελετήθηκε ο ρόλος του εκπαιδευτικού και του διευθυντή εξαιτίας της σχολικής ηγεσίας που δύναται να ασκήσουν, στη λειτουργία του 15μελούς μαθητικού συμβουλίου. Η ερευνητική μέθοδος που επιλέχθηκε ήταν ο συνδυασμός ποσοτικής και ποιοτικής με εργαλεία έρευνας το ερωτηματολόγιο και τη συνέντευξη. Τα ευρήματα της έρευνας έδειξαν πως εκπαιδευτικοί μπορούν να στηρίξουν τη λειτουργία του μαθητικού συμβουλίου κυρίως μέσω της προτροπής έκφρασης γνώμης των μελών του 15μελούς συμβουλίου στις συνεδριάσεις του σχολείου και ο διευθυντής μέσω της διάθεσης χώρου για τις συνεδριάσεις και πραγματοποίησης τακτικών συναντήσεων με το συμβούλιο. Επίσης το επικρατέστερο μοντέλο ηγεσίας που αξιολογούν οι μαθητές ότι μπορεί να στηρίξει το μαθητικό συμβούλιο, όσο αφορά την υιοθέτησή του από τον διευθυντή, είναι η διαπροσωπική ηγεσία. Τέλος από τα ευρήματα παρατηρήθηκε πολύ μεγαλύτερο ποσοστό συμμετοχής στα συμβούλια αγοριών έναντι κοριτσιών.
... This can range from changes in the way schools conceptualize learning and how such reconceptualization is enacted in activities and relations within the constraints of officially prescribed curriculum and assessment policy, to environmental changes such as moving from single cell classrooms of one teacher to [25][26][27][28][29][30]to Modern Learning Environments (MLEs) in the form of open-plan, activity-based spaces containing several teachers and much larger groups of children, to redistribution of governance decision-making powers within schools and between school, community and system level stakeholders. Such reforms involve an interrogation of the practical meaning of inclusive education and pedagogies for all students (Slee, 2011;Florian, 2012); how learning and assessment are conceptualized (Alexander, 2011;Black & Wiliam, 2006;Wiliam, 2011), and the roles of students (Mitra, 2008;Cook-Sather, 2007) and families and communities in meaningful decision making (McCarty, 2002;Schultz, 2019). This is not straightforward. ...
... Although system, area and school level reform initiatives have seen a steady growth over the years (Mitra, 2008), Friend and Caruthers (2015) argue that "conventional school reform, turnaround schools, and at-risk students share a deficit approach that emphasizes what students cannot do and the background experiences they do not have" (p. 15). ...
... The democratic school culture accords children considerable rights of participation in decision-making and in so doing prefigures democratic citizenship as it is hoped to eventuate in society at large, in effect rendering the student decision-making initiative just as much political as it is educational. Mitra (2008) has stated that "the greater the problems in a school, the greater the need for students to 'make it real' by naming the problems and helping to address them" (p. 95). ...
Children's conceptions and experiences of learning greatly influence how and what they learn. Traditional forms of schooling typically position the learner at the periphery of decisions about their own learning. Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment practices emphasize the attainment of system mandated learning outcomes, and this emphasis predetermines much of what is deemed by adults to be important or worthwhile student learning. Children consequently come to view their school learning in fragmented, individualistic and narrowly adult-defined and controlled ways. Many state schooling system settings permit only limited choice and decision-making by children. However, the history of compulsory education also contains numerous instances of schoolchildren organizing and taking collective action against the wishes of adults on issues that are of concern to them, and of states, communities and individual schools where radically different schooling approaches have been attempted, both inside and outside the publicly funded system. These 'free', 'alternative', or 'democratic' schooling initiatives are part of long-standing 'progressive' education counter-discourses that aim to demonstrate the benefits of child-centred and even child-determined schooling. Such initiatives have encountered both resistance and support in schooling systems and, consequently, offer useful lessons with regard to contemporary discourses around children's rights, student voice and their contribution to schooling system reform. In recent decades, the combined effects of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and growing scholarly interest in 'student voice' research and reform efforts in ordinary schools have increased expectations that children should have a meaningful say in their learning at school. The UNCRC underpins polity efforts to facilitate young people's active participation in decision making in areas that affect them across the social agencies. While contemporary 'student voice' initiatives offer some promise for more of a 'partnership' between adults and children in the ordinary school, they are often conceptualized and enacted at a superficial or tokenistic level. In continuing to position children simply as students who need the protection and direction of adults, schools fail to give adequate attention to the rich ways in which out-of-school learning contributes to a child's holistic identity, to the learning strategies young people use in their day-today lives outside of compulsory schooling settings, and how these might help shape children's agentic participation in meaningful decision-making about what and how they learn while at school. A greater focus on the discursive processes of informal and everyday learning in family and community, and the learning strengths or funds of knowledge children acquire in these settings, encourages the kinds of school and classroom conditions in which children and young people actively explore aspects of their world that interest them, experience agency in and commitment to their learning, and make choices about who they spend time with and what they prioritise in their learning. Informal learning affords young people the ability to naturally self-assess their learning and develop sophisticated understandings about what works for them and why. When young people actively engage with physical, technological and social spaces to advance their learning, they also learn to appreciate the utility of the tools and people around them. All these competencies or capabilities have relevance for what occurs in formal schooling settings also. Getting to know about the informal learning experiences of young people outside school influences the ways teachers think about who their learners are, learning as a phenomenon, and about the pedagogical repertoire they use to develop and enhance children's capabilities. These pedagogical insights enable teachers to subtly or radically change their approaches to learning, the interactional framework of the classroom, and the teachers' relations with families and with the local community that children negotiate each day.
... By definition, adults working with/in student voice efforts cannot maintain the traditional adult-youth hierarchical relationship where adults hold much of the power, but must encourage students to lead and make their own choices in the effort (Camino, 2000;Conner et al., 2015;Cook-Sather, 2006;Flutter & Rudduck, 2004;Mitra, 2014;Oldfather, 1995;Rudduck & Fielding, 2006). However, adults also have an important role to play in helping students to build this power. ...
... Furthermore, not all adults are open to including student voice in the conversation, and these adults are more openly defensive and hostile toward students (Cook-Sather, 2006;Mitra, 2008aMitra, , 2009Oldfather, 1995). However, to gain momentum and influence on decision making, student voice efforts need the political, financial, and emotional support of those in power (Beaudoin, 2013;Fielding, 2004;Mitra, 2014;Rudduck & Fielding, 2006). One important adult role, thus, is assisting students in managing relationships such that they can advocate and continue to increase leverage amongst policymakers (Mitra, 2015). ...
... Adults also have an important role to play in buffering student voice organizations and "creating spaces for young people to process and debrief their experiences" (Mitra, 2015, p. 244). This gives the group the emotional support to keep moving forward even when they are challenged or rejected (Mitra, 2014). For all collaborative and student-led efforts, adults act as advocates outside of the group by buffering the group from potential concerns or conflicts that may put a stop to their agenda (Scott et al., 2009). ...
This study examines the role of adult facilitators in supporting student voice efforts for educational policy change. Using case study and Accidental Ethnography data, we explore the actions that adult facilitators take to support student voice efforts in policy spaces. Our findings include that adults (1) intentionally shift power to students, (2) help students understand the power of their voice, and (3) help students to resist and overcome tokenization. We discuss our findings in the context of power and helping historically unpowerful groups exercise policy voice.
... Por ejemplo, la participación de los estudiantes en la organización y la gestión escolar suele limitarse al funcionamiento de los consejos escolares y los representantes estudiantiles de aula o centro (delegados y delegadas). Su consideración como agentes activos potenciales resulta, desde cualquier prisma, insuficiente e insatisfactoria, a pesar de tener evidencias de su importancia para la mejora educativa (McIntyre y Rudduck, 2007;Clarke, Condon, Cushman, Demetriou, y Easton, 2015;Mitra, 2009). El término " la voz de los estudiantes" ha surgido en el panorama educativo desde países como Estados Unidos, Canadá y el Reino Unido en las últimas dos décadas y, se ha erigido como concepto aglutinador de una variada gama de experiencias educativas que animan a la reflexión, la discusión, el diálogo y la acción de los estudiantes en los centros escolares. ...
... Fielding y McGregor (2005) afirman que "la voz de los estudiantes" afectan principalmente a los estudiantes, pero también, por implicación, al personal de la escuela y a las comunidades educativas. Por su parte, Mitra (2009) afirma que "la voces de los estudiantes" se refieren a las oportunidades de influir en las decisiones que determinarán sus vidas y la de sus compañeros dentro o fuera del entorno escolar. Rudduck y Flutter (2004) presentan tres razones "para dar voz a los estudiantes" e invitar a la participación activa. ...
... Por lo que resultaría un proceso no solo incompleto sino también perjudicial. Como Mitra (2009) señala, "escuchar a los estudiantes es insuficiente si se considera el punto final" (p.742). En este sentido, podríamos añadir que las distintas formas de participación del alumnado dependen, en buena medida, del protagonismo que los adultos les concedamos. ...
El objetivo del trabajo que se presenta es poner en evidencia la importancia de los procesos de participación de los estudiantes en la mejora docente, concretamente
en las prácticas de enseñanza preocupadas por asegurar el éxito de todo el alumnado del aula sin exclusiones. Se mostrarán estrategias utilizadas en 33 centros de Educación primaria y Educación Secundaria que han participado en dos proyectos europeos cuya finalidad ha sido mostrar la eficacia de la colaboración docente y las voces del alumnado para contribuir en el desarrollo profesional docente. La finalidad última del trabajo es que los ejemplos mostrados sirvan de inspiración a otros centros para poner en marcha de forma sostenible procesos de participación del alumnado, como estrategia para construir entornos cada vez más inclusivos. Además, en el texto se describen y analizan algunos aprendizajes sobre la participación de los estudiantes en los centros escolares.
... Σελ επηθπιαθηηθή ή αξλεηηθή ζηάζε ησλ εθπαηδεπηηθψλ κπνξεί λα κεηαζρεκαηίζεη ν δηεπζπληήο ηνπ ζρνιείνπ (Glatthorn, 1968).Ζ ππνζηήξημε ηνπ δηεπζπληή πξνο ην ζπκβνχιην εθδειψλεηαη κε πνιινχο ηξφπνπο.Ο δηεπζπληήο κπνξεί λα δηαδξακαηίζεη βαζηθφ ξφιν κέζσ ησλ ζέζεσλ θαη ησλ πξάμεψλ ηνπ θαη λα ππνζηεξίμεη ην καζεηηθφ ζπκβνχιην σο ζεζκφ θαη σο νκάδα ηνπ ζρνιείνπ (Glatthorn, 1968). πκκεηέρεη ζηηο ζπλαληήζεηο ηνπ (Parker&Leithwood,2000·Pautsch, 2010 θαη αλαιακβάλεη λα εληζρχζεη ηηο δξάζεηο ηνπ (Mitra, 2008). Γίλεη ζηνπο καζεηέο ηηο απαξαίηεηεο πιεξνθνξίεο γηα ηελ πξαγκαηνπνίεζε ησλ δξάζεψλ ηνπο, εμαζθαιίδεη ηελ έγθξηζε απηψλ ησλ δξάζεσλ, θαζψο θαη ηνπο πφξνπο πιηθνηερληθνχο θαη ρξεκαηηθνχο πνπ κπνξεί λα ρξεηαζηνχλ (Mitra, 2008). ...
... πκκεηέρεη ζηηο ζπλαληήζεηο ηνπ (Parker&Leithwood,2000·Pautsch, 2010 θαη αλαιακβάλεη λα εληζρχζεη ηηο δξάζεηο ηνπ (Mitra, 2008). Γίλεη ζηνπο καζεηέο ηηο απαξαίηεηεο πιεξνθνξίεο γηα ηελ πξαγκαηνπνίεζε ησλ δξάζεψλ ηνπο, εμαζθαιίδεη ηελ έγθξηζε απηψλ ησλ δξάζεσλ, θαζψο θαη ηνπο πφξνπο πιηθνηερληθνχο θαη ρξεκαηηθνχο πνπ κπνξεί λα ρξεηαζηνχλ (Mitra, 2008). Δπηπξφζζεηα πξνσζεί ηελ εθπαίδεπζε θαη ηελ θαηάξηηζε εθπαηδεπηηθψλ θαη καζεηψλ ζε αλάινγα ζέκαηα (Parker&Leithwood, 2000·Pautsch, 2010• Glatthorn ,1968. ...
... Ο ελεξγφο ξφινο ησλ καζεηψλ ζηε ιήςε απνθάζεσλ απνηειεί βαζηθφ ζηνηρείν ηεο θσλήο ησλ καζεηψλ (Inman, 2003·Pautsch, 2010 θαη ε ζπκκεηνρή ηνπ ζε απηέο απμάλεη ηε δχλακε ηνπ ζπκβνπιίνπ σο απαξαίηεηε πξνυπφζεζε ηεο απνηειεζκαηηθήο ιεηηνπξγίαο ηνπο (Griebler&Nowak, 2012). Ζ ζπκβνιή ησλ εθπαηδεπηηθψλ κέζσ ηεο ζπκκεηνρήο ηνπ 15κεινχο ζε δξάζεηο θαίλεηαη απφ δχν εξσηήζεηο, πνπ αθνξνχλ εμ νξηζκνχ ελέξγεηεο ησλ ζρνιηθψλ θπβεξλήζεσλ, ηελ αληηκεηψπηζε πξνβιεκάησλ (Mitra, 2005) θαη ηελ πξαγκαηνπνίεζε δξάζεσλ γηα ηελ επξχηεξε ηνπηθή θνηλσλία (Mitra, 2008). Οη καζεηέο κπνξνχλ λα κνηξάδνληαη ηηο απφςεηο ηνπο γηα ηα πξνβιήκαηα ηνπ ζρνιείνπ θαη λα ζπλεξγάδνληαη κε ηνπο ελήιηθεο γηα λα βξνπλ ιχζε ζε απηά ηα πξνβιήκαηα (Mitra, 2005), άιισζηε απνηειεί επζχλε ησλ εθπαηδεπηηθψλ ε θαιιηέξγεηα δεμηνηήησλ γηα ηελ επίιπζε πξνβιεκάησλ (Mitra, 2005·Μχηε, 2009) θαη ε αλάπηπμε ησλ πξσηνβνπιηψλ ησλ καζεηψλ εληζρχνληαο ηελ απηελεξγφ δξαζηεξηφηεηά ηνπο (Ξσρέιιεο, 2006·Παπανηθνλφκνπ, 2016). ...
Education for democracy remains always a topical issue. School tends to develop political skills in students, so they can be incorporated in a free state. The educational institution of the students’ councils acts to achieve the above purpose. Through this present research were investigated students’ views, as members of school society, that are main characters of the function of the institution, for the role of the school leadership. The role of both the teacher and the director was studied due to school leadership that they can exercise on the operation of the 15member student council. The research method chosen was the quantity research, using the questionnaire as research tool. The research findings showed that teachers can support the operation of the student council, mainly through promotion of members’ expression of the 15member council opinion at the school meetings and the principal through providing room for the student meetings and accomplishment of regular meetings with the council. Finally according to the findings a much bigger percentage of attendance to the 15member student council was found in boys than in girls./
Η εκπαίδευση για τη δημοκρατία παραμένει πάντα ένα επίκαιρο θέμα. Το σχολείο οφείλει να παρέχει ένα πλαίσιο ώστε οι μαθητές να διαπαιδαγωγούνται με την ανάπτυξη πολιτικών δεξιοτήτων για να ενταχθούν σε μία ελεύθερη πολιτεία. Ο παιδαγωγικός θεσμός των μαθητικών συμβουλίων λειτουργεί προς εκπλήρωση του παραπάνω σκοπού. Η παρούσα έρευνα θέλησε να διερευνήσει τις απόψεις των μαθητών, ως μέλη της σχολικής κοινότητας που πρωταγωνιστούν στη λειτουργία του θεσμού, για τον ρόλο της σχολικής ηγεσίας. Μελετήθηκε ο ρόλος του εκπαιδευτικού και του διευθυντή εξαιτίας της σχολικής ηγεσίας που δύναται να ασκήσουν, στη λειτουργία του 15μελούς μαθητικού συμβουλίου. Η ερευνητική μέθοδος που επιλέχθηκε ήταν ο συνδυασμός ποσοτικής και ποιοτικής με εργαλεία έρευνας το ερωτηματολόγιο και τη συνέντευξη. Τα ευρήματα της έρευνας έδειξαν πως εκπαιδευτικοί μπορούν να στηρίξουν τη λειτουργία του μαθητικού συμβουλίου κυρίως μέσω της προτροπής έκφρασης γνώμης των μελών του 15μελούς συμβουλίου στις συνεδριάσεις του σχολείου και ο διευθυντής μέσω της διάθεσης χώρου για τις συνεδριάσεις και πραγματοποίησης τακτικών συναντήσεων με το συμβούλιο. Επίσης το επικρατέστερο μοντέλο ηγεσίας που αξιολογούν οι μαθητές ότι μπορεί να στηρίξει το μαθητικό συμβούλιο, όσο αφορά την υιοθέτησή του από τον διευθυντή, είναι η διαπροσωπική ηγεσία. Τέλος από τα ευρήματα παρατηρήθηκε πολύ μεγαλύτερο ποσοστό συμμετοχής στα συμβούλια αγοριών έναντι κοριτσιών.
... Adults in families, schools, and communities can foster youth voice by establishing an open climate where adults authentically listen and youth feel respected, valued, and heard (Wray-Lake & Abrams, 2020). A more active strategy for fostering youth voice is providing opportunities for youth to exercise decision making (Mitra, 2014). Youth governance-where youth make school, organization, community, social movement, or campaign decisions alongside adults-can cultivate civic empowerment, civic knowledge, problem solving, empathy, and leadership skills (Augsberger et al., 2018;Zeldin et al., 2013). ...
... These civic socialization practices build on and inform each other. For example, democratic relationships in schools and communities are linked to opportunities for youth voice and empowerment (Mitra, 2014). Open classroom climates and sociopolitical discussions create opportunities for critical reflection (Godfrey & Grayman, 2014). ...
... Using Socratic or Paideia seminar has been notably critiqued for its Western and Eurocentric framework, replete with narrow content, scripted or formal talk, and restricted bodies, along with the temptation to view the teacher as expert and to steer students toward a predetermined understanding (Fullam, 2015;Noddings, 1984). At the same time, researchers and teachers have stressed the need for dialogic conversation that increases literacy and learning (Juzwik et al., 2013;Mitra, 2008). So, what is useful, and what is harmful, in framing student seminars? ...
... Working towards a radical youth pedagogy brings youth to the center, especially with the support of culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies (Ladson-Billings, 1992;Paris, 2012). Youth-centeredness can be propelled further through youth-led participatory action research (Cammarota & Fine, 2008;Drame & Irby, 2016;Mirra, Filipiak, & Garcia, 2015) and work toward youth-adult partnerships (Kirshner & Pozzoboni, 2011;Mitra, 2008;Watson & Marciano, 2015). Research and theory, like listening to youth and critical friends, are important to developing practice and pedagogy. ...
This chapter reflects on listening to students through whole group talk in Student Seminars, reframed from a history of Paideia or Socratic Seminar methods in humanities classes. In this chapter teachers reflect on centering youth voice in student seminars through professional development and action research. It is in a collection in a book titled Interrupting, Infiltrating, Investigating: Radical Youth Pedagogy in Education.
... The inclusion of students in school leadership and decision making is equally important as a way of centering student experiences, perspectives, needs, and dreams in school change, and as a way of supporting civic engagement and resilience. Student voice efforts run the gamut, from efforts to listen to students prior to decision making, to forms of student-adult collaboration, to student-led efforts at school change (Mitra, 2008). While formal structures such as student councils are the most recognized forms of student voice, work in RJ and youth organizing have opened up different structures of student leadership that can engage more students in authentic ways (Mitra, 2008;Warren & Mapp, 2011). ...
... Student voice efforts run the gamut, from efforts to listen to students prior to decision making, to forms of student-adult collaboration, to student-led efforts at school change (Mitra, 2008). While formal structures such as student councils are the most recognized forms of student voice, work in RJ and youth organizing have opened up different structures of student leadership that can engage more students in authentic ways (Mitra, 2008;Warren & Mapp, 2011). ...
Trauma-informed Care (TIC), Restorative Justice (RJ), and Multicultural Education (MCE) are three approaches to school reform widely being discussed and promoted within schools. The authors of this paper, representing the fields of psychology, social work, and education, present an integrated framework that acknowledges the commonalities these three models share, as well as the ways that they complement one another by focusing our attention on different aspects of urban education. We argue that the concept of healing offers a powerful heuristic for systemic school reform — a guide for rethinking how we address pedagogical, disciplinary, curricular, and policy decisions. We are calling for the creation of “healing schools,” arguing that, 1) Schools can play a valuable role in promoting healing and well-being among the students and families with whom they engage and 2) Many of our urban schools themselves need healing because they have become systems of toxic environments for adults and youth alike. To address the need for healing in schools, we present a framework promoting four key values: relationships, safety, belonging, and agency. These values are embedded within an ecological perspective, exploring how they manifest at the internal, student, school, and community/society levels.
... Consultation or talking with students about things that matter to them in school involves conversations with them about new initiatives for teaching and learning, and about evaluation of current practices and policies Rudduck & McIntyre 2007). Students taking a greater leadership role can lead to a variety of teaching and learning improvements (Mitra 2008;). Additionally, student views and suggestions may help teachers reflect on their teaching practices and possibly improve them (Rudduck 2006). ...
... The data gathered from students relate to research findings discussing which musical activities students should be engaged in during music lessons (Burnard & Bjork 2010;Noon 2019), what should the content of music education be (Green 2002;Mante 2013), and how student-centred music education should be organised (Lowe 2011;Mitra 2008). The aforementioned topics are relevant both to researchers and also music teachers and policy makers. ...
... However, there were notable differences on how the two reported the quality of the relationship and the associations between student outcomes. Our analyses illustrate how differences in perceptions about the relationship may have different associations with student outcomes; we believe this will be an important area for the field of mentoring research to continue to explore, particularly as the field of positive youth development continues to focus on increasing mentee voice within youth-adult relationships (Mitra, 2014). As a result, our discussion will focus on outcomes that are associated with mentee-and mentor-reported relationship quality. ...
... We hypothesize that this may be for two reasons: (1) the mentor scale also includes their perspective on the mentee's feelings, which may allow them to better plan activities for their mentee; and (2) this maybe because of the tendency for mentors to dictate what takes place during a mentoring relationship. We posit that similarly to Mitra (2014)'s description of the benefits of promoting and facilitating youth voice, which include an increase in youth sense of agency, if students are given more autonomy within mentoring relationships, they may have more intrinsic, rather than extrinsic motivation; this may result better academic and behavioral outcomes for students. This will require training for mentors that focuses on incorporating youth decision-making and youth voice into the mentoring process. ...
Mentoring, a common support practice for middle schoolers, can have varying effects on student academic and behavioral outcomes depending on the type of mentoring and quality of relationship formed. Although research has examined mentees' perception of relationship quality in mentoring relationships, fewer studies have looked at both mentor and mentee reports. The present study aims to explore how the interaction of mentor and mentee perceptions of the relationship quality is associated with student academic and behavioral outcomes. Major findings include the significant association between mentor‐reported relationship quality and academic outcomes for mentees, as well as some associations mentee‐ and mentor‐reported relationship quality and behavioral outcomes. Results illustrate the importance of training in mentoring programs, as well as how mentee‐ versus mentor‐report of the relationship may impact outcomes in distinct ways. This study can improve understanding of mentor–mentee relationships, which may improve student academic and behavioral outcomes.
... In fact, all dimensions of the learning environments (from the architectural design to the school report card) are, in most cases, determined, elaborated and reformed without consulting the ones that they are designed to serve (Cook-Sather, 2002). The inadequacy of this situation has been decried by several authors (namely by Cook-Sather, 2002;Mitra, 2014;Ozer, 2017) especially considering the context of the acceleration of (Rudd et al., 2006, p. 13). social, environmental and technological changes, characterizing the 21st-century. ...
... Learner voice is crucial to reimagine education from a global, multi-stakeholder perspective. Not only listening to what young people have to say about their education, but also looking at how they can take on effective actions, can lead to improved teaching practices (Commeyras, 1995;Fielding and Bragg, 2003;Cook-Sather, 2009), and provide a sense of empowerment to the student and increase their motivation toward their education (Rudduck, 2007;Walker and Logan, 2008;Mitra, 2014). Even if this approach involves in-depth questioning of the actual modes of operation of our education systems, which can provoke resistance from stakeholders who find comfort in the policies that have prevailed for decades, learner voice initiatives can positively impact on the learner, their teachers/guides/facilitators, and their learning environment. ...
For approximately the past 30 years, we have been witnessing a re-emergent interest in learner voice from researchers, teachers, policymakers, and students themselves. This widespread movement foreshadows the potential for a shift of paradigm from a unilateral top-down directivity to an inclusive and dialogical decision-making process in school systems. Youth voice is crucial to reimagine education from a global, multi-stakeholder perspective, which can foster student engagement and promote meaningful learning experiences. While the interest on the learner voice has burgeoned recently in the field of music education, the body of literature in this field is still relatively small, and its impact in the classroom and policies is limited. That said, a few research studies have been led to study specifically the learner voice in music, both in- and out-of-school contexts. However, so far, we have not encountered any systematic attempt to integrate these findings into a broader framework, depicting the diversity and the commonalities of the young learner voice in music education. To bridge this gap, we completed a systematic literature review of the research studies that capture the essence of young music learner voices, a corpus mostly comprised of narrative and storytelling studies. We carried out a thematic analysis to explore how young music learners describe their own musical experiences and meaning-making in informal and formal musical contexts. The results emerging from this systematic literature review are organized into a framework representing young learners' perspectives on what they like and dislike about their musical experience. We propose practical implications resulting from this analysis for innovative pedagogical approaches and policies in music education, where the learner voice is inclusively engaged in a dialogical decision-making process. Finally, we explore avenues for promoting a more significant inclusion of learner voice in music education and research.
... González, Hernandez-Saca, and Artiles 2017;Hall 2017) which can cover a range of activities. It includes practices such as consultation, participation, collaboration, leadership and intergenerational learning in which students can actively participate in the school decisions that will shape their lives and the lives of their peers (Fielding 2011;Mitra 2009;Rudduck and Fielding 2006). The significance and value of involving students in school decision-making has been documented in several studies (Mitra 2009;Rudduck and Fielding 2006;Rudduck and Flutter 2004;Thomson and Gunter 2006). ...
... It includes practices such as consultation, participation, collaboration, leadership and intergenerational learning in which students can actively participate in the school decisions that will shape their lives and the lives of their peers (Fielding 2011;Mitra 2009;Rudduck and Fielding 2006). The significance and value of involving students in school decision-making has been documented in several studies (Mitra 2009;Rudduck and Fielding 2006;Rudduck and Flutter 2004;Thomson and Gunter 2006). Likewise, inclusive classroom practices that promote ownership and engagement enable students to become 'agents in their own learning' (Rainer and Matthews 2002). ...
This paper comprises a review of studies that employ students as researchers/co-researchers approaches from 2000 to 2018, with a focus on school improvement and inclusion. The study is original since it focuses exclusively on the idea of students taking the role of researchers/co-researchers, instead of focusing on the broader notion of student voice that other reviews have explored previously. The results highlight the different school improvement areas that are explored and the various stages that have been followed in the studies in order to involve students. Through this analysis, we focus our discussion on issues that need to be considered when using such approaches. Overall, we argue that despite the inherent challenges that such approaches entail, students as researchers/co-researchers can be a powerful way for improving schools and promoting inclusion. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Explicating the multifaceted nuances of adultism is essential to elevating it to a preeminent status within the pantheon of institutional barriers. Adultism encapsulates a perceptual framework entrenched among adults, wherein they claim a self-perceived superiority over their youthful counterparts, thereby asserting their prerogative to dictate decisions on their behalf without their requisite consent (Elliott, 2022;Mitra, 2014;Ozer et al., 2013;Gordon et al., 2011;Harris et al., 2010). In the incisive elucidations of Smith (2004), adultism emerges as an incipient form of ephebiphobia, signifying an inordinate and persistent dread or aversion toward the youth or adolescent demographic. ...
Purpose
This paper comprehensively investigates the lack of youth involvement in the intricate tapestry of urban policymaking in the Jordanian context. It attempts to present and illustrate the obstacles, challenges, hindrances and complexities facing engaging youth in urban planning in Jordan. Participants aged 18–24 were the primary focus of the investigation, as Jordan's population is predominantly youthful, with approximately 70% of the population under the age of 30.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology adopted in this study is a mixed-methods approach, which integrates both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analytical techniques to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the research problem.
Findings
Youth involvement in Jordan's urban policymaking is limited and inconsistent. Most notably, the prevalence of adultism emerges as the predominant and most substantive impediment, exerting a considerable influence on constraining the agency of young Jordanians in shaping urban policy.
Research limitations/implications
Detailed examples can be developed to offer discerning elucidations relevant to each frame of reference.
Practical implications
A total of 12 discernible barriers emerged from a systematic deductive thematic analysis of primary data.
Originality/value
This comprehensive inquiry highlights the pervasive gaps in support for youth participation in urban policymaking within the administrative framework and across Jordanian society. Subsequent quantitative analysis was employed to strengthen the external validity of the research findings, thereby enhancing the generalizability of the qualitative insights. By employing Jordan as a case study, this paper significantly contributes to the expanding corpus of scholarly work on planning processes and practices within the Global South and the Arab world.
... Instead, focusing on ways to include student voice in schools helps steer us away from a compliance model that entails students' active involvement in their own learning, even within the context of standardization and accountability (Waters, 2011;Bourke and Loveridge, 2018;Nelson, 2018). A recognition of student agency, along with a commitment to student voice and active involvement, spurs growth and strengthens feelings of self-efficacy-essential components for young people to feel empowered and turn their focus outward to make a difference in their schools and communities (Mitra, 2008;Welton and Freelon, 2018;Smith, 2020). Ginwright and Cammarota (2006) link this growth to the imperatives of democracy: ...
Centering the need for culturally responsive leadership (CRL), this study engages in a critical analysis of one large urban school district’s 5-year plan that aims to be culturally responsive and equity focused. We first define the various facets of CRL, connect its major components to culturally responsive teaching/pedagogy (CRTP) and student voice (SV), and offer an original, integrative framework as a tool for analysis. We argue that CRL is not enough on its own and needs more than the commitment of principals to reach its maximum potential. We also provide recommendations on what needs to happen to make culturally responsive schooling a reality for students and their communities.
... Adults have varyingly sought to define, map out and comprehend Article 12 rights (Vromen and Collin, 2010;Checkoway, 2012 andMitra, 2014). Whilst many of these are positive, they nonetheless raise significant questions about what is meant, in a strict sense by 'participation' including its dimensions and context (Cahill and Dadvand, 2018). ...
A child’s right to participate in decision making is seminally proclaimed in Article 12, uncrc. Yet, it is often the case that the rhetoric associated with children’s “participation rights” does not reflect practice. Especially in the case of the youth justice system, significant challenges exist concerning both notions of the right to participate and how it translates into and influences what should be appropriate interventions for young people. This article draws upon three studies which critically examined the concept of participation and children’s decision making in pre-court and custody and resettlement settings.
Listening to what young people said through these studies, reflections are offered concerning prevailing understandings and the operationalisation of “participation” within existing youth justice approaches. Additionally, consideration is afforded to barriers to effective participation in youth justice and the transformative potential that the right to participate in decision making offers those who come into conflict with the law.
... Considerar las percepciones, miradas y voces del estudiantado es un campo investigativo en aumento que ha cobrado relevancia desde un enfoque inclusivo y de derechos (Mitra, 2009;Rudduck, 2007;Sandoval et al., 2020). Estas investigaciones se han llevado a cabo en el ámbito educativo desde aproximaciones que buscan contribuir al cambio y mejora de los procesos escolares, como es la investigación acción participativa (Halliday et al., 2019;Head, 2011), así como desde otras perspectivas y metodologías que dan un lugar relevante a las narrativas y experiencias vividas por el estudiantado (Chapman, 2021;Chapple et al., 2021;Chovaz et al., 2022;Fioretti et al., 2020). ...
This review was carried out with the purpose of analyzing the themes and methodologies used in research that considers the experiences and perceptions of deaf students regarding educational inclusion in ordinary schools. 273 records were examined, of which 16 articles were identified that met the inclusion criteria. From the analysis process, four thematic categories emerged that analyze research about the facilitators and barriers to inclusion from the perspectives of people with deafness, social relationships, educational spaces, and educational experiences and identity. The results indicate, from the perspective of deaf students, the lack of coherence regarding the inclusion process in different school spaces. The need to consider the experiences and narratives of deaf students in research is discussed to enhance inclusive processes, from an active and participatory perspective in studies referring to their own inclusion processes in the school environment. To conclude, it is essential to advance research that is developed from an active and participatory perspective of these subjects on their own inclusion processes.
... Create student councils, clubs, or committees where students can voice their opinions, plan initiatives, and make positive changes within the school. By empowering students to take ownership of their learning environment, they develop a sense of responsibility and investment in the school culture (Mitra, 2014;Eversole, 2014). By providing opportunities for student voice, such as class discussions, student-led projects, surveys, and student councils, educators can create an environment where students' perspectives, ideas, and experiences are valued and integrated into the learning process. ...
... Adults have varyingly sought to define, map out and comprehend Article 12 rights (Vromen and Collin, 2010;Checkoway, 2012 andMitra, 2014). Whilst many of these are positive, they nonetheless raise significant questions about what is meant, in a strict sense by 'participation' including its dimensions and context (Cahill and Dadvand, 2018). ...
A child’s right to participate in decision making is seminally proclaimed in Article 12, uncrc . Yet, it is often the case that the rhetoric associated with children’s “participation rights” does not reflect practice. Especially in the case of the youth justice system, significant challenges exist concerning both notions of the right to participate and how it translates into and influences what should be appropriate interventions for young people. This article draws upon three studies which critically examined the concept of participation and children’s decision making in pre-court and custody and resettlement settings. Listening to what young people said through these studies, reflections are offered concerning prevailing understandings and the operationalisation of “participation” within existing youth justice approaches. Additionally, consideration is afforded to barriers to effective participation in youth justice and the transformative potential that the right to participate in decision making offers those who come into conflict with the law.
... Despite sharing goals and outcomes around positive youth development, the fields of SEL and YPAR have not always been in dialogue, in part because of differences in their epistemological and ontological origins. Research on the impact of YPAR on SEL specifically has been limited, but studies of YPAR in school settings have shown that YPAR can promote the development of critical thinking skills (e.g., Kirshner et al., 2011), support sociopolitical development (e.g., Cammarota and Romero, 2011;Zeal and Terry, 2013), increase the diversity and depth of social connections (e.g., Flores, 2007), and increase youth voice in school-based decision making (Mitra, 2008;Kirshner et al., 2011;Chou et al., 2015). Studies of YPAR often utilize mixed-methods approaches to understand the impacts of YPAR on structural and cultural aspects of a setting, and sometimes also study its effects on youth over time. ...
Much has been written about social and emotional learning (SEL) and its positive impact on young people’s academic and life outcomes, yet most of this research is based in early childhood and elementary settings. SEL programming for adolescents has shown mixed results, with many programs proving to be largely ineffective or even showing slightly negative impacts for some youth. Adherence to scripted SEL curricula, or “fidelity” to the program components, is often seen by young people to be “lame”, inauthentic, and condescending, failing to connect to the topics and issues that feel most critical to them in this stage of their development. For all students, and especially for those whose identities have been systematically marginalized or oppressed by the dominant culture, SEL programming that fails to explicitly address these experiences of injustice often feels inauthentic and out of touch for youth. Therefore, effective implementation of SEL for adolescents is likely to require skillful adaptation and responsiveness to the identities, interests, and motivations of students by educators. In this case, effective SEL may look less like fidelity to a specific set of scripts, sessions, or activities, but rather a commitment to the wholeness of a set of core principles, relationships, and opportunities for adolescent exploration and leadership/empowerment, or what we will call integrity of implementation. In this paper, we present one promising approach to adolescent social and emotional development – youth participatory action research (YPAR) – and the ways in which studying the YPAR process (in addition to the research topics selected by youth) can provide key insights into the social and emotional learning and development of youth.
... More modern definitions of student voice, such as Mitra's (2008), highlight the power student voice holds for impacting schools on a much deeper level: ...
Citation: Damiani, J.(2016). Unlocking students' perspectives of school leadership: toward a theory of engaging students in school leadership. International Journal of Student Voice, 1(1). Retrieved from: https://ijsv.psu.edu/?article=damiani-j-2016-unlocking-students-perspectives-of-school-leadership-toward-a-theory-of-engaging-students-in-school-leadership. Abstract: The need to define principals as the ones who seek out the opinions and perspectives of those they serve, rather than making decisions for them, is a significant but necessary departure from more traditional approaches to leadership. This study examined whether and how principals take their lead from students, and use student voice, to create more responsive schools and more responsive models of leadership. Using a mixed qualitative approach and data collected from interviews and observations with students and principals in urban, suburban, and rural schools I explored what Damiani 2 elementary school students perceive to be the biggest challenges they face in school, and whether and how their principals help them with their challenges. This article employs a bidirectional interaction framework in an effort to address roadblocks to responsive leadership in schools. This model and data gathered using a cogenerative qualitative approach have revealed a new shared theory focused on improving administrative function, providing students with a voice, and engaging students in school leadership.
... As a group, students have considerable agency over how belonging, inclusion, and exclusion play out in schools. Indeed, significant research attention has been paid to how schools have sought to manage the inclusion of student perspectives (Mitra, 2008(Mitra, , 2014. ...
The notion of belonging is an often-referenced but under-theorized concept in studies of school organization. The purpose of this study is to examine the politics of belonging in schools and accompanying implications for how schools are organized and led. This research employs an autophotographic methodology. Student participants took photographs across 2 years of data collection of spaces where they did and did not “fit in” and participated in interviews to explain their photographs. Students identified four themes in their photographs regarding their sense of membership at school: (a) the importance of spaces where belonging is noncontingent; (b) the distinction between calm spaces and surveilled spaces; (c) anxiety in public, “wild” spaces where no help was available; and (d) generally positive but mixed impressions of teachers. An increased understanding of organization leadership for belonging is linked to numerous other timely concerns in educational administration, including equity and inclusion.
... NYKids researchers described this phenomenon as "reciprocal agency" and viewed it as an important facilitator for teachers' and students' engagements and beneficial outcomes [25]. Other USA researchers have identified the importance of this educator-student relationship framework as well [26]. ...
As student populations worldwide become more diverse and many are challenged by poverty and social exclusion, educational equity’s importance grows, both as a core value and as a driver for school improvement and redesign. While national and local policies vary, as do resources in support of equity outcomes, it is timely to identify, synthesize, and evaluate the available research with special attention to commonalities, similarities, and lessons learned. Mindful of selectivity, we summarize eighteen years’ worth of equity-focused research and development conducted under the sponsorship of a state-funded initiative in the USA called NYKids. Utilizing practice-embedded research methodologies, research teams have identified, described, and interpreted seven keynote features of equity-oriented schools. They also have implemented research-practice partnerships that facilitate equity-oriented school improvement. This holistic, evidence-based, and practice-centered approach can be classified as “a strong equity approach”, albeit a selective one, when alternatives worldwide are surveyed.
... El papel de los estudiantes en la toma de decisiones escolares tiene su origen en corrientes de investigación y acción distintas que bajo el principio de justicia social promueven cambios en las escuelas y en la comunidad. Para muchos autores se representan en el movimiento metafórico de las "voces del alumnado" que se refieren a un amplio conjunto de prácticas participativas que posicionan a los estudiantes como agentes activos en su educación y el cambio de las escuelas (Rudduck y Flutter, 2004;Rudduck y Fielding, 2006;Thomson y Gunter, 2006;Mitra, 2009). En este sentido sus contribuciones pueden ser valiosas en la mejora de los centros (Sainz-Linares, Ceballos y Susinos, 2019) y en las prácticas docentes en particular (Nelson y Bishop, 2013, Rojas, Haya y Lázaro, 2012. ...
El trabajo que se presenta forma parte del proyecto europeo (Respuestas inclusivas a la diversidad a través del diálogo alumnado-profesorado", Erasmus+, 2017-2020) cuyo objetivo es mejorar las prácticas docentes creando espacios de diálogo entre el alumnado y el profesorado. Se buscaba articular con mayor equidad el aprendizaje y la participación de todo el alumnado en las lecciones impartidas por docentes de sus centros escolares. Se trata de un proyecto de investigación-acción colaborativo con docentes y estudiantes, en el que estos últimos ejercen el rol de investigadores en los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje, siendo corresponsables de la planificación y evaluación de las lecciones junto con los docentes. Se ha contado con la participación de tres centros educativos de educación Primaria españoles (6-12 años). Los resultados muestran que incluir a los estudiantes en el diseño de las lecciones puede llegar a cambiar algunos aspectos didácticos y metodológicos de sus docentes y constituir una vía válida de desarrollo profesional docente. Palabras clave: desarrollo profesional docente; educación inclusiva; participación; participación estudiantil.
... This form of education excludes youngsters from being active members of the People (dêmos), giving them formally the power (kràtos) to express their own point of view or judgment while depriving them of having any real impact on the school life and a social relevance. "High schools continue to be places that isolate, alienate, and disengage students," said Mitra (2008). "But what would happen if students were viewed as part of the solution in schools rather than part of the problem?" Preventing students from taking part in decisions that affect them, limits their learning in weighing a decision, assessing alternatives, and evaluating the consequences of one's choice. ...
The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of the school context compared to the Scouting context on the Leadership attitudes of adolescents. The study was conducted on a sample population, consisting of 600 students and 231 Scouts enrolled in upper secondary school in Rome (9th and 10th grades). The two instruments used in this research are the Educational Context Perception Questionnaire (ECPQ), for the analysis of the adolescents’ perception of their educational context, and the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLS) adapted to the Italian context, which measures the value-based leadership attitudes of the adolescents. The analyses support the hypothesis that the educational context has an impact on the value-based leadership development of the adolescents. In this article, the aspects explored are the students’ and Scouts’ perceptions of their educational context, their leadership attitudes and the impact of the ECPQ dimensions on their leadership values and capabilities.
Keywords: value-based leadership, social change model (SCM), socially responsible leadership scale (SRLS), educational context perception questionnaire (ECPQ), high school, scouting, adolescent leadership development.
... It is quite possible, though, that music teachers, policy makers and students may each have different perspectives to offer if they are asked this question. What could possibly happen if we viewed our students as part of the solution, rather than as part of the problem (Mitra, 2008)? ...
Music teachers are often faced with students’ negative attitudes towards Music as a school subject, and dilemmas of what would be most important to teach and at the same time interesting, useful and relevant to students. Looking at music teaching and learning through the eyes of students can play a key role in re-shaping the condition of learning and promoting a positive and motivating musical learning environment. The aim of this study was to ‘turn up the volume’ of secondary students’ views of their music lessons in secondary school, including what they value and how they would have liked lessons to be if they had the opportunity to change things. A self-report questionnaire was devised for the purposes of the study and was administered to 749 secondary school students in schools in Cyprus. Our findings reveal that participants enjoyed Μusic, ranking it as their second favourite out of 15 secondary school subjects. However, there was a reported discrepancy between the activities students are engaged with and what they would like to be engaged with. Students called for more focus on singing, to play a greater variety of instruments besides the recorder (i.e., drums, guitar and piano) and to play the music they like. Building on students’ perspectives, recommendations are made for music teachers and policy makers.
... TSV work comprised practices that engage youth with adults in authentic partnerships that prioritize student voice and develop students' critical consciousness, academic learning, and civic engagement. TSV partnerships impact school and community reform initiatives and shape decision-making at the classroom, school, and community levels (Mitra, 2008). ...
The approach and case example described in this article build on and extend the role of student voice and authentic youth–adult partnerships in prior work of the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (2009), a national technical assistance and dissemination center funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. I describe and illustrate how the conceptual tools of critical consciousness, systemic change, and transformative student voice are applied to a process of critical civic inquiry within one school community where students and adults come together to identify issues of racial inequity that need to be addressed through policy and practice shifts, along with ongoing work to remedy these issues.
... Having been rigorously discussed by various scholars over the years (e.g. Charteris & Smardon, 2019;Mitra, 2008), the concept captures student participation, collaboration, leadership, consultation and intergenerational learning in education settings (e.g. Mitra & Gross, 2009), introducing a novel strategy for instigating school reforms (Hall, 2017). ...
For decades, policymakers deliberated whether student perception surveys (SPS) should include a component of teacher evaluation programmes in schools. However, much research has focused on SPS’ reliability and validity, and little is known about teachers’ interpretation of SPS or what preparation should be instituted before administering such surveys. Guided by a qualitative descriptive/interpretive approach, this paper draws upon 20 teacher interviews from different public schools in 14 US states. Teachers’ understanding of SPS appeared to provide insight into their self-efficacy beliefs in accountability-driven systems. Taking the perspective of principals illustrated teachers’ valuing SPS mostly as formative assessment. SPS also stood as isolated voice-based forms of evaluation, offering limited understanding of the educational processes when disconnected from an inclusive 360-degree feedback culture, grounded in principles of reciprocity and even-handedness. The paper holds promise for policymakers, implementers and educators seeking to buttress support for the use of voice initiatives in schools.
This position paper examines the relationship of four generations of evaluation, the CIPP evaluation model, and summative and formative evaluation, and uses these terms to describe the characteristics of homeschooling. The article proposes that according to the four generations of evaluation and the CIPP model (context, input, process, and product), homeschooling can be divided into four generations. Such a division can help in examining the degree of fit of educational objectives and teaching methods with the method for evaluating homeschooling, as well as comparing homeschooling and school education based on how they use evaluation.
El proyecto "Clubes Educativos para la Formación de Valores en las Instituciones Educativas" en Quevedo, Ecuador, abordó el problema de la escasa motivación y formación en valores en los estudiantes. Su objetivo fue mejorar el desarrollo emocional y la formación de valores a través de actividades participativas en clubes educativos. Metodológicamente, se emplearon encuestas y observaciones para evaluar el impacto emocional y la satisfacción de los participantes. Los resultados mostraron un aumento significativo en la curiosidad, la sorpresa y la satisfacción, con una disminución de emociones negativas como el enojo y la tristeza, lo que sugiere un ambiente de aprendizaje positivo. Las conclusiones indican que los clubes educativos son efectivos para fomentar la motivación y el desarrollo integral en los estudiantes, destacando la importancia de implementar este tipo de iniciativas en el entorno escolar.
This chapter focuses on Basil Bernstein's sociolinguistic theory, emphasizing classification and framing, to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the organization and transmission of knowledge within educational settings. It examines the implications of this theoretical perspective on pedagogic practices and curriculum design, particularly in inclusive schools. The study scrutinizes how knowledge structure impacts students' mental well-being, self-esteem, and confidence. By exploring both visible and invisible curricula, the chapter reveals how educational practices influence students' mental health. Employing a qualitative approach, the chapter synthesizes literature reviews, case studies, and key milestones in educational history. It establishes a theoretical foundation for understanding how classification and framing in education can promote mental health outcomes. Practical recommendations for educators and policymakers are provided to create supportive, inclusive learning environments that nurture students' mental well-being, resilience, and positive connections to learning. This theoretical framework contributes to informed decision-making, advocating for inclusive practices for students with special needs.
COVID-19 vaccination rates remain lower among adolescents compared with adults. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) offers opportunities to inform youth vaccine communication at the local and population level. However, few studies have integrated systematic health communication research with YPAR. In the current study, a diverse team of paid high school interns, undergraduate student mentors and communication researchers in West Philadelphia YPAR programs developed a theory-informed communication survey to measure teen COVID-19 vaccine beliefs, information sources and behavior. The survey was distributed locally and informed youth-created vaccine campaign messages. In addition, YPAR-derived survey measures complimented a qualitative online elicitation survey with US young adults. Responses were coded using inductive content analysis, informing measures for a subsequent population-level study of young adults. This research followed protocols approved by an Institutional Review Board. Applying a YPAR framework elevated youth voices in the study development process. Communication theory and methods aided the development of survey studies to advance both local YPAR program objectives and population-level research. Future implications are discussed.
Anti-immigrant sentiment and "English-only" ideologies have a significant impact on educational policies, practices, and processes. This includes parental engagement, the quality of education and life opportunities offered to immigrant children, and families’ well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine how Latinx and Caribbean mothers in Florida with various immigration statuses (i.e., undocumented, asylum seekers, refugees, international students, and mixed-status) and often with limited financial resources attempt to steward their children through the U.S. educational system. The research question was: How did emergent multilingual immigrant mothers experience the K-12 education system in Florida? The sub-question was: How did schools communicate with emergent multilingual immigrant mothers and their children?The conceptual framework guiding this study was Community Cultural Wealth, coupled with Critical Language and Race Theory (LangCrit), Dis/ability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), and Borderlands Theory. Through a qualitative community-based digital approach, in-depth interviews, and artwork (e.g., painting, photography, poetry, collage), two findings emerged from the collected data. They were: (1) Mothers experienced interactions with school personnel and curriculum practices that normalize a culture of exclusion and microaggressions toward immigrant children and families of linguistic and ethnic-racial diversity. (2) Discontinuous and superficial communication from school personnel influenced mothers’ dis/engagement, mobility, and school choice. The findings of this study are discussed along with implications for policies on the mental health of children and families, professional development for teachers, school leadership, and the role of inclusive technology in enhancing school communication and parental engagement. Recommendations for theoretical development and future research are provided.
In this chapter, we address Fraser’s dimension of representation, which is concerned with who is afforded a voice. First, we consider the politics of voice and participation for young people, particularly those on the margins, such as young people in custody. We then consider the social arrangements and institutional conditions that amplify, stifle or conceal voices for young people in custody. We reflect on conditions inside and beyond the walls of youth justice centres that may lead young people to go silent and use their refusal to speak as a strategy of resistance and survival. Next, we look at the conditions inside which make voice possible for young people. Relationality and an ethics of care form part of the school values and culture and are demonstrated through teachers’ everyday acts and pedagogy. Being calm, consistent and persistent become the building blocks for generating trust and respect with young people, which represents a small but important shift in their educational experiences. We draw attention to the importance of listening to and acting upon young people’s voices in education settings in youth justice facilities. Finally, we discuss the importance of relational power and its re-humanising potential for education with vulnerable young people.KeywordsRepresentationRelationshipsIntersectionalityInclusionParity
This introductory chapter begins by outlining two common approaches to education for young people in custody. First, considerations of education in youth justice commonly refer to children’s rights. We outline key United Nations rights-based instruments, scholarship on rights-based approaches and the status of children’s rights in youth justice in Australia. Second, education has been considered both as a risk and as a protective factor in relation to youth crime. We discuss scholarship on both aspects, drawing particularly on the extensive literature on the school-to-prison pipeline. In addition, we pay particular attention to a dominant focus on access to schooling in youth justice centres, which, we argue, is insufficient. Bridging the fields of education and youth justice, this book offers a social justice analysis. We suggest social justice in general offers a powerful conceptual lens, before outlining in more detail the specific approach underpinning this book: the social justice framework developed by Nancy Fraser, centred on the notion of participatory parity. The chapter closes with an overview of the three empirical research studies we draw on throughout the book, as well as an outline of the remaining chapters.KeywordsYouth justiceCustodyEducationChildren’s rightsSocial justiceParticipatory parity
Young people demand and deserve participation in shaping the health and well-being of their community. Getting to Y: Youth Bring Meaning to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (GTY) is a positive youth development initiative, whereby students analyze local youth health data and create change. This article adds definitive evidence to support the theoretical foundations of GTY expounded by Garnett et al. (2019). A mixed methods convergent study design, collecting quantitative data from pre- and postintervention surveys and qualitative data from focus groups, was enacted during the 2018-2019 school year. Survey participants were 256 students attending 20 Vermont middle/high schools. Surveys measured self-efficacy, health literacy, civic engagement, resiliency, and knowledge. Focus groups with 50 students solicited open-ended feedback. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests determined student-level change over time. Focus group transcripts were coded using grounded theory and a priori codes from the survey. Statistically significant improvements were seen in average scores from pre- to postintervention surveys in all five domains and differences in effect by gender. Results from the focus group complement the quantitative findings. Participation in GTY positively affected youth participant's understanding of their own health and well-being and increased agency to take action on behalf of themselves and their community. As the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is available nationwide, GTY is poised for replication to critically engage youth with relevant data to inform social change.
Η διαμόρφωση του σχολείου για όλους τους μαθητές είναι ένας τελικός σκοπός, η επίτευξη του οποίου προϋποθέτει τη συνέργεια πολλών παραγόντων. Ο σχολικός σύμβουλος, στα πλαίσια του ρόλου του, καλείται να βοηθήσει στην άρση των παρουσιαζόμενων εμποδίων, τα οποία, κύρια, αφορούν τις υπάρχουσες στάσεις και αξίες, την περιορισμένη κατανόηση, τις ανεπεξέργαστες/ατελείς δεξιότητες, τα
περιορισμένα διαθέσιμα υλικά/μέσα και την αναποτελεσματική διοικητική οργάνωση του ελληνικού εκπαιδευτικού συστήματος. Στην παρούσα εργασία περιγράφεται ένα πρόγραμμα επαγγελματικής ανάπτυξης, ως ένα παράδειγμα δράσης του σχολικού συμβούλου στα πλαίσια της διαμόρφωσης του σχολείου για όλους τους μαθητές. Το συγκεκριμένο πρόγραμμα έχει ως στόχο την αλλαγή κουλτούρας των εκπαιδευτικών στο πεδίο της παραγωγής γραπτού λόγου.
Youth–adult partnerships are intentionally cultivated intergenerational relationships characterized by shared power among youth and adults. Although youth–adult partnerships (Y‐APs) are widely adopted as a strategy to promote key positive development outcomes in youth service organizations, research documents various challenges that affect their quality implementation. This critical literature review presents a theoretical framework for how community‐based youth service organizations may enhance youth–adult partnership quality through organizational learning. The main premise is that Y‐AP implementation challenges are best understood as challenges of collective learning within an organization. As such, the review integrates theory and research in organizational learning with present scholarship on Y‐APs to delineate how two learning processes—intra‐group and inter‐group knowledge transfer—influence Y‐AP quality. These learning pathways exist in dynamic interaction at different levels of the organizational hierarchy, at the point of service and beyond. The theoretical framework provides a road map for effective functioning of Y‐APs in practice and an interpretive lens for descriptive and intervention research to understand and address Y‐AP challenges.
Highlights
• We reframe youth‐adult partnership (Y‐AP) challenges as challenges of collective learning
• Organizational learning (OL) is a key, yet under‐examined, pathway for addressing Y‐AP challenges
• OL consists of within‐group learning processes and knowledge transfer processes across groups
• OL processes occur in two types of settings in the organization: point of access and beyond
• Our multilevel framework depicts how OL processes may result in sustained partnership practice.
Most developed nations measure the performance of teachers in audit evaluations of school productivity. Accountability metrics such as "teacher effectiveness" and "teacher quality" dominate evaluations of student outcomes and shape education policy. The Metrics of Teacher Effectiveness and Teacher Quality Research explores how these metrics distort analyses of student achievement, sideline broader contextual and systemic influences on learning, reinforce input-output analysis of schooling, and skew the educational debate. Focusing on recent phases of school education policy reform, this book utilizes qualitative data from classroom teacher participants to examine how and why issues of teacher effectiveness and teacher quality figure so prominently in policy reform and why pressing matters of social class, school funding, and broader contextual influences are downplayed. The authors use this information to suggest how teachers can develop their role as pedagogic experts in a highly scrutinized environment. This book will be of great interest to education academics and postgraduate students specializing in teacher performance, accountability and governance.
Across the United States, the rapid spread of “zero-tolerance” policies has generated a pipeline of youth from schools into prisons. Once youth reenter their community and home school, they often struggle to reintegrate. There is relatively little research about school reentry for juvenile justice–involved youth, and yet these students are at risk of low academic achievement, dropping out of school, and recidivism. We propose a conceptual framework for understanding the school reentry process, and then we use that framework to review existing research and suggests areas for future research. We discuss the areas where we found some research and those where we found little to no research. We suggest areas for future research and collaboration with practitioners.
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