Rear view of large group of students raising their hands to contribute in class.

Module 4.4 Elevating Student Voices

Level: Adult

Duration: ≤ 2 hours

Topics: Topic 4 - Committing to Racial Equity and Cultural Responsiveness

My Notes: Add/Edit Notes

Module Introduction

Student voice in schools can be 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.” –Dana Mitra, Penn State University, student voice expert

A coalition of more than 100 student-led organizations defined student voice as “recognizing and acting upon the fact that students are the primary stakeholders of our education and should be partners in shaping it.” The students went on to say, “We recognize that student voice exists on a spectrum and that tokenism of young people can occur at every level of the spectrum if relationships are not meaningful. It is incredibly critical that for youth voice to be a tool to achieve equity, power must be meaningfully shifted towards young people who are most marginalized by the education system.”

In this module, we will:

Assess the degree to which student voices are currently elevated in your school
Explore ways to elevate student voices in the classroom and school

Module Resources

Topic 4 Professional Learning Toolkit

This toolkit includes additional resources, including classroom lessons and practices, staff meeting activities, videos, podcasts, articles, and professional development opportunities, as well as supporting materials for group facilitation on the topic of "Committing to Racial Equity and Cultural Responsiveness".

Individual Exploration

Examples of Youth Voice and Participation

There are different youth voice, engagement, and participation continua. See the images below for two examples and reflect on your experiences with youth voice and participation.

Ladder of Youth Participation — Example of youth participation adapted from R.Hart by UNICEF

Source: A student voice continuum adapted from the Center for American Progress.

The Student Bill of Rights was developed and adopted by thousands of students across the U.S. Right number three connects directly to student voice: “All students have the right to shape decisions and institutions that will affect their future.”

Reflection

To what degree are your students able to exercise this right in your school? In your classroom?
Choose one of the continuum examples. Where do your students’ activities currently fall on the continuum?
How might you leave room in your curriculum planning for student voice?
In what ways might student voice improve teaching and learning in your school and classroom?

Elevating Student Voice

A rallying cry for student voice organizations is often “Nothing about us without us” meaning any decisions concerning students should be made in consultation, or better yet, partnership with them. Though student voice opportunities typically occur in high school, incorporating student voice into classrooms is a core SEL practice that can and should begin in elementary school.

Now, let’s explore a few examples of ways to elevate student voice:

Explore the following ways to integrate student voices from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Gretchen Brion-Meisels.
Read School Climate That Promotes Student Voice by Maurice Elias, leader in the SEL field. The article includes an overview of the reasons for student voice along with several examples.
Hear from Robert Jagers, VP of Research at CASEL, discussing how to leverage student talent through social and emotional learning (2:07).
Hear from students sharing their perspectives on what makes them feel they are seen, they belong, they are welcome, and they have agency in Youth Voices: Locating Identity, Agency, & Belonging in all Learning Spaces (4:53).
Hear a brief overview of student voice along with examples from Here’s Why We Should Really Listen to Student Voices from Education Post (3:21).
Hear from students talking about why student voice is so important through Student Voice Counts from Panorama Ed (2:47).
When teachers survey their classes at Trinidad Garza Early College High School, students see how their opinions matter and have a direct impact on instruction. Learn more through Student Surveys: Using Student Voice to Improve Teaching and Learning from Edutopia (4:18).

For elementary school educators:

Student voice often becomes a focus only once students enter middle and high school, but research tells us providing opportunities to include student voice in the younger grades is not only possible, but important for cultivating skills necessary to tackle increasingly complex roles as contributors to and co-creators of their school and community. To build on the ideas generated in the last activity, review the strategies for elevating our youngest learners’ voices on pages 30 and 31 of this report by Kristen Fox from NAESP and continue to build an inventory of your youth voice practices in your classroom and school.

For middle and high school educators:

Read this article on student leaders resigning from the Boston Student Advisory Council and notice the claims of adultism from youth.

4.4 Take It Deeper: Integrating Student Voices

Explore how to integrate student voice in your teaching practice. Here’s a downloadable guide to help you.