Making children’s and students’ voices heard
Schools have a key role in upholding this principle. At the same time, students need to be aware of both their rights and responsibilities.
Learning about human rights and democracy is a fundamental first step for becoming an informed and responsible citizen.
Students also need to participate in activities such as debating and community work. Skills, knowledge and critical understanding must be coupled with the attitudes and values that form part of a democratic culture. All this should be promoted through a whole-school approach.
Facts & figures
While students make up approximately 92% of any given school’s population, the decisions in school are routinely made by the remaining 8% who are adults.[1]
Students learn better when they are engaged partners throughout the educational process.[2]
What is student voice?
Student voice is the right of students to have a say in matters that affect them in their schools, and to have their views and opinions taken seriously. It encompasses all aspects of school life and decision-making where young learners are able to make a meaningful contribution, adapted to their age and stage of development. It stretches from informal situations in which students express an opinion to their peers or staff members to participation in democratic structures or mechanisms, such as student parliaments and consultations.
Student voice can vary from simple self-expression to taking on a leadership role in an aspect of school life. It can be characterised according to a 6-fold typology of increasing complexity and responsibility:
- Expression – voice an opinion
- Consultation – asked for an opinion
- Participation – attend and preferably play an active role in a meeting
- Partnership – have a formal role in decision-making
- Activism – identify a problem, propose a solution, and advocate its adoption
- Leadership – plan and make decisions
Given that the relevant activities are age-appropriate, student voice can be expressed anywhere in the school community, in and out of lessons, e.g., through inviting students to comment on teaching approaches and techniques, suggest topics for class discussion, participate in school policy committees and/or consultations, or just join in a casual conversation on school matters with a teacher or other staff member in their free time.
Why is student voice important at school?
Student voice is rooted in the concept of children’s rights and human rights. In particular, Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) establishes the right of every child to have a say in matters which affect them, whether in or out of school, as well as to be involved in decisions that affect them. More generally, the UNCRC includes other articles that seek to increase students’ voice, including the right to seek and receive information, to express their own views and to associate with others.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: Article 12
“Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.”[3]
Student voice can have many benefits both for schools and the wider society – for example:
- Participation in school decision-making fosters a sense of citizenship in young learners, helping them to develop important competences, e.g. co-operation and communication skills, self-efficacy, responsibility, civic-mindedness and respect for the value of democracy – all of which lie at the heart of the Council of Europe Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC).
- Contributing to their school community gives young learners a sense of belonging, develops self-esteem and can lead to more respectful relationships. This has a positive influence on school discipline and helps to reduce the incidence of problems such as drop-out, bullying, substance abuse and radicalisation.
- Engaging students in active learning activities in class has a positive effect not only on the classroom atmosphere, but also on the educational achievements of students and their peers.
What are the challenges?
There are a number of major areas of challenge facing the development of student voice in schools.
The first relates to the attitudes of other school stakeholders. Parents, teachers school leaders and others who have traditional views of schooling sometimes feel that children and young people should be ‘seen and not heard’ in school. They think respect for others and for authority are best developed in a culture of deference. To counteract attitudes of this kind school leaders need to introduce elements of student voice gradually, explaining the process clearly to school stakeholders and sharing the successes with them when they take place.
Some stakeholders may see empowering young learners through student voice as undermining their own power or position of authority in the school. Teachers may sometimes feel that students have more rights than they have. This merely underlines the importance of developing a whole-school culture in which all stakeholders feel safe to express their opinions freely and openly, and to have their opinions taken seriously. Student voice goes hand in hand, therefore, with the creation of a general culture of democracy and human rights in school.
The second major area of challenge is ensuring that student participation is genuine participation and not tokenism or ‘window-dressing’. This means giving students opportunities to make a real difference to their lives and the lives of other school stakeholders, and helping staff to be more open to sharing their decision-making with young learners.
The Ladder of Children’s Participation
Roger Hart, in the book Children's Participation: The Theory And Practice Of Involving Young Citizens In Community Development And Environmental Care, developed the concept of a ‘ladder of participation’ which can be applied to student voice. He suggested eight different levels or degrees of student voice, from the simplest - which is little more than the manipulation of students for the school’s benefit - to activities where decision-making is genuinely shared between adults and young learners.
A third area of challenge is the difficulty of making opportunities for student voice equally open to all students. The problem arises to some extent on account of the perception that student voice applies only to formal school structures, like pupil parliaments. For stakeholders with more traditional attitudes towards teaching and learning it can be difficult to see student voice as integral to, rather than separate from the learning process in classrooms. Another aspect of this problem is that it is the more confident and out-going students who are prepared to voice their opinions openly or stand in class or school council elections. How to integrate student voice into learning and to involve a wider range of students in the process is a whole-school responsibility and needs to be taken seriously as an area of whole-school planning and as an important topic for teacher professional development.
How can schools get active?
There are a number of ways in which schools can develop more opportunities for student voice. These include:
- Encouraging teaching staff to consider how they can involve students in the learning process in the classroom, e.g., by creating more opportunities for students to express their own opinions, debate issues, make suggestions or draw up classroom rules;
- Creating mechanisms for student consultation on issues affecting school life, e.g., through questionnaires, suggestion boxes, surveys or focus groups;
- Establishing formal bodies or procedures, e.g., pupil parliaments, student committees and commissions, or ‘circle time’;
- Inviting students to sit on school policy-development committees, e.g., on gender equality, pupil safety or health and well-being;
- Teaching young learners the skills of public speaking and debate, e.g., discussion skills, active listening or argumentation;
- Providing opportunities for peer-led activities, e.g., peer education, peer assessment or peer counselling.
[1] https://soundout.org/why-student-voice-a-research-summary/
[2] https://soundout.org/why-student-voice-a-research-summary/ ; Beaudoin, N. (2005). Elevating student voice: How to enhance participation, citizenship, and leadership. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education
[3] UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations
Resources on Making children’s and students’ voices heard
Multimedia
Official texts
Policy documents
Studies
Higher education for democratic innovation (Council of Europe Higher Education Series No. 21) (2016)
Tools
Related schools projects
Address:
Country:
Project: “Safe and SOUND”. Our way to well-being at school
Working language during the project:
Themes of the Council of Europe campaign “FREE to SPEAK, SAFE to LEARN - Democratic Schools for All” covered:
- Making children’s and students’ voices heard
- Preventing violence and bullying
- Improving well-being at school
Competences from the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) addressed and where / how they were integrated:
- Knowledge and critical understanding of the self
Thanks to the help of teachers, coach and psycho-pedagogists, students learnt to express their thoughts, opinions and feelings in a respectful and thoughtful way. They reflected critically on their own values and beliefs from different points of view and in different situations. - Co-operation skills
Students experienced the importance of effective communication and positive relationships for a successful teamwork in tailor-made cooperative learning settings. Students learnt to create a positive, open and caring atmosphere. They learnt to work together, helping each other, giving value to diversity and everyone’s potential, human dignity and human rights. - Conflict-resolution skills
Students understood that conflict arises from differences, whenever people disagree over their values, motivations, perceptions, ideas, or desires. Students learnt the importance of respectful communication, experiencing active listening strategies, empathy, creative problem solving and team building, to identify useful options to resolve conflict.
Target group age range:
- 5-11 and 11-15
Level of education:
- Primary education
- Lower secondary education
Short description of the project:
For the last eight years, I.C. Cavalieri has taught democracy and human rights education from a whole-school approach. EDC and HRE are taken into consideration in teaching practice on a daily basis, in particular in those school-wide policies, practices and documents that define our school’s identity.
At the heart of our mission is the students’ WELL-BEING from first class in Primary School to third class in Lower Secondary School.
EDC and HRE positive culture and values have gone beyond classrooms, involving the school culture, the management structure and relationships throughout the community with a wide range of stakeholders. In the last few years, together, we’ve asked ourselves what could be done to foster well-being at school, following Seligman’s PERMA Model (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishments). Here are some of the main points we’ve concentrated on since then.
- The school is now a positive, inclusive and healthy environment.
All our classrooms allow an inclusive teaching methodology in a good sound environment (wall absorber panels, sound absorbing ceilings, sound-control acoustic curtains, LED lights, high performance speakers and smartboards connected to the school wi-fi) reducing sound levels, minimising background low-frequency sound, ensuring speech clarity, preventing the build-up of echoes, finally ensuring speaker and listener comfort. Both the Primary school and Lower Secondary school buildings now have acoustic environments (corridors and gym in both buildings, and the Primary school’s canteen) that are well-balanced, blocking out unwanted, harmful noise and enhancing those sounds that we want, and indeed need, to hear. - Teachers, educational staff and school staff are committed to continuous professional development.
Holistic student-centred methodologies, inclusive approaches, principles and practices of education for democratic citizenship and human rights education, ICT teaching strategies and cooperative learning are only some examples of the main themes dealt with. Professional development encompasses a great variety of courses, recommended books, conferences and workshops. - The school provides ‘Quality Education’ for all students.
Students with disabilities study and live in a learning environment which recognises everyone’s learning and social needs. Students with a refugee or migrant background are well supported, too (extra Italian classes, cultural mediators, tailor-made academic plans). - Students are encouraged to develop democratic knowledge, understanding and skills and participate in society to defend and promote democracy and human rights.
Pupils and students participate in projects and workshops with educational institutions and professionals, joint activities and exchanges with other schools and partnerships with NGOs, local authorities and media. They learn about conflict resolution, bullying and cyberbullying, health and safety, drugs and other addictions, the rule of law, coding and soft skills. - Students learn to understand, love and accept themselves strengths and weaknesses, needs and passions.
Teachers, psycho-pedagogists, mediators and coaches support pupils and students in the complex process of gaining self-awareness, providing opportunities for the students to talk and express themselves in a safe zone, without the worry of being judged or discriminated against. Students and their families are followed step by step in the usually stressful process of choosing a Higher Secondary school (educational consultancy services). Students are encouraged to express themselves artistically at Drama Club, Drama labs, Choir and Music advanced classes. - Families are encouraged to participate in school life and decisionmaking.
Our students’ families are very active and organised. Every year they manage a system of private music lessons for students in the afternoon, a homework support programme, a charity run and many other events that enrich our educational plan. Thanks to voluntary donations the school has the opportunity to pay school excursions for students in poverty, replace old PCs and printers and, in the past, managed to buy the first few smartboards.
Aims/objectives
- to provide a safe and non-violent learning environment in which the rights of all are respected
- to develop appropriate competences, self-confidence and critical thinking to help students become responsible citizens
- to develop each pupil’s and student’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential and encourage them to complete the educational programmes in which they enrol
- to pass on universal and local cultural values to students while equipping them to make their own decisions
- to provide meaningful opportunities of professional development that teachers will be willing to commit to
- to renovate and refurbish the school to make it the most beautiful, pleasant, flexible, bright and colourful environment possible, where students can feel at ease and welcome.
Expected results/outcomes
- Aula da sogno - students designed a logo
- Our school has become the venue for Cambridge examinations, in partnership with British Council because of our soundproofed classrooms
- Our students’ INVALSI (a national examination) results are higher than average in Italy, in Lombardy, in Milan and locally
- EDUMANA (project against violence and bullying) - a booklet
- “Our school is nonviolent” project- a video
- I.C. Cavalieri, an Ashoka Changemaker School
- Renaissance: Growing Educational Communities Award
Changes
- Our educational policy plan (PTOF) lasts three years. In that time we try and sometimes change partnerships according to teachers’, families’ and students’ feedback.
Every year our school and educational policy plan are internally assessed (RAV) and a school improvement plan is developed. School self-evaluation is a collaborative, inclusive and reflective process of internal school review. An evidence-based approach, it involves gathering information from a range of sources, and then making judgements. All of this with a view to bringing about improvements in students’ learning.
Challenges you faced
- Time and delays can sometimes be an issue when dealing with projects and daily classroom practice.
Time-frame of the project:
- It took us 8 years to get to the point we are now. With the compulsory implementation of CITIZENSHIP AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW in the syllabus from September 2020, our school will work even harder on EDC and HRE in the future.
Council of Europe materials on citizenship and human rights education used while preparing or implementing your practice:
- Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
- Democratic governance of schools
- Multimedia Material (ex. video “Beat Bullying”, series of cartoons “Democracy and Human Rights at School”, video “Corporal punishment at school: how two parents decided to change things”)
