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: 22, Tabidze street
Country: Georgia
Project: From here to future success
Working language during the project:
- Georgian
- English
Themes of the Council of Europe project “Free to Speak, Safe to Learn - Democratic Schools for All” covered:
- Making children’s and students’ voices heard
- 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
Session-Me and my assets helped participants identify and value personal strengths and assets are elements of a positive identity and assets in youth development. Youth who describe or display their personal assets are more likely to engage in positive behaviours and avoid negative, destructive behaviours. - Conflict-resolution skills
After responding to a series of short statements, participants practiced at least one constructive method to handle conflict in friendships without resorting to violence or combative behaviour, modelled at least one adaptive and flexible response to problems; including at least one strategy to deal with setbacks and feedback. - Skills of listening and observing
After generating ideas as a large group and working in pairs, participants identified at least three verbal and three nonverbal communication behaviours that demonstrate effective listening and are culturally appropriate. Using a series of real-life scenarios, participants demonstrated at least two active listening skills. - Valuing human dignity and human rights
After analysis of activities in their communities, participants identified at least two cultural values important in their communities and described how cultural values are acquired and how they affect their personal values. They shared the principles for how they want to live and who they want to be.
Target group age range:
- 11-15
Level of education:
- Lower secondary education
Short description of the project:
In a constantly changing environment, knowing the English language and having life skills is an essential part of being able to meet the challenges of everyday life. To cope with this, students need new life skills such as self-confidence, problem solving, leadership, critical thinking, collaboration, working well as part of a team and many more. However, students do not realise how important these skills are.
Studies show that students who are self-confident perform better academically and lead more fulfilling lives after finishing school. One specific study done for students in the United States and England shows a direct correlation between self-esteem and academic performance in maths. The same study discusses the correlation between gender and self-confidence. Female students in late adolescents, around the age of 15, were found to have a moderately lower self- esteem than male students. The target of this project is girls approaching this age. For this reason, we established the “Life Skills Club”. The focus of the club was to work with 12-15 female students in life skills to enhance their lives. The club also aimed to emphasise the value of technology, computer science, engineering, and other STEM-related topics during the trainings.
- First, to spread the word, we created an advertisement about the project and placed it on the notice board.
- After that, we organised the meeting for students introducing them the goals and objectives of the project, the life skill topics and students arranged them according to their priority.
- 10 training sessions and resources were developed and obtained for conducting the trainings.
- Participants attended the trainings twice a week, each session lasted for 1.5 hours.
- A trip was organized in Tbilisi Innovation Center, where the technological, educational and professional resources are housed. Participants were introduced to modern technologies. Innovation and Technology Agency
- At the end of the project we had a final conference where the participants shared their ideas and attitudes about the project.
- Participants were given certificates.
Aims/objectives
- The students would learn useful life skills and leadership topics related to all aspects of life, including: succeeding in the workplace, fostering healthy living, and engaging with communities.
- Emphasis would be given to not only skills but other competences of democratic culture such as knowledge and critical understanding, values and attitudes. These competences would help students to behave appropriately and effectively in democratic and intercultural situations.
- The students would improve their listening and speaking skills in English.
Expected results/outcomes
The potential impact of this project can expand throughout each student’s life. These skills, including self-confidence, leadership, goal setting, identifying a want vs. a need, budgeting, coding can be used in secondary school through to full-time employment and beyond.
The training presentations that we develop will be made available to teachers within our school and teachers in the area. Allowing others to see this information will assist with integrating this work on life skills into our teaching.
Changes
- The students that are involved will be our main focus for sustainability. The skills and ideas they learn from this training can be used throughout their lives. These students will also discuss the subjects with their families and friends after the club.
- Youth leaders will learn techniques for training and presenting.
- This training material will be offered to other teachers at our school, as well as to teachers in schools from other areas. Some of this training can be delivered by the club participants, youth leaders, or other teachers as part of different clubs or classroom activities.
Challenges you faced
As the working language of the trainings was English, it became a challenge for some students. The language challenge was anticipated while planning the project and for this reason we used youth resources -older students who knew English and who could facilitate the translation from Georgian into English whenever necessary.
Time-frame of the project:
Two months
Council of Europe materials on citizenship and human rights education used while preparing or implementing your practice:
- Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture
- All Different – All Equal
- Compasito
- Other: Life Skills and Leadership Manual -USAID, Peace Corps
