Amplifying Student Voice: Unleash Limitless Potential
Every single voice matters. Young or old, our thoughts, ideas, and feelings are important. In our schools, we can create opportunities for all voices to be heard and ideas embraced. As adults, it’s easy to get caught up in our day-to-day work. We may make plans and facilitate learning without giving much thought to student voice, with no ill intention. If we all hit the pause button to reflect, how often would you say that you empower the voice of learners in your school or classroom? Are we empowering all voices and taking into consideration the diversity of those we call upon to share? Every individual has a unique perspective, and we need to foster cultures where each student feels genuinely valued.
Each day, we have numerous opportunities to empower student voice and develop a culture of shared ownership. When looking to amplify the voice of learners, our focus needs to turn to our culture, first.
Does our culture promote thoughtful risk-taking in a safe environment?
Do we embrace diverse thinking and remain open to thoughts and ideas of others?
Have we been intentional about developing purposeful conversation skills through structures such as accountable talk?
Have we nurtured relationships among peers and also teachers?
The Award Winning Culture Podcast: Led by Students
Recently, I had the honor of being interviewed on, The Award Winning Culture podcast, hosted by Wildcat Nation students and staff. Knowing that it was students who were going to be running the show with the support of teachers, I was super excited! I’ve worked with numerous students across all grade levels, but connecting with learners all the way from Washington, was pretty incredible! This was the first time I’ve been interviewed on a podcast by students and I was incredibly impressed by their level of professionalism as hosts of a podcast. Both Macey and Ayla, who interviewed me were articulate and very in tune with what matters to them within school. At the end, they were joined by Kian to discuss taking control of their own learning and student voice. Although they highlighted my work and voice, they also shared theirs, too. I walked away from this podcast interview feeling incredibly honored to have learned their perspective and about some of their experiences as well. Within the podcast, we hit upon learner agency and one of the students responded with, “I love the idea of learner agency.” Well, so do I! From our conversation, I had many takeaways, some of which I share below, in addition to more ways we can amplify student voice. If you’re interested in listening to the episode, visit: AwardWinningCulture.com.
Empower Learners to Share Ideas and Ask Question
The hosts also asked me what they could do to encourage some of their teachers to be more innovative. In response, I shared that learners can ask, ‘How might we…’ questions. For example, how might we engage in learning that impacts our school and community? Or, how might we share our learning with an authentic audience? These are just samples, but we can amplify student voice by encouraging them to pose questions. We can’t ever make an individual be more innovative, but we can ask the right questions to encourage reflection and spark ideas.
Perhaps in our schools we could involve learners in more decision making by creating a space where they post their questions so that staff can see some of the amazing ideas that exist. I think it would be powerful to create an ‘idea’ board in a common area ie. library, school lobby, or cafeteria where students could have access to sticky notes to post their questions that just may spark ideas for how we can work collaboratively with our learners to create experiences in connection with their questions. Too often, students attend school and go about their day based on what their teachers have planned. Sure, there may be choice at times, but we can go the extra mile to amplify student voice by empowering learners to ask questions that may lead to deeper conversation.
Seek Feedback From Learners
As educators, our job is to serve learners. We can seek feedback from our students to hear what’s working best for them. Essentially, it’s like they’re our customer. We need to be asking questions of our learners to ensure we are fully supporting them in their journey. One of the hosts on the, Award Winning Culture, podcast shared that her teachers asked for student feedback on their curriculum by asking what students liked or didn’t like and also if they’d want to do something similar in the future or not. Identifying what works best for the unique needs of our learners is critical. Of course, this can shift from class-to-class and even year-to-year. So, asking for feedback is instrumental. It allows us to be more learner centered and make appropriate adjustments.
We can create additional opportunities to empower student voice through the following:
Morning Meetings
Morning meetings are a great way to bring learners together to foster a trusting classroom environment. Learners are engaged in sharing with peers and their teachers and encouraged to talk about something in their lives; in the meantime, their peers practice active listening and ask questions in response to what they listened to. Facilitating morning meetings supports every learner to talk and share within a safe structure where all voices are embraced. Often times, activities that promote team building are incorporated. The more we develop self-confidence and connectedness, the more learners feel encouraged to share their voice. Plus, morning meetings are a safe place to begin sharing thoughts and ideas through the supportive routines.
Surveys or Feedback Forms
We can incorporate surveys to help pinpoint how learners feel as they throughout the day and in association with content, curriculum, assessments, and more. We can provide our learners with brief surveys to seek their feedback and make appropriate adjustments based on what we hear from them. As adults, we often provide feedback following professional learning or even on our needs as learners in response to district surveys as others are planning next steps. Regardless of the age in which we are working with, seeking feedback is not only insightful for us to make shifts to meet needs, but it demonstrates to the individuals being surveyed that their voice and input matters.
Choice in Demonstrating Learning
Providing options for learners on how they want to express or demonstrate their learning helps support the concept that every individual is unique. Additionally, it encourages creativity. If choice is new, we can begin by providing two options and then continue to increase from there. We can create a choice board and even incorporate new ideas from our learners as they sprout! Eventually, as learner agency blossoms within the classroom culture, our students develop the capacity to identify the best way to share their learning.
Leverage Technology
When we integrate technology it is less about the tool and more about the learning. Leveraging technology can be intermixed with providing choice on how to demonstrate learning. Certain apps and websites encourage learners to unleash greater creativity and share their voice due to various options. From being able to add video, text, drawings, images, and voice overs–– technology can provide a great platform to amplify student voice. Even the quietest voice is empowered when technology is leveraged, depending on how it’s utilized. When working with schools who are exploring technology integration, we always begin with learning protocols, structures for conversations, reflection, and feedback before even looking at what the best tools for learners might be. I’m often asked what my favorite tools are, and I have a handful that I prefer simply because of how they can be leveraged to deepen learning experiences. My short list includes Flipgrid, G Suite (Google) for Education, Book Creator, and Seesaw. I always advise that less is more when beginning with technology, and I tend to select tools that empower learners as creators, communicators, designers, and that amplify voice.
Leadership Roles
If we take a step back and consider all that we do as classroom teachers each day, are there certain jobs or roles that could be delegated to students? I found that there were a lot of things I was doing that my learners were eager to take on! In fact, learners can be empowered as facilitators of discussions, certain routines, and through different roles while working on projects. When we launched project based learning, each team member had a specific leadership role. Roles changed at times based on needs, but each role was equally as important as the other.
Student Led Conferences
Working alongside learners to identify their goals and then working to accomplish them, is powerful. When students are involved in goal setting and how they’re progressing through feedback and reflection, they become more invested in their efforts. Supporting learners to develop portfolios of their learning and empowering them to select the artifacts that they’d like to incorporate, puts them in the driver’s seat to share what best represents their learning. Then, when it comes to conference time, they’re capable of sharing their growth. If we are consistent with formative assessment, feedback and reflection, learners are more confident in communicating where they’ve been and where they want to go to accomplish their goals.
Time to Explore Interests and Identify Passions
If we want to really demonstrate that voice matters, then it is important to carve out time for learners to explore interests and topics that deeply matter to them. That may mean that there we create opportunities for open exploration in combination with experiences that expose learners to ‘big’ topics. For example, we have the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that learners can collaborate with others on. We can also incorporate makerspace, passion projects and/or project based learning so that learners have opportunities to dig deep and identify what their heart connects with. Through various learning experiences, our learners can develop passion for topics that they may not have realized they had passion for. When we inspire our learners and help them understand that they can make a difference–– even at a young age, we begin to empower voice at a whole new level.
What Makes a Teacher Memorable, According to the Hosts
At the conclusion of the Award Winning Culture podcast I had the opportunity to ask the hosts a couple of questions. I asked them what makes a teacher most memorable to them. What I took away is that it’s how a teacher makes learners feel valued. Students don’t want to arrive at school just to go through the motions, they want to know that their voice deeply matters. One of the hosts responded that the teachers she feels are most memorable are those who ask for feedback. She mentioned that her teacher asked the class how she could improve and what could be better. The host explained that when teachers really take time to connect with students and want to hear their input, it makes the atmosphere of the classroom more enjoyable. She also values the fact that her teacher is still learning alongside students and willing to make adjustments. The other host shared that what makes teachers memorable to her are those who focus in on individual needs in addition to the needs of the whole class. Every individual is unique and we need to be in tune with what’s working and what isn’t working. It’s important that we seek feedback from our learners and strive to amplify voice so every individual thrives.
Limitless Potential
Our learners have so much to contribute, and we all benefit from empowering their voice. They come to us with their own experiences, cultural diversity, and understanding of the world. We can open the doors to empower learners as leaders and foster agency by laying the foundation of a trusting culture and authentic relationships. Then, we can incorporate structures and protocols that support every individual to be successful.
By creating the conditions to empower learning we are able to shift from dispensing knowledge and ‘telling’ our learners what or how to do something, to an environment where every individual grows into a leader of their learning. We cannot assume that all of their experiences and learning occurs within the walls of our school–– we can create environments that help learners understand that they can make a difference at any age and that what they have to share, matters. I’m in awe of the work educators do on a daily basis. Although it’s not easy work, it’s incredibly rewarding. When we pull together and share ideas, we become so much stronger. Likewise, when we create school cultures that empower learners, our collective potential becomes limitless!
Thank you to the fantastic students and Hans and Jennifer Appel, of the Award Winning Culture podcast for inspiring this blog post!
