This article explores some of the core values which underpin student voice work. We are in the very early stages of trying to understand the values that surround student voice and hope to develop these understandings by drawing on the work of various educational theorists. Throughout the article we examine some of the complexities that arise in theorizing student voice, and allude to the practical implications of the values in the context of student voice work in schools and the implications to school improvement.

The paper considers theoretical notions of power in relation to student voice. As an action-oriented practice some aspects of student voice have received little theorisation as yet. This paper aims to contribute to a growing body of work on student voice which is addressing its current theoretical under-elaboration. It does so by concentrating on the dimension of power. The central argument is that power is a significant factor in shaping both the philosophical underpinnings of student voice work and the practical assumptions which are made about what is possible in student voice work. It focuses on the British context, and examines the theoretical legacy student voice has inherited from radical pedagogy, placing a critical spotlight on the notions of ‘empowerment’ and ‘dialogue’. It ends with a consideration of postmodernist notions of power which it is argued provides the opportunity to examine more critically the way in which power conditions what is possible in student voice work

This article applies theoretical understandings of power relations within student voice work to two empirical examples of school-based student voice projects. The article builds on and refines theoretical understandings of power and participation developed in previous articles written by the authors. The first article argued that at the heart of student voice work are four core values: communication as dialogue; participation and democratic inclusivity; the recognition that power relations are unequal and problematic; and the possibility for change and transformation (Robinson & Taylor, 2007); the second article focused on a theorization of power and participation within student voice work (Taylor & Robinson, 2009). This article explores how power and participation manifest themselves within the operation of student voice projects and considers the micro-processes at play when implementing student voice work within schools. The article concludes by questioning whether student voice work provides a genuine means through which change in schools is initiated.

This article focuses on objects, bodies and space to explore how the mundane materialities of classrooms do crucial but often unnoticed performative work in enacting gendered power. Drawing on ethnographic data from a UK sixth form college study, the article analyses a series of 'material moments' to elaborate a material feminist analysis of embodied practices of mattering. I argue that 'practices, doings and actions' (Barad, K. 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. London: Duke University Press), while often hidden or taken for granted, are a constitutive material force in producing what and who matters within classrooms. By highlighting objects, bodies and space as entangled material agencies, the article raises new questions about gendered pedagogic practices. It proposes the necessity to rethink classroom space as an emergent intersection of multiple, mobile materialities, and argues that doing so is a crucial task for a material feminist praxis.

The effects of low dose ultraviolet (UV) radiation on delayed type hypersensitivity responses to tuberculin purified protein derivative were investigated in 17 healthy, Mantoux-positive volunteers. Suberythemal and erythemal doses of solar simulated UV from a fluorescent lamp source were delivered to the subjects' lower backs daily for five consecutive days. Mantoux testing with intradermally injected purified protein derivative was then performed at both the irradiated sites and an adjacent, unirradiated site, and the Mantoux induced erythema was quantitated 72 h later with a reflectance erythema meter. In comparison with the unirradiated Mantoux sites, Mantoux induced erythema was significantly reduced at the irradiated test sites. In six subjects, we compared the effects of chronic versus short term UV irradiation on the Mantoux reaction. These volunteers were irradiated on one side of their lower backs with the 5 d UV protocol, and on the other side of their backs for 4 or 5 wk. In all but one subject, the short irradiation protocol induced greater suppression of Mantoux responses than prolonged UV exposure. We conclude that even suberythemal doses of UV significantly reduce delayed type hypersensitivity responses to purified protein derivative, and that an adaptive mechanism appears to counteract the immunosuppressive effects of chronic irradiation.