Student voice and the community forum: finding ways of ‘being heard’ at an alternative school for disenfranchised young people

Abstract

Opportunities for students to speak and to be heard are important elements of democratic schooling processes but research into student voice has shown that a culture of silence is a more common feature of schooling. Efforts to re-engage young people in learning often recognise the importance of schooling processes that provide them with opportunities to participate meaningfully in schooling dialogues. This paper describes attempts to provide such opportunities for young people in an alternative school, who had been marginalised in mainstream schooling. Research was conducted over a period of 18 months, utilising a range of data collection methods, including interviews, observations, photography and the collection of artefacts, such as school documents. Drawing particularly on data related to a daily community forum, the paper explores how this routine afforded opportunities for student voice. The three-part structure of the forum produced a range of effects, including: a discussion of issues related to local and wider community news as well as college announcements; a check-in where each member of the community voiced their readiness (or otherwise) for the day's learning; and a sign-up process that incorporated informed decision making about the day's learning sessions. It is argued that the intentions that underpin the community forum are important and relevant in all forms of schooling, not just alternative programmes, but these intentions can produce unintended effects.

Exploring student participation across different arenas of school life

“…Lastly, participants discussed informal relationship‐building as a space through which students experience a sense of participation, and also as being foundational to participation in the other arenas. Where this relationship‐building and informal conversation is intergenerational, it represents a shift from traditional positionings of students and teachers in schools, diluting the hierarchical divide and elevating students to a more egalitarian standing as fellow human beings (Lee, ; Mannion, , ; Uprichard, ; Baroutsis et al ., ; Horgan et al ., ). In a sense, then, there was something of a mismatch between participants’ lived experiences (and lived understandings) of participation and their conscious comprehension of the concept.…”

“…Despite such interest, the notion of student participation remains beset by persistent definitional and conceptual ambiguity—it can be used to refer to anything from simply attending school and ‘participating’ in lessons to collaborative decision‐making with adults (Thomson & Holdsworth, ; Rudduck & Fielding, ). Hence, while much has been written about student participation, including critical exploration of its historical background, how it might best be defined (Thomson & Holdsworth, ; Lundy, ) and typologies that describe the different forms it may take (over 30 according to Karsten, ), there remains an ongoing need to more fully investigate how participation is being negotiated in everyday school life (Mannion, ; Percy‐Smith, ; McCluskey et al ., ; Baroutsis et al ., ; Horgan et al ., ).…”

“…The views students express may also be tempered by their need to navigate power tensions amongst student subgroups, hierarchical year pressures and the need to balance allegiances between peer group acceptance and teacher approval (Lundy, ; Robinson & Taylor, ; Pearce & Wood, ). Power issues also influence the reception of student perspectives, with adults holding the power to decide which student views (if any) are heard and how they are actioned (Arnot & Reay, ; Lundy, ; Percy‐Smith, ; Baroutsis et al ., ; Quinn & Owen, ). Complicating this further are the attitudes and beliefs regarding students’ status, which act as a filter through which adults hear and interpret student perspectives (Arnot & Reay, ).…”

Voices of disaffection: disengaged and disruptive youths or agents of change and self‐empowerment?

“…While listening to students is not a new concept, collaborative implementation requires development, as adults need ‘to let go of power and to trust in the capacity of young people to make responsible decisions’ (Baroutsis et al, ). Over the last 15 years, student involvement in school improvement has increased, with successful implementation resulting in an increase in young people's trust (McIntyre et al, ).…”

“…Since the 1990s, the student perspective has become a growing concern for researchers (Garlick, ; Hartas, ; Baroutsis et al, ), yet, despite this, policy discussions are ‘rarely focused on how to listen to young people and understand their point of view’ (Riley et al, ), even though some upwardly driven strategies designed to facilitate voice have proven effective for reducing disaffection and for improving the decision‐making process (Shallcross et al, ). Consequently, voice is often dominated by a select few and its absence or ‘political injustice’ (Mills et al, ) can further disempower already marginalised students.…”