Young people as co-researchers: enabling student participation in educational practice

Abstract

This article explores the way student participation can be incorporated into educational practice, in particular in the form of the student participation process 'students as co-researchers'. It is argued that enabling student participation, in the sense that students are involved in decisions that affect them in their school lives, is valuable and should be pursued for various motives. One of these motives is a rights-based motive following from the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the declaration Education for All. Moreover, student and teacher learning are identified as other important motives for intensive student participation practices. An action research project in the Netherlands conducted by teams of teachers, students and museum educators serves to illustrate the student participation process and the strategy for teacher learning. First, the concept of student participation will be explored and related to teacher's professional development. Second, the characteristics and the intensity of the student participation in this case are described along six dimensions of participation. Next, the implications for the learning and professional development of teachers who participated in the Dutch project are explored. The four domains of the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth serve as the structuring framework.

Student voice across contexts: Fostering student agency in today’s schools

“…For older students, methods such as interviews (Quinn & Owen, 2016) and action research (Smit, 2013) position students to analyze educational practices, make recommendations, and effect change in schools. Interactive research methodologies can access the perspectives of young people on a variety of issues (Kiragu, Swartz, Chikovore, Lukalo, & Oduro, 2012), and youth-led participatory action research (Cammarota & Fine, 2008;Mitra & McCormick, 2017;Rodríguez & Brown, 2009) and collaborative action research sees young people as "social actors and experts on their own lives" (Cowie & Khoo, 2017, p. 234) and affords teachers opportunities to learn from students about and enact effective pedagogy (Nelson, 2015).…”

The Effect of Edmodo-Based E-Learning toward Participation and Understanding of Elementary School Teacher Candidate

“…The existence of Edmodo-based e-learning on student participation is seen in calculations to be monitored, involvement in decision making, attendance, educational interventions, leaving meaning in an undefined and assumed context (Harcourt & Gray, 2013). The involvement in deciding student problems can improve motivation of going to school and studying due to the existence of feeling possessing and student's vote (Smit, 2013). If there is student involvement, it will motivate the elementary school teacher candidate from passive in the beginning to participate actively in learning.…”

‘Nobody is Watching but Everything I do is Measured’: Teacher Accountability, Learner Agency and the Crisis Of Control

“…Where student participation involves a holistic pedagogy, students are invited to contribute opinions and ideas for personal growth, increased motivation, and self-confidence. It is immersed in empowering, open and positive teacher-student (Smit, 2013) and studentstudent relationships (Harris & Brown, 2013). Student-centred learning has become a normative concept in education, with the term used often in policy in relation to 'best practice' in classrooms.…”