Student Voice and Student Choice at the center of Learning

Terry White outlines the importance and success of the Association for Learning Environment’s mission to bring the voice of students into the planning and design of learning environments and talks to those who have developed, experienced and have been inspired by the programme.

The Association for Learning Environments’ SchoolsNEXT programme has grown up in many ways. In its initial years, 2006-2013, SchoolsNEXT was known as the School of the Future Competition, engaging middle school students across the globe. With the intent to bring the student voice into the planning and design of innovative and resilient 21^st century learning environments, the SchoolsNEXT programme began with a holistic approach to learning through the arts – integrating all areas of study, engaging all learners and offering an opportunity for students to demonstrate critical thinking and creativity in achieving solutions to real-world problems. To create and facilitate the structures and opportunities for these powerful connections is a significant part of working thoughtfully with student-centred educational and social systems in which they are genuinely affirmed and encouraged to build self-confidence. Working as a collaborative team, the programme encourages them to use their “visual arts” voice to design and effect change in the world.

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      string(394) "... What does that mean?Improve our practice through innovationOrientation – take the development angleImprove our practiceBecoming wiseEvidence informed – opening doorsTriangle!The importance of emotion, at the centre of learning, an organic ecosystemAsk young people how much challenge there is in their learningHow does that affect us?Anxious?Frustration?I play the ..."
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      string(5704) "steps…Do you really have the passion?Or do you sort of go?Is there something out there that is a plan with action?What works for you?What works with you?Not even words make things add up.What would they look likeon a single side of A4when arriving – a conversation that needs to be with words?Aaliyah RahmanWho’s driving?These are fast changing timesWho’s driving?We are in a global worldWho’s driving?Computation, new media, symbols, signs…These are fast changing timesWho’s driving?Think differently!What does that mean?Improve our practice through innovationOrientation – take the development angleImprove our practiceBecoming wiseEvidence informed – opening doorsTriangle!The importance of emotion, at the centre of learning, an organic ecosystemAsk young people how much challenge there is in their learningHow does that affect us?Anxious?Frustration?I play the piano badly!Practice…practice…practiceInquiry is about learningI don’t mean to preach, but this could mean changeBringing those connectionsNot rushing…Powerful learning.Our learning doesn’t just take place in our classrooms, in schoolsConnect with outsiders beyond the schoolNorwaySingaporeAsk questions you don’t know the answer ofToby!Toby talks about challengeThinking together is importantWhat are the implications for everything else?Throw it outSlow it downI’m thinking my way through thisChange the mindset, things can flyI don’t mean this negatively…These are fast changing timesWho’s driving?James Rickwood (Teacher)Given the enthusiasm with which the students undertook the task, I thought I should try to write a ‘found’ poem too, which I did from listening to the plenary sessions:Throwing It OpenIt’s an uncertain time, it’s why I’m here.It’s very complicated. I’m at the very beginningOf thinking about this, hoping to observeSomething magical. It’s an uncertain time,I was really struggling, I was extremely nervousActually listening. Actually listening it’s a slowingDown, I’m going to go quite fast, we need to knowWhat to do, we just move on and move on.It’s very expensive. I’ve got a lot to say,It’s all about listening to how that person thinks –I asked him what actually moved him.Of course as human beings, who you are In the world, in the 22nd century, we areStruggling: how can you be patient when you’reWorried about not doing it properly,Being told to do things, simple quick answers?I’m going to go quite fast. It’s an uncertain time,A national obsession, that little hamster wheel – They don’t let the students breathe really,Sharpen their pencils. You have to be willingTo stop. It opened my eyes, I found myselfHolding back. It was like a two minutes’ silence,The gift of listening, the time and the trust,A beautiful thing: lonely souls falling in love,Jazz music, laughter, the beginning of wisdom.It’s why I came.I could see how enthralled the conference participants were as each young woman spoke her piece; people also warmly appreciated that a teacher had engaged with the task. The effect of using only participants’ own words combined with the way each ‘poet’ had selected and arranged them turned out to be surprisingly moving as well as intriguing. The applause was loud and long!Reaching Parts Other Approaches Do NotAs can perhaps be inferred from these examples, ‘found’ poetry works as a form of qualitative data collection by capturing the personal tones of voice and individual turns of expression of the speakers, as well as identifying key terms in the ‘dominant discourse’.  By lifting single words or phrases out of their original context and juxtaposing them with other words and phrases, the poem will typically reveal something interesting and meaningful about the collective atmosphere, particularly the affective aspects. In the poems quoted above, one can fairly readily pick out some key themes, such as: professional identity and its accompanying anxiety; a strong feeling of time and performance pressures; the importance of holding on to the ethical purpose of teaching; the challenges of learning and teaching in a globalised digital world; a sense of human agency which is circumscribed by context yet nonetheless real and realisable. Additionally, because of the very particular choices and arrangements of words made by each ‘poet’, the poems were imbued with her or his own individuality. And how much more vivid the poems are than the bullet list of themes!I hope this article has given some indication of how composing ‘found’ poems can be an economical, creative and engaging way to contribute, alongside other forms of data collection, to making a multiple record of a complex event or situation. It follows that in principle a similar approach could be adapted for use in ongoing inquiry projects within a school, in ways which would bring teachers and students together in a powerful collaborative learning process. We would love to hear from colleagues out there about any such initiatives.With grateful thanks to, and the kind permission of, Professor Louise Stoll, Karen Spence-Thomas, Year 11 students and their teachers Jane Dicker and James Rickwood from Phoenix High School (now Phoenix Academy), and conference participants at the UCLIoE Research and Development Network Conference, 28 June 2016.Lesley Saunders is an education consultant and an award-winning poet; she holds  visiting professorships at UCL Institute of Education,  London, and Newman University, Birmingham, and an honorary"
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Professional Development

Inquiry with a creative edge!

20 Jun 2017

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      string(4641) "investment in the assignment. Shutting down student voiceresulted in the pupil’s poem becoming a summary of the textbook, rather thana potentially epic success.4. Allow student imagination to lead the wayThe ultimate goal is students deeply engaged in their work, translating researchand analysis into solutions or proposals for an authentic audience. Following thehttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-eliminating-assessment-fog-john-mccarthy71Volume5.3nCreativeTeaching&LearningProject-BasedLearningthree aforementioned guidelines will result in empowering students to designtheir own demonstration of learning. This leads us to our final guideline: Makesure students know their product must fulfil the provided academic criteria, butlet their imaginations run wild when it comes to what they produce. Their ideaswill not disappoint – video presentations, prototyping using Lego, recordings ofgame worlds, vlogging, podcasting, social media formatting, photo essays andeven traditional written essays.Teachers do not need to understand the source of student inspiration. They onlyneed to know how each student’s approach can lead to the expected outcome.Ask students to craft an action plan for executing the product and its delivery tothe teacher. Coach them through any potential problems in their plan. Once thestudent plan is approved, use planned checkpoints to monitor and assess progressof the product choice, addressing the learning targets as intended. When in doubt,ask students questions that coach them to analyse gaps in learning. This reflectionalone will be a great formative assessment for students to think through theirplanning, and foster their voice in the PBL experience.When the significant content is unpacked and clearly understood by students,the final product can be undefined. The most important academic concern is thatstudents master the curriculum taught in the PBL unit. How students choose todemonstrate that understanding is of lesser import so long as they are on target.Putting pupils in the driving seat‘It’s amazing what students can do when they put their minds to it.’ I hear someversion of this comment often, especially when caring teachers struggle to findthe means to engage students with the work – of getting them to ‘put theirminds to it’. I’ve had this thought on occasions during my own career.The first step to addressing this need is to involve students in conversationabout the PBL unit. Get their feedback on meaningful products for the targetaudience, as we would do with our colleagues. Or start small: focus on animportant checkpoint that leads to the final product. Allow students to designtheir own way of showing what they know. It’s inspirational to see them becomeinnovative. Even if the product they design fails, they will have learned much ofthe content – and isn’t that what we’re after?Sometimes it’s difficult to include students in the process as partners becauseit means giving up control. Control can be illusionary as students choose whetheror not to participate at a high level. Student voice is powerful. Embrace it as partof your planning of PBL and other units. Students will put up fewer barriers. Asthey realise that their voice matters, you will have stronger collaboration withthem than ever before.John McCarthy is an experienced teacher and consultant, and anadvocate for student voice in learning. He blogs at www.openingpaths.org and for Edutopia. Follow John on Twitter @jmccarthyeds.Knowledge trails1. Boosting the pupil voice – Allowing your students to create the lesson plan sounds like volunteering foranarchy! But when primary teacher Luisa Dolton tried it, she boosted her students’ motivation and willingness totake on challenging tasks.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/boosting-pupil-voice2. Learner-driven learning in classrooms – Everyone accepts that the goal of ‘independent learning’ is whateducation should be about, but relinquishing control of your classroom – at least occasionally – can be harder thanit seems. Chris Watkins outlines a way forward.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/learner-driver-learning-in-classroomhttp://www.openingpaths.orghttp://www.openingpaths.orghttps://www.edutopia.org/users/john-mccarthyhttps://twitter.com/jmccarthyedshttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/boosting-pupil-voicehttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/learner-driver-learning-in-classroom"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Activating student voice empowers learning

27 Mar 2015

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      string(5809) "In San Diego, California, funding was cut for the care of local shores. Teams of high school students picked different beaches to advocate for community support to provide care. Students conducted scientific experiments of water quality along the beaches of their community. They determined the format of the final products, such as a calendar with important scientific information, websites, photo essays, and more. Here’s a video of their efforts.  In Texarkana, Texas, middle school teachers of 12- and 13-year-olds are planning for students to create marketing campaigns for local businesses. The students will research and evaluate the current online presence of a business of their choosing, and then develop a plan and model using social media tools such as Yelp, Urbanspoon, or Instagram to increase awareness of the businesses.A game company sponsored a competition for players to design new character classes for their virtual world using Minecraft. The design had to include class specifications and a persuasive argument for why the proposal should be included in the game. Over 400 submissions were posted in the first 48 hours! My son researched his competitors’ ideas and did four revisions of his based on feedback from his friends before submitting his proposal. He put far more effort and time on this research and writing task than for any school assignment.Young people want to be heard. They have ideas and perspective on their lives and the world around them, and when their voice is incorporated into learning, good things happen. In each of the three examples above, students took the lead in choosing and designing their products. Based on their data and audience, they crafted the message that seemed most appropriate to the purpose and that best enabled them to demonstrate academic skills. There are many opportunities to foster these experiences throughout the curriculum. Project-based learning (PBL) provides one structure that supports this process, as it serves as a vehicle for fostering and developing student voice in ways that matter to them, as well as academically. Student voice – an essential element of PBL According to the Buck Institute for Education, successful PBL should incorporate eight essential elements. Student voice and choice is potentially the most powerful essential element. When students decide how they will demonstrate learning, engagement soars, along with their energy and commitment to produce higher quality work. Include students’ interests, ideas, and unique skills as means to create products that demonstrate their learning. Some examples of student work could include:Promoting a local business or organisation through various mediums based on interviews and research. Addressing social issues such as Ebola, using video editing tools like Screencastify, iMovie, or WeVideo. Demonstrating literary analysis through approaches similar to How it should have ended and Honest Trailers. Most students’ phones have a camera app to capture images and video. Creating drawings or diagrams that are used in place of notes for giving a speech.   The final product and the major checkpoints along the PBL experience are opportunities for students to design their own products that demonstrate learning outcomes. How is it possible for students to design their own learning  artefacts that align to academic outcomes? The answer is having clear academic criteria. A PBL unit is made up of components that, when put together, enable students to develop skills that progressively shape complex understanding of significant content. Typically, these components are anchored by formative assessment checkpoints to track learning progress, and are used for additional coaching and differentiation of instruction where needed (i.e. The Propositions Project). Some formative assessment checkpoints, along with the final product, are an opportunity for students to organically decide how they want to demonstrate their learning. Making the experience informative, engaging and meaningful requires four assessment criteria.   1. Significant content is clear and focused The core of every PBL unit is significant content that comes from an established curriculum. The unit is comprised of key concepts and skills, which students will need to demonstrate understanding of at various junctions of the PBL experience, and culminates with the final product or performance. For example, if the focus is developing persuasive communication that includes skilful use of counterargument  students could develop a campaign that advocates for a social need or raises awareness about an issue where the clear criteria would include learning experiences about: elements of persuasive communication, structures for counterarguments and approaches to supporting details (i.e. examples, illustrations, and data points). At the heart of student voice is a shared understanding by teachers and students of what concepts and skills must be acquired. It is critical that teachers ensure that there are no misunderstandings, misinterpretations or lack of awareness by students. Otherwise, the quality of student-designed products may lack direction, substance, and/or connection to the significant content. When students’ understanding matches the focus, great results can happen as their products align with the intended outcomes.  2. Learning targets criteria used for concrete formative feedback  Unpacking significant curriculum content into learning targets for each lesson helps teachers to more efficiently manage the tracking of student growth."
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Project-Based Learning Is The Perfect Tool To Facilitate Student Voice

27 Mar 2021

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      string(5897) "Space design has run off the rails. It is become the equivalent of having three carts before the horse in too many classrooms. Neat, fancy and cute have been become the norm, but the reality is that decorating classrooms can actually have a negative effective on learning. For many, space design isn’t about accelerating modern learning, but about refreshing furniture so that everything has wheels. We have also reached a point where teachers feel guilty because their classroom doesn’t have the Pinterest-pretty pop of the classroom adjacent to them, and this guilt creates a distraction and time suck from facilitating amazing learning. In addition to the co-mingling of decoration and design, we are seeing a greater disconnect between schools, parents and communities in relation to space design. The mental model of the classroom has never varied so much between these three groups. If success in the modernisation of learning spaces is going to be sustainable, then it is essential that we reopen the conversation about what it means to design modern learning spaces for student success. It is only through this conversation that we can avoid fads, positively impact learning, and partner up for the solutions that are needed to maximise joy and engagement in learning spaces. To do this, school leaders need to re-establish the purpose of space design in their buildings. Shifting flexible furniture into classrooms isn’t an end goal, but it is a small part of a big plan to begin to bring ownership, movement and choice to the learning lives of students. As space design becomes an essential part of the modernisation work in districts (I would argue that it sits in parallel with instructional design and technology integration), leaders will want to make sure that all aspects of space design remain missional.Learning-space design is another thing that can create more work for teachers, confuse parents and generate noise for the community, so it is essential that these changes remain centred on the mission of the school. This doesn’t necessarily mean the mission statement, but the mission of the school that is lived daily by all those involved with supporting students. Along with the mission-centred nature of this work, it is also important that learning remain at the core of the intentional design. Classroom design often lacks the deliberate decisions needed to truly accelerate learning. Space either inhibits learning or supports learning. It is very rarely neutral. Start these deliberations by asking what the verbs are of the learning space and how they tie together the instructional philosophy, the tools for learning and the space in which the learning takes place. It is in this coherence that deeper learning can emerge, engagement and joy are maximised and meaningful conversations about space design can begin for parents and community. Use powerful language and research-based argumentsAvoid equating space design with test scores, but instead develop powerful language that threads together modern learning and intentional space design so that trust and understanding around this work can equate to support and funding. Without compelling language, both trust and understanding can quickly dissolve and leave an initiative hamstrung and destined to failure. Some districts have used metaphor to drive compelling purpose. They are equating classrooms to nests, showcasing how both are, or should be, designed to care, feed and prepare for flight. When a learning ecosystem approaches learning spaces in these terms, then it becomes easier for individuals to move forward together in common purpose. Persuading the community to support the redesign of school spaces can fall short when it is limited to an emotional plea—”kids deserve it”. Leaders should be deliberate about blending other lines of persuasion into their communication, as there is often a group of community members, parents and taxpayers who are looking for the information and data that demonstrates that their students and children aren’t the part of some grand experiment. They also want to know that all of this “cute classroom” stuff isn’t going to drain the financials, impact teachers in a negative way, or hurt students in their quest to find success beyond high school.  In these situations, it is also important to bring the growing body of research around learning spaces into the conversation. It is best when a school or district uses two or three main studies that showcase how intentional classroom design supports brain-based learning. Research emerging from the University of Melbourne in Australia as well as previous research from the University of Salford and the ministry of education in New Zealand are all rich with ideas and outcomes that can steer this work around learning space. Districts need all messages to consistently communicate that modern learning spaces are a benefit to all kids, and that these changes are backed by the research.Bring students into the discussionIn addition to using research to market design changes, we should also focus on the use of student voice. Students are most persuasive about why these changes matter. Students can showcase their excitement for learning that help to break the old mental models for parents and the community. To leverage this student voice, consider recording 90-second to three-minute videos where students discuss why and how these learning space changes support their growth. In addition, it’s a good idea to capture video of students learning in these spaces, so the community doesn’t"
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Learning Spaces

Shout Out!

13 Mar 2020

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      string(366) "... between HE institutions and the private sector.The report also makes six recommendations to institutions and the wider HE sector. They include: use of online learning to enhance student choice and meet learners’ expectations; realignment of training and development to support academics to play a leading role in online provision ..."
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Leadership Briefing 5.09 (57)"
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      string(5891) "ResourceCOLLABORATE TO COMPETEOriginal DocumentCollaborate To Compete – Seizing The Opportunity Of Online Learning For UK Higher Education. A strategic approach to online learning is essential for higher education that meets student needs, according to this report published by the Online Learning Task Force. Universities and colleges need to make online learning a central part of organisational strategies if they are to meet rapidly changing student demands and stay competitive in the global higher education (HE) market.KeywordsOnline learning , higher education, students, competitiveSummaryA strategic approach to online learning is essential for higher education that meets student needs, according to this report published by the Online Learning Task Force. Universities and colleges need to make online learning a central part of organisational strategies if they are to meet rapidly changing student demands and stay competitive in the global higher education (HE) market.Those UK higher education institutions that are prepared to make online learning a central focus will be able to develop responsive, engaging and interactive education that is both high quality and cost-effective.They will also need to take advantage of rapidly developing technology and rich sources of content, and invest in high quality learning, if they are to remain globally competitive against the challenge from international and private providers.The report showcases 14 online innovative approaches to course delivery in the UK, including partnerships between HE institutions and the private sector.The report also makes six recommendations to institutions and the wider HE sector. They include: use of online learning to enhance student choice and meet learners’ expectations; realignment of training and development to support academics to play a leading role in online provision; and the development and sharing of open educational resources to enhance efficiency and quality.The recommendations highlight many things that have been said before but not widely heeded. They come at a time when technology, internationalism, curricula, and the power and nature of the student voice have moved forward. These features make these recommendations timely and important.  There are actions needed within FE colleges, HE institutions, and other organisations, across national and sector bodies, and by governments to promote effective, high-quality online learning if the UK is to retain and take forward its reputation and market share for higher education provision. The authors make thepoint that now is the time to seize the opportunity of online learning and have produced recommendations that point to how this can be done. Institutions, organisations, bodies and groups need to work together.Recommendations:Recommendation 1· Technology needs to enhance student choice and meet or exceed learners’ expectations.· Online programmes need to be of comparable quality and standard to other programmes. Students need greater support to ensure their study and academic literacy skills are fit for the digital age. Information about online programmes is lacking and often difficult to find, both for distance courses and for the online learning elements in blended programmes. This has a significant impact on student choice, domestically and internationally. Only with better information can prospective students find what they want, judge value for money and make more accurate decisions about where and how to study. Better information will give institutions competitive edge – private providers demonstrate some excellent examples of how to do this effectively.Recommendation 2· Investment is needed to facilitate the development and building of consortia to achieve scale and brand in online learning.· Quality online learning is not a cheap option. Through collaboration, institutions can achieve significant economies of scale and more rapid development and adoption of technologies, for example in the development of learning resources or in sharing the risk of developing new forms of provision. This approach enables institutions and organisations (that are perhaps already collaborating in other areas) to exploit their joint brands and extend them into new markets, offering innovative, quality provision. Collaboration should embrace and harness the strengths of diverse institutions and organisations, across public-private and sector divides.Recommendation 3· More and better market intelligence about international demand and competition is required.· The sector needs to work together to collect and share market intelligence and, in particular, make better use of what is already produced by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and the British Council. Market intelligence is key, but obtaining it individually is likely to be beyond the means of many. Providers around the world are embracing, developing and embedding online learning, and may well attract students away from UK institutions, so there is clearly an imperative to improve the situation. Institutions in the UK may well be competing with each other for students, but they all share a responsibility for promoting UK HE as high quality, responsive and globally competitive.Recommendation 4· Institutions need to take a strategic approach to realign structures and processes in order to embed online learning.· The need to address student expectations and remain competitive should help drive developments in online learning and ensure its development and use are aligned with institutional mission. Institutions"
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Leadership

Online Learning For UK Higher Education

9 Feb 2011

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