“Student voice” (or “pupil voice”) has become a well-known concept in schools. However, there remain concerns that the extra responsibility and influence supposedly given to pupils is, in some instances, no more than tokenistic.
One Scottish school has joined forces with academics, however, in the hope of showing that the concept of student voice can lead to meaningful change, of value to pupils and staff alike.
The teacher’s view
As a “rights-respecting school”, student voice is at the heart of Barrhead High.
Learners have always played a key role in driving initiatives at the school and I have enjoyed watching them thrive in collaborative enquiry - an approach which asks them to take the lead - and grow as leaders of learning.
We have had a partnership with the University of Strathclyde and, with the valuable input of Professor Kate Wall, it has really elevated the great work that was already taking place at Barrhead High.
Sense of agency and purpose
Students worked with a team from Strathclyde Institute of Education on how to improve the school community. This has given learners a feeling of agency and purpose within the school: they know that their voice matters and that it leads to real action and change.
It is very exciting that they are now leading our school improvement plan. We asked them to tell Tes readers about the process that led to this and how they have benefited.
Nikki Walker is principal teacher for student voice at Barrhead High, in East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow
The students’ view
Barrhead High is very focused on student voice and runs many initiatives to encourage as many learners as possible to share their views and lead change.
One of these is the teaching and learning group. Teachers attend sessions about different educational topics, such as differentiation, challenge and enjoyment, assessment and feedback. Learners are invited to present to the group on the impact the approaches have.
We also have subject ambassadors who link in with each faculty with opinions on changes or ideas on making learning more exciting and active.
We thought the University of Strathclyde inquiry project, then, would be the perfect opportunity for Barrhead High learners to help drive change.
The early sessions with Strathclyde gave us insight into what a researcher is. The support from the university also opened up a whole new world of jobs, experiences and possibilities.
Importance of research
A university trip was very beneficial, too, and made us think about the importance of research. Sessions after the trip were great as we consolidated our understanding of research methods.
We then split into teams and carried out four enquiries. This helped us hone various skills and will also help when it comes to assignments in our National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers - for example, in science and geography when we need to collect and analyse data - and with future college and university assignments.
We also shared our findings with teachers, which we hope could lead to change and improvements in learning and teaching.
During our time with Strathclyde staff, we have learned: research skills, how to work well in a team, how to communicate well with each other and how to carry out work independently.
Initially, we divided into groups and picked an area to concentrate on, such as P7 transitions or revision techniques.
We led focus groups, visited primary schools, gave out questionnaires, presented to different year groups and much more. Some of us presented to senior learners, and they really benefited from this because they have exams coming up and our work could help with their revision.
Improving school transition experience
Our research has also helped the school leadership team with future S1s: we shared ideas on how to make them feel more comfortable and safe while transitioning from primary to high school. We are working with our teachers on a new programme to improve the transition experience for S1s.
Recently, at a whole-school meeting, we presented our work on revision techniques, and now there has been a training session for staff to share ideas on helping senior students prepare for exams.
Our next steps involve using the data we have collected and sharing ways that teachers might use it to improve our learning. We are meeting with our headteacher and year heads to add these priorities to our school improvement plan.
We are also going to work on lessons for young people and deliver them in pastoral classes and PSHE.
Lastly, we are going to train S1s in May this year on how to carry out their own enquiries, so they can research what is important to them and make more changes next year; they will be our legacy.
We think that other schools should take part in enquiry-based projects with university staff - so that they, too, can also learn about research skills and help the school community.
The second part of this piece was written by S2-3s at Barrhead High
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