Students without voices: the unheard accounts of secondary school students with social, emotional and behaviour difficulties

Abstract

The student voice is growing rapidly in education, driving many educational initiatives and policies as well as research. The voice of students with social, emotional and behaviour difficulties, however, is one of the least heard, with relatively few studies that sought to capture the voice of these students in an authentic and emancipatory way. This paper reviews a number of small‐scale qualitative studies that sought the views of secondary school students with social, emotional and behaviour difficulties in Malta. Five main themes were identified, namely poor relationships with teachers, victimisation, a sense of oppression and powerlessness, unconnected learning experiences, and exclusion and stigmatisation. The paper concludes with various suggestions on how the voice of these students may become more powerful and authentic and serve as an emancipatory experience.

Keywords:

• student voice
• Malta
• SEBD
• social
• emotional and behaviour difficulties
• student empowerment
• secondary school