The danger of subverting students’ views in schools

Abstract

This paper is firmly grounded in the position that engaging with students’ voices in schools is central to the development of inclusive practices. It explores the tensions that can be created when efforts are made to engage with students’ voices in relation to their experiences of learning and teaching. An example from a three-year research and development project, which worked alongside teachers to use students’ voices as a way of developing inclusive practices, is used to illustrate these tensions. This project, though showing that students’ voices can be a powerful means for understanding learning and teaching in schools, also encountered challenges with these processes. This paper focuses on the experiences of one secondary school which (possibly inadvertently) subverted and undermined students’ voice initiatives and explores the potential negative impacts of this on individual students, on students as a whole, and on teacher development. By doing this, suggestions as to how such tensions can be avoided in schools are offered, with the aim being to allow a genuine engagement with the views of students.

Keywords:

• students’ voices
• inclusive education
• subversion
• teacher development
• schools

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the teachers and students who took part in this project. Without their cooperation this project would have not been possible.

Funding

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Notes on contributors

Kyriaki Messiou is Associate Professor in Education at the University of Southampton. Her research interests focus on inclusive education, students’ voices, and participation and marginalisation in school contexts.

Max A. Hope is Programme Director for the Masters in Education at the University of Hull. Her main research interests concern democracy, inclusion, freedom, inequalities and social justice. Her professional background is as a youth and community worker, largely co-creating projects designed to engage socially excluded and educationally disadvantaged young people with learning.