Can Students Make a Difference? International Perspectives on Transformative Education

ABSTRACT

This paper represents the outcome of an exploration of ‘student empowerment’ in international contexts. Using material and student experiences firstly from developing countries, it looks at the notions of agency and structuration; distinguishes ‘subversive’ and ‘transformative’ agency'; raises dilemmas in the encouragement of empowerment together with strategies for resolving them; and examines the question of children's rights and how they can be fostered in educational settings. The paper then reports a workshop at the International Sociology of Education conference where participants suggested practical ways to promote and evaluate ‘empowerment’. While there can be rhetoric and cynicism about the ‘E word’, individuals can be seen to have agency through both the official and the hidden curriculum.