Student participation in school decision-making and reform processes has taken inspiration from reconceptualisations of childhood. Advocates for student voice argue for the repositioning of children ...and young people in relation to adults in schools. This article works with data from a multi-sited case study of three primary schools and students', teachers' and school leaders' accounts of their student voice practices. We consider the relationships between students in student voice activities in primary schools, and the possibilities and ambivalences of representative students 'speaking for' other students. We integrate recent insights from moves beyond voice in childhood studies, and from the turn to listening in cultural studies, and raise questions for students, teachers and researchers who seek to encourage student voice in primary schooling. Author abstract
Work-integrated learning (WIL) or university placements are valuable opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in an authentic work setting and help support their transition from university ...to employment. However, as our study evidenced, students with disability face significant and unique barriers to securing and completing WIL placements. In this study, we surveyed students with disability at an Australian university (n = 132) to explore their experiences and perceptions of WIL placements. Our findings indicate that while many students are motivated to participate in placements, they have concerns about how their disability, medical or mental health condition(s) will be accepted by the organisations and whether their requests for accommodations will be facilitated without judgement from supervisors. The findings from our study are relevant to the fields of disability/inclusion and employability, as the results showcase that current policies and practices do not adequately support diverse students.
For years educators have advocated for student voice as an emancipatory project with the potential of addressing the inequalities of schooling and beyond. However, against a burgeoning education ...practice and policy concern for student wellbeing, student voice practice in schools may privilege an inward rather than outward gaze, curtailing the likelihood of transformative action. In this article I examine the enactment of a student voice initiative with a wellbeing focus in a Melbourne primary school. Methodologically, I take a case-study approach, drawing on fieldnotes, interviews with school staff, and student focus group data. I draw on the concepts of 'emotional capital' and 'feeling rules' to illustrate the way that the affective aspects of inequality were (re)produced. I argue that student voice practice when focused on wellbeing warrants particular attention as, rather than addressing inequalities, student voice practice may generate further advantage for those whom the system of education serves best.
Student voice has the potential to prompt creative and transformative teacher professional learning and practice. However, contemporary conditions of education - including policy priorities and ...institutional constraints - shape how student voice is taken up. This article draws on data from an evaluation study of a student voice programme ('Teach the Teacher') as enacted in two Australian schools. Notwithstanding the possibilities of student voice, reductive interpretations of teacher's work risk translating student voice into thin practices; the teacher becomes envisioned as technician who needs to fill their 'toolbox' and find 'what works' by listening to students. Analysing what is said and unsaid about student voice for teacher professional learning in interviews with school leaders and teachers, as well as focus groups with students, this article explores the problematics of mobilising student voice for teacher professional learning. Questions are raised for those seeking to promote reciprocal intergenerational learning in democratic schools.
Student voice has been heralded as a practice that provides all children with the opportunity to exercise their right to participate in matters affecting them. However, a common research concern is ...that not all student voices are consistently or comprehensively attended to. What is often under scrutinised is how this uneven distribution of opportunities that students have to voice may be felt by students, in particular by those who have the opportunity to voice. This paper examines a point of perplexity in data generated with members of student representative councils who participated in focus groups. These focus groups were conducted as part of a study that evaluated a primary school student voice programme facilitated by an external provider. We found that participants' feelings about the 'privilege' of being involved in student voice practice belied their assertions about student voice as a 'right' that all students have. Claire Hemmings' concept of affective dissonance is used to guide our thinking about this disparity between what students think and feel about voicing. We argue for the importance of attending to how students feel about voicing as how they feel may impact on their potential to act as agents of change.
The expectation for universities to support students' employability through work-integrated learning placements demands investigation into how opportunities are inclusive to students from a diversity ...of backgrounds. In this paper, we explore the experiences of students with disabilities during work placements, drawing on qualitative data collected through six focus groups with students (n = 27). Analysed through the frame of stigma, the results show how students bear an unfair burden of responsibility in their placement experiences, as they shoulder consequential decisions to disclose and/or request accommodations to support their learning. In this study, work placement environments were often somewhat hostile, both in relation to their built environments but also through the bias and/or prejudice of others. The results shed light on the difficulties that students with disabilities face in their placements and underscore how educational equity is multi-layered, requiring scrutiny of the student life-course including access to opportunities in professional fields.
Despite work integrated placements often being positioned as opportunities for students to 'try out' authentic work experiences during their time at university, placements are not inclusive to students with disabilities.
Students with disabilities shoulder an unfair responsibility in their work placement experiences, where they must negotiate the decision of disclosure and/or request for accommodations.
Students reported hostile work placement environments, and cultures of exclusion, demanding more investigation into how universities can ensure safe and appropriate learning environments for students on placement.
Students recommend greater education and training for placement teams (i.e., academic unit chairs, professional coordinators) and industry supervisors to reduce stigma and combat entrenched assumptions about disability.
Universities themselves must also reflect and act on how to support inclusive cultures, including supporting training and policy that embed a strengths-based lens of disabilities.
Student participation in school decision-making and reform processes has taken inspiration from reconceptualisations of childhood. Advocates for student voice argue for the repositioning of children ...and young people in relation to adults in schools. This article works with data from a multi-sited case study of three primary schools and students', teachers' and school leaders' accounts of their student voice practices. We consider the relationships between students in student voice activities in primary schools, and the possibilities and ambivalences of representative students 'speaking for' other students. We integrate recent insights from moves beyond voice in childhood studies, and from the turn to listening in cultural studies, and raise questions for students, teachers and researchers who seek to encourage student voice in primary schooling. Author abstract
Student participation in school decision-making and reform processes has taken inspiration from reconceptualisations of childhood. Advocates for student voice argue for the repositioning of children ...and young people in relation to adults in schools. This article works with data from a multi-sited case study of three primary schools and students', teachers' and school leaders' accounts of their student voice practices. We consider the relationships between students in student voice activities in primary schools, and the possibilities and ambivalences of representative students 'speaking for' other students. We integrate recent insights from moves beyond voice in childhood studies, and from the turn to listening in cultural studies, and raise questions for students, teachers and researchers who seek to encourage student voice in primary schooling.
Student participation in school decision-making and reform processes has taken inspiration from reconceptualisations of childhood. Advocates for student voice argue for the repositioning of children ...and young people in relation to adults in schools. This article works with data from a multi-sited case study of three primary schools and students', teachers' and school leaders' accounts of their student voice practices. We consider the relationships between students in student voice activities in primary schools, and the possibilities and ambivalences of representative students 'speaking for' other students. We integrate recent insights from moves beyond voice in childhood studies, and from the turn to listening in cultural studies, and raise questions for students, teachers and researchers who seek to encourage student voice in primary schooling.
