What is student voice?
Talk to a Learning Partner about what you think student voice means and what it looks like in your classroom.
Responses:
What is student voice vs student choice?
Say in how they learn and what they learn - input into aspects of the learning.
Respond to what you can and filter some of it out - focus on something meaningful.
Give them a say but ultimately teacher needs to direct/make a judgement.
More equal sharing of who's doing the talking/teaching - learning from each other.
Listening carefully to what the kids are saying - questioning to get that student voice out of them
Welcoming input - valuing opinions.
Fairness, equitable distributions of decision making.
Student centred.
Responses:
What is student voice vs student choice?
Say in how they learn and what they learn - input into aspects of the learning.
Respond to what you can and filter some of it out - focus on something meaningful.
Give them a say but ultimately teacher needs to direct/make a judgement.
More equal sharing of who's doing the talking/teaching - learning from each other.
Listening carefully to what the kids are saying - questioning to get that student voice out of them
Welcoming input - valuing opinions.
Fairness, equitable distributions of decision making.
Student centred.
Read one of these articles and consider:
- What is the balance between student voice and teacher direction?
- What is the teacher's role?
- What happens if everything is student led?
Discussion:
- What is the balance between student voice and teacher direction?
- What is the teacher's role?
- What happens if everything is student led?
- Student centred learning starts with the teacher
- Student voice, transforming relationships
- 5 PBL Best Practices for Redefining the Teacher's Role in PBL
- Gold Standard PBL: Project-Based Teaching Practices
Discussion:
- teacher provides frame then students take it from there
- teacher as a mentor - feedback, models of work, resources, helping students come up with ideas, structuring activities, conferencing with groups
- getting students to identify how they would like to be assessed - teacher support and scaffolding
- teachers and students both need to change perceptions of the role - more discussion about what it means to be a student (roles and responsibilities) Shift from teaching to learning.
- teacher - explicitly teaching, planning, meeting curriculum expectations
- how do teachers listen to students - expanded understanding of what 'voice' is.
- voice = metaphor for engagement and participation
- respectful relationships, trust of each other
- respect what students know and understand about school and how it works
- Responding to what students have said they want to learn about - eg Google Drive - leaving space in plan to respond to student voice, providing strategies/time for them to give their ideas eg comment box, board in the classroom
- Asking students for feedback on our lessons - giving them a scaffold for their responses then using that feedback to plan
- Using Circle Time format after PBL to reflect and providing time to listen to the students ideas about what they would like more time on, ask questions
- Keep using exit slips as a way of getting student voice about the learning
- Providing students with opportunity to identify what they would like to be assessed on and planning an assessment task together
- Recording conversations or student ideas at the time to help reflection and future planning
- Observing how students are interacting and engaging with each other and finding a way of giving them feedback - use evaluation tools eg photo elicitation
- Students keeping a journal re what went well, what didn't, what they'd like help with - share with other students and listen to each other and respond to the voices/views of other students
- Providing choice about how/when/where they want more voice or say in things and how can they have that voice heard
