Abstract
A personal view
Student voice is a growing international movement unlike any other. What I present here, as an afterword to this collection, is somewhat of a personal view measured by my recent experience as both a learner and project leader working with other learners on student voice projects. Drawing upon my experience I am always surprised just how passive many learners are; how uninvolved they might be in the important decisions that affect their education. For many of these young people –living, learning and working in urban areas − education isn’t fun. This is a huge shame for those growing up in socially and financially diverse disadvantaged areas. Yet that is how many students view the education system in the UK. It is something that we (and I add myself in here) have to do in order to find a good job; simply a means to an end.
As a former student in a UK sixth form college and a student voice project worker, and now my experience as an undergraduate, I see that for many young people it all too easy to simply go along with the order of things − to not question or challenge the status quo. Given the huge pressure on teachers and schools and colleges in the UK for league table positioning based upon results, it is a shame that too often students are taught via methods that enable teachers to deliver their curriculum to large amounts of students in the fastest and most efficient way possible. While these pressures, common to many other educational systems, are understandable, they often do nothing for those students eager to learn and become passionate about the subjects they choose to study or quite simply to become passionate about learning. One sad consequence of international league table pressures is that, in many cases, teaching programmes are designed and taught in a way that ensures as many people pass as possible, even if that means ‘spoon-feeding’ learners rather than encouraging them to become critical young citizens.
While many educational practitioners might be aware of these issues, the majority of students perhaps aren’t. Rather than question the teaching methods imposed on them, they either accept them, don’t care, or aren’t aware that there might be alternative ways of learning, alternative ways of experiencing education. Pressures of competition and performance mean that most young people are worried about passing their subjects in order to get to the next institution or job (rather than enjoying the moment); so rather than question teaching or the very nature and purpose of their own education, they passively go along with it regardless of how tedious that experience of education might be.
Rather than blindly accept, complain, or drop out of school, student voice can give all learners a voice to transform education for the better. It can give young people power and choice over their own learning rather than just accepting what politicians, teachers or parents say. While this potential impact that student voice has on students is perhaps not strictly speaking quantifiable, i.e. we probably cannot measure how it helps students to grow and improve their daily lives, my hope is that through student voice we can make learning better, enjoyable and more effective for everyone involved, if not on a nationwide level, then at least at a local level. Educational change driven by students as potential agents of change makes the student voice invaluable. Student voice, as a movement, can provide an opportunity for young people to voice their educational concerns in a structured and legitimate way.