LEADERSHIP COACHING: VALUING STUDENT VOICE

As the board meeting came to an end I could see the disappointment on Jasmine’s face. Her look said it all. A few months prior she was beaming with pride as she shared with me that she had been asked to serve as the student representative during the monthly board meetings. She was thrilled. Jasmine wasn’t involved in any activities, but like many students, she cared about her school and took pride in her work. She could hardly wait to represent the voice of the student body. She felt empowered. Jasmine was ready to take her seat at the table and prove to the adults in the room that student’s should have a voice as well as an opportunity to share their thoughts on decisions that were impacting their education.

But her moment never came.  The night came and went and Jasmine was never given a chance to speak. One thing was clear; she did have a seat at the table, but unfortunately, she was not given a voice at the table.

In schools across the country, you will find educators who recognize the importance of valuing student input and the benefits that come with it, especially as it pertains to school culture. Students are inherently the most important people entering our schools each day, yet, when we talk to students, they often feel powerless, believing that adults still drive most of the decisions; their voices falling on deaf ears. Of course, there are exceptions. I have witnessed many teachers, principals, and schools that have worked diligently to make students feel their voices are valued.  I have seen students working as assistants in the attendance office, activity office, and school library.  In many schools, students still read the daily announcements. In one school I visited, student greeters met me at the main entrance and gave me a tour throughout the school, beaming with pride upon showing me all of their artwork and other student works. Another school invited me to be part of their student run television show, and recently I was a guest on a student run podcast. However, we need to continue to be diligent and listen to student ideas about how to raise the standard for student voice and participation in every school on every campus.

My hope is that we will commit to being intentional about putting processes into place to elevate the voices of all students, not just some students. Every school has a group of students that are often called upon to serve as ambassadors in some capacity for teachers and administration, but we need to ensure that all students, especially students like Jasmine, don’t get called on to serve and then be left sitting at the table without a voice. Our students are waiting on us. Our culture is depending on it.

Each week I share out 1 Reflection, 2 Ideas, and 1 Resource for you to consider that I hope will encourage you to explore new and better practices in your daily work. My aspirations are to support you and others in developing your skills and shifting your thinking so you will invest in your own development and maybe, just maybe I can inspire you to want to live your excellence so you can bring your best self to school every day!

 Live your excellence…

Jimmy

 VALUING STUDENT VOICE: 121

1 REFLECTION

The most effective educators didn’t become teachers and principals to help others be successful. They did it in order to change the environment and the conditions so their students could have the chance to create their own successes.

2 IDEAS

Picture the following scenario. I am visiting your school and we walk into your classroom. I ask you how you would describe the climate and culture of your class. How do you respond? Now think about your response and answer the following question. How do you know?

Understanding the learning environment of any classroom is one of the most critical steps in determining student success. Yet when I ask teachers or principals to describe the environment to me they often hesitate, are unsure in their responses, or are confident in their response which sounds something like, ‘Kids love being in here. The teacher has done a great job of creating a positive culture.”   I then follow up with the question above, “How do you know?” 

If we really want to know about the learning environment or climate/culture of any classroom, I think we need to start by collecting information from the most critical voice – the students’ voice. After all, aren’t they the ones who could best describe to us how they feel about being in a class?  I think so. So why don’t we take the time to ask them? Are we afraid of what they might say? Is it an issue of time? Do we not truly value their voice? Do we not have a process or a tool to do so? Consider the benefit as three-fold. One, the information that we would collect could give us better insight into what students think about how they feel; a feeling that impacts their ability to learn and ultimately the level of their success in the classroom. Two, we can use the data we gather to help us determine the characteristics and practices that teachers bring to the classroom that allow them to connect better with students that we can then use to support other staff in their development. Three, the process, when used as a growth tool rather than an evaluative tool, can create a culture where staff uses student feedback to reflect, identify shortcomings, and use the information in dialogue with students to shift instruction, assessments, feedback, structures, rules, etc. as well as our own behavior in order to impact all students in a positive and more effective way.  I hope you will consider using the tool I have provided this week in the resource section below.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Admittedly, it had become routine. Sit with my department chairs, share with them the process and timeline for submitting new course proposals and then ask them to complete the appropriate paperwork. In turn, they would meet with their prospective teams to get their input and then they would bring their recommendations back to me to discuss.  Next, we would identify the purpose, course name/description, staffing, budget, and material needs, etc., share it with my Superintendent, and then submit to the board for approval. Finally, we would include the new course in the registration information and then cross our fingers and hope that students would sign up. Sound familiar? If so, then maybe it’s time to include one more step in the process- student input.

I still remember the first time we sat with our student leadership team and asked them for their help. We shared that we wanted to utilize our Student Summit meetings to ask the entire student body the following question – “If you could design or take a course at our school that we currently don’t offer, what course would you be interested in creating or taking?” And just like that, we had hundreds of  student ideas at our disposal. As we sifted through the responses with our student leadership team we began to identify common tech themes: Video Game Design, Animation, Computer Programming, Entertainment, and Internships just to name a few. Our first takeaway? How would we staff all of this? Where would we find the resources?  We continued on and eventually after many back and forth planning meetings with students, staff and community members, we designed and offered our first Tech Internship Course where students would have the freedom to follow a career pathway, complete internships in the community, earn college credit, and pitch their creations, inventions and app designs to local business owners and CEO’s.  We were Shark Tank before Shark Tank ever existed. I still recall that entire process with fond memories and deep pride.

Yes, students are still the most important people entering our schools. We just need to continue to remind ourselves that we need to put practices into place that values their talents, voices, ideas, enthusiasm, and most importantly, their dreams, if we hope to cultivate a culture of excellence where all students and staff walk into school every day ready to change the world.

1 RESOURCE

Use the following Student Feedback Form to begin to see the climate and culture of your classroom through the eyes of the students and stimulate meaningful dialogue to impact student success.

Bonus:  SULI Breaks Video: Why I Hate School But Love Education

NOTE: If you enjoyed this post and are interested in joining a Community of Leaders who aspire for greatness, you can sign-up for my FREE weekly newsletter, CLICK ON NEWSLETTER BUTTON and receive a free copy of my Leadership Manifesto and access to my study guide notes, podcast notes, and additional free resources.