The Power of Voice in Schools

Listening, Learning, and Leading Together

Russ Quaglia, Kristine Fox, Lisa Lande, Deborah Young

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781416628996
• eBook ISBN: 9781416629535
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Professional Development

For nearly four decades, Russ Quaglia has been laying the groundwork to inform, reform, and transform schools through student voice. That deep commitment is reflected in this inspirational book.

Quaglia and his coauthors at the Quaglia Institute for School Voice & Aspirations deftly synthesize the thoughts and feelings of hundreds of thousands of stakeholders and offer a vision for schools where everyone's voice matters. They posit that students, teachers, administrators, and parents must work and learn together in ways that promote deep understanding and creativity.

Making this collaborative effort successful, however, requires widespread recognition that all stakeholders have something to teach, and they all have a role to play in moving the entire school forward.

We must abandon the "us versus them" fallacy in education; there is only "us." To that end, The Power of Voice in Schools offers a way forward that can be used in any school and* Addresses the importance of everyone's voice in the school community.
* Articulates the lessons learned from listening to these voices over the past decade.
* Suggests concrete, practical strategies for combined teams of students, teachers, parents, and administrators to make a difference together.

This book reflects the dream of a true partnership in listening, learning, and leading together. When the potential of voice is fully realized, schools will look and feel different. Cooperation will replace competition and conflict, collaboration will replace isolation, and confidence will replace insecurity. Most important, the entire school community will work in partnership with one another for the well-being of students and teachers.

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Chapter 1

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Hindsight Helps Us Move Forward

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"Do or do not. There is no try."

–Yoda

As an educator, what have you learned from the students you teach or the colleagues with whom you work? Have you learned about Instagram (or Finstagram) or Snapchat … or the newest social media trend that's come out since we wrote this book? Have you learned a new way to teach a tired lesson? Have you learned how to solve the latest Rubik's cube, which isn't a cube at all? Have you learned how to see something from the perspective of a 7-year-old? Now ask yourself, has what you've learned from working with students and colleagues influenced the ways you teach and your students learn? Opportunities to learn from one another are everywhere, but they should be more than incidental events; we must make a conscious effort to learn from and with one another.

Over the course of almost four decades of working with students, educators, and parents, the Quaglia Institute has learned the value of listening to their voices. We have listened intently, and we have asked the crucial follow-up question: Why? In the process, we have learned a great deal about what is important to the individuals who are in our schools every day. We have learned that a process that honors others' voices simultaneously fosters respect, creates lasting partnerships built on trust, and develops a sense of shared responsibility. With this as a foundation, every stakeholder in education will be poised to work collaboratively (at the school, district, state, or national level) to lead in a united way that improves our educational system. If this book does not invite–indeed, compel–you to initiate dialogue for change, then we have fallen short of our mission … or you need to find another career.

This book is rooted in a simple idea. Namely, in order for schools to be successful, they must listen to, learn from, and lead with the students, educators, and families who comprise the very life of the school itself. Whether schools choose to accept our view that their goal should be to support every student's aspirations, or not; whether schools believe, as we do, that self-worth, engagement, and a sense of purpose for every student and teacher is critical to their academic and professional success, or not; whether schools think ensuring each student's sense of belonging, fun and excitement, and confidence to take action are part of the job of teaching, or not–we urge schools to consider the voice of students and teachers in all projects and programs moving forward.

We view voice as a process that leads toward collective action. The School Voice Process involves listening to what people are saying (and not saying), learning from what is being said, and leading together on what actions need to be taken. This process supports schools in their journeys to be places where learning is meaningful for all. To better understand student voice and perspective, we therefore went straight to the source–the students, teachers, parents, and administrators in our school communities.

The data referenced in this book were gathered during the 2009–2018 academic years. The following surveys were administered from the Quaglia School Voice suite of surveys:

• Quaglia Student Voice surveys were taken by 452,329 students in grades 6–12 and 102,750 students in grades 3–5. These school-level surveys were administered in 979 schools across 34 states.
• Quaglia Teacher Voice surveys were taken by 30,489 teachers in 415 schools across 26 states.
• Quaglia Parent Voice surveys were taken by 20,230 parents in 244 schools across 14 states.
• The Quaglia iKnow My Class survey was administered by 1,524 teachers in grades 6–12 for a total of 142,189 completed surveys. In grades 3–5, the survey was administered by 269 teachers for a total of 8,866 completed surveys. In total, these surveys were administered in 149 schools across 23 states. (The survey for grades 6–12 is available in both a 50- and 20-statement version. The former includes all the statements in the latter. References in this book will be drawn from the 20 statements included in both versions.)

Through the school voice surveys and focus groups, it's clear that all too often adults try to solve school problems for students (rather than with them), which typically results in a "misdiagnosis" or the implementation of yet another program. Consider the persistent challenge of students not completing homework assignments. At one time or another, all educators have been part of adult-generated solutions–zeros on assignments, notes sent home, and after-school detentions. If these solutions were effective, then incomplete homework would not be a perennial problem. Students would reliably complete their homework. However, when educators involve student voice in the dialogue and search for solutions together, they learn other reasons for incomplete assignments–for example, a lack of understanding and clarity, a lack of purpose in assignments, and even a lack of relationships with teachers. We repeatedly hear from students that they withhold effort from teachers they dislike! When educators stop and actually listen to students, they learn that repeated detentions (for instance) do not solve homework issues, yet a better relationship with their teachers can.

Likewise, this same scenario occurs when administrators tune out teachers' voices. For example, a district may try to improve teacher attendance by "buying out" unused sick days. Although the extra pay is always welcomed, it does not significantly reduce teacher absenteeism. Listening to teachers can have a greater impact than a few extra days of pay! Teachers want to be valued and acknowledged for their efforts. They want their ideas to be truly listened to, and most important, they want to be part of the decisions that affect them.

Similarly, parents also want and need to have their voices heard. Consider a situation where educators assume that parents do not care about their children's education simply because they have not become involved or don't attend meetings. However, once engaged in a conversation, it becomes clear that language, transportation, or childcare issues are the real barriers to engaging with the school. Often, the answers are simple to find–we just need to stop, ask, and listen. This is a simple yet critical part of collaboration that supports students' success.

Schools are charged with the admirable and daunting tasks of educating students, fostering their success, and helping them achieve their dreams. There are countless approaches and philosophies that can lead to success; education is the antithesis of one-size-fits-all. Although there are frameworks and standards that can be valuable in guiding education efforts, every school–and every child–is different. It is imperative that the voices of those who make education at each school happen are heard. That means students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Students are best served when all stakeholders work in partnership, listening to one another, learning from one another, and leading together. This collaboration is the most effective way to support students on their educational journey, including developing their own voices–in school and in life.

It is important not only to understand how voice has evolved but also to capitalize on the 20/20 nature of hindsight. In life, a great deal can be learned by paying attention to what has occurred before. Voice is no exception. Learning from the past helps guide the future.

Student Voice: An Evolving Partnership

The concept of student voice is not new. In fact, Socrates saw the necessity of learners sharing what they know as part of the learning process. More recently, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989; UN General Assembly Resolution 44/25) gives children a right of participation–that is, a right to express their views, to be heard, and to take part in decisions that affect them. Over time, student voice has been viewed through many lenses, ranging from a skill to a process to an outcome. Student voice is all of this and so much more. Even though student voice has a positive impact on learning and engagement, incorporating student voice is often met with resistance by educators, as it is viewed as an isolated action or add-on–another item to include on an already too long to-do list. That could not be further from the truth!

Terms Associated with Student Voice

Student Agency: Learners having choice and voice regarding what is to be learned and the opportunity to co-create learning.

Autonomy: Control to make decisions for oneself.

Self-Determination: The ability to think for oneself, make your own choices, and assume responsibility for those choices.

Empowerment: The ability and authority to make decisions and changes in a respectful and supportive environment.

Partnership: A relationship where both parties are valued, respected, and necessary for action.

Student voice is not a task or a survey or a seminar. Student voice is the inclusion of students' thoughts and ideas in school decisions at all levels, and it is not yet fully realized as a "way of being" in classrooms, buildings, and districts. Student voice challenges the current norm where the state, district, and teachers decide what students will learn, direct how they will learn, and dictate the assessment of that learning. Meaningful student voice requires students to play an active role in all that a school does, from instruction to assessment to curriculum design. The ability to responsibly share one's ideas and opinions is a lifelong skill–even a civic duty.

Fortunately, we have seen some progress. The power of student voice to transform learning being recognized by the education community as an integral aspect of education. Today, most educators embrace the idea that student voice matters for authentic learning, and progress is being made toward fully implementing voice as a way of being in schools. Student voice influences students' success in school, and national, state, and district policies are beginning to mandate that student voice be an integral component in school improvement efforts. Student voice is even integrated into many schools' mission and vision statements.

Much of this recent attention on student voice in schools is due to the research that supports the value of student voice. A recent Harvard study, sponsored by the Raikes Foundation, suggests that student agency may be as critical to outcomes of schooling as basic academic skills (Ferguson, Phillips, Rowley, & Friedlander, 2015). Additional research points to numerous benefits of providing students with more decisions and ownership in their educational experiences:

• According to Ryan and Deci (2000), students experience varying levels of motivation that often depend on the extent to which they feel their actions are, or will be, self-determined.
• Studies show the connection between student voice and engagement (Fisher, Frey, Quaglia, Smith, & Lande, 2018; Mitra, 2008; Rudduck, 2007).
• When students experience voice, they are more likely to experience self-worth, engagement, and purpose, which lead to academic motivation (Quaglia & Corso, 2014).
• Increasing student voice has been found to improve student learning, especially when student voice is linked to changing curriculum and instruction (Oldfather, 1995; Rudduck & Flutter, 2000).
• Additional research into student voice initiatives show that related efforts can improve teachers' classroom practices (Cushman, 2000; Daniels, Kalkman, & McCombs, 2001; Kincheloe, 2007).

Student voice should be more than a supplemental part of a curriculum–it should be an integral part of students' learning experiences.

Student Voice Influencers

Student voice has an extensive history in both educational theory and pedagogy. Many pioneering educational theorists and contemporary researchers contributed to its increased importance, and the following is a brief summary that touches upon a few of the many factors that led to student voice becoming a more integral part of learning for today's students.

Student voice owes much of its classroom-based practices to the constructivist theory of learning, dating back to Dewey's earliest writings. Constructivism places students at the center of their education rather than in a classroom that is fully teacher directed. This theory supports the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves, and learning is perceived as an active–rather than a passive–process. In other words, knowledge is constructed by the learner. Students are full participants in their learning, leading one to conclude that voice (not literal, but voice as represented by one's experiences, thoughts, and construction of meaning) is required to participate. Learner-centric pedagogy is grounded in the foundational education theories of John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky, all of whom supported a student-centered learning model. Dewey (1938) believed that students should be provided with opportunities to think for themselves and articulate their thoughts. Piaget (1974) explained that active methods should be utilized to allow all students to construct their own truth rather than have it distributed to them. In addition, Vygotsky (1978) supported the notion that students should be empowered to construct knowledge and take ownership of their own learning.

Similar to the constructivist learning theory, democratic education sees students as active cocreators of their own learning, and student voice is deeply connected to democratic principles. In democratic classrooms, students experience autonomy and choice. They see that their ideas inform instruction and assessment, and they develop an understanding that what they say matters. Indeed, fostering student voice teaches young people the responsibilities required to be a citizen in a democratic society (Counts, 1932; Dewey, 1916; Fielding & Prieto, 2002; Freire, 2005; Giroux, 1989). When students apply the skills required to utilize their voices effectively, they become citizens who express opinions, articulate ideas, vote, and reflect on their responsibilities toward others.

Leading educational theorists from John Dewey to Paulo Freire have articulated the need to support core democratic values in our school systems. Freire (1970) viewed voice as a path toward freedom and liberation. Though connecting democratic values with the educational process is not a new idea, intentionally seeking student voice and partnering with students has not yet become a standard foundational practice in schools. As Shor (1996) argues, "Power-sharing … creates the desire and imagination of change while also creating the experience and skills for it. The critical-democratic class, then, is a context for change that develops the desire and imagination to make change" (p. 176).

The Vote Is In!

In the fall of 2018, while adults in the United States were voting in the midterm elections, students at Woodcrest Elementary in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, were also voting. They took to the polls to name their shark mascot. Their voices were heard. Go Chompers!

The fall of 2018 was an exciting time for voice in the United States. Regardless of one's political beliefs, record numbers of voters turned out for the midterm elections, which saw one of the most diverse group of candidates in history. This level of civic involvement is the hopeful outcome of students' learning and practicing the democratic values of shared decision making and freedom of speech. In government classes across the country, high school students registered to vote, including 16-...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• My Voice Potential
• About This Book
• 1.Hindsight Helps Us Move Forward
• 2. School Voice Today
• 3. The Aspirations Framework
• 4. Self-Worth: Middle and High School Student Voice
• 5. Engagement: Middle and High School Student Voice
• 6. Purpose: Middle and High School Student Voice
• 7. Never Too Young: Early Learner Voice
• 8. Awakening All Voices: Teacher Voice
• 9. A Promising Partnership: Parent Voice
• 10. Constructors of Voice: Administrator Voice
• Voice Potential: A Promising Outlook for the Future
• References
• Related ASCD Resources
• About the Authors
• Copyright