Monday, May 5, 2014

Promoting student voice . . .


The Board met this evening in a work study session with the newly elected members of the High School ASB Executive Board and adviser, Dave Peters.  It was an opportunity for the Board to share their commitment to increasing opportunities for student voice in decisions that impact their school experience and for the students to provide input, feedback, and hopes or the future.  We talked about many things with a focus on school culture, their current reality, and how a shared aspiration can become the catalyst for change.  I believe that they left feeling some tension around a couple of issues in their current reality that they would like to see change.

These are committed young people wanting to support change in their school that results in a positive experience for their peers and for their teachers.  As adults, we need to reflect on our practice and create structures that identify when the student voice is value added and how that student voice will become a part of these decisions.  It was an energizing evening with both groups deciding to continue the conversation in August and then again following Homecoming.  I am pleased to have played a small role in this transition as I believe that these young people have much to offer in changing our practice as adults from what can we do to them to what can we accomplish together.

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