Student Voice

Student voice is the inherent agency students have in their learning. For education professionals, it connotes students' ability and desire to contribute authentically to school improvement and issues that matter to their learning (Student Voice, 2013). "Student voice is not something that we grant to students, but rather something we tap into. By broadening the definition of how children can and do express voice, educators are taking diverse approaches to 'hearing' student voice" (Student Voice, 2013, p. 2). This notion of inherent student agency and ability is at odds with our traditional, industrialized/standardized understandings of education which became commonplace in the 19th century. For the past century, since Dewey published his educational philosophies in the West, more and more educators are understanding students are capable of deeper learning than previously thought possible. Understanding and incorporating student voice is not only transformative to the classroom environment, curriculum, expectations, and learning experiences, but it also transforms the inherent conditioning of passive learning students experience in traditional education.
In a traditional education setting, ELLs are positioned as deficient receivers of learning in that they do not have the language skills necessary to 'keep up' with mainstream course work. Students are incredibly perceptive and observant, and even if this idea is not expressed explicitly they will understand it in the body language, social structures, and educational programming around them. Incorporating student voice allows students to actively participate in and change their educational environment so it suits their needs, and incorporating ELL student voice ensures they are treated equitably and shown they are valued in the community. It gives students a chance to express their own needs. Teachers use observational data to develop a professional judgment about student needs, but combining that with what the student perceives their needs to be will make interventions more targeted and effective. For example, a teacher might observe an ELL struggling with oral communication in small group settings. They might make the professional judgment that the student lacks adequate BICS to communicate confidently with their peers. By incorporating authentic, and perhaps anonymous, channels for student feedback on their learning environments the teacher may learn the ELL feels isolated from social groups and doesn't know how to navigate social norms. Now, the teacher can provide learning activities that target these skills so the student can develop them in a safe learning environment and in conjunction with their language and academic development.
The example above is a local, perhaps isolated issue of student voice. At the other end of the scale, programs like 'Speak Up' allow students to systematically participate in the creation of their education. Student representatives have taken their peers' ideas from across the province and created "student voice indicators" that help school boards and teachers align their instruction with student need. Unlike the needs identified as teachers, these indicators come from students' perspectives. The difference is important for teachers to recognize because often we feel we are meeting their needs but we are not the ones experience school as a student, and our own schooling experiences are different from theirs. Overall, teachers who acknowledge and promote student voice alter the established educational power dynamics and authentically promote student ownership over their learning.

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