Personalized environment and opportunities for student voice
Giving students a voice in school (and life) decisions builds leadership and thinking skills at the same time that it engages students as active members of the school community. Some ways that schools can encourage student voice are as follows:
- Ask students to suggest themes, books, and topics to study (especially during the advisory program or homeroom period).
- Encourage students to discuss homework policies.
- Engage students in debate about teen issues, such as the dress code, cell phone use, proper Internet usage, and curfews.
In the Spotlight
Del Dios Middle School and Mission Middle School, Escondido Union School District
These two middle schools have a popular reading program targeted for adolescent males. The program, started by two AmeriCorps volunteers, takes place once a week during the lunch break. High interest reading material was purchased with donations obtained through a Reading is Fundamental campaign. The program uses the reading list compiled by noted children’s author Jon Scieszka and posted on the Web site Guys Read. The reading list includes scary stories, sport stories, and other genres of particular interest to middle school boys. Students select, read, and discuss the stories together, learning from each other in the process. The program has been so successful that more adult volunteers are being sought so it can be expanded to other middle schools in the district.
Allowing for student voice makes schools more democratic, and democratic schools tend to have fewer discipline problems, more civic involvement, higher student engagement, and higher achievement.1
Related Links
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Developmentally Responsive Middle Grades Practices
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Student perceptions about their competence
Footnote
1 Susan Black, “Listening to Students,” American School Board Journal, Vol. 192, No. 11 (November 2005).