Teachers share views on increasing children's influence in schools
Teachers and school leaders gathered at GTC seminars in London and Manchester in November to discuss how children and young people can have an increased influence over their learning.
Research shows that increasing children's influence and participation can have a positive effect on their motivation, achievement and sense of responsibility. The GTC sees pupil voice as a key factor in personalising learning, along with assessment for learning and greater flexibility for teachers within the curriculum.
Inspiring learners
'Our pupils are our greatest resource, ' says Debbie Wilson, director of learning and teaching at Cedar Mount High School in Manchester. 'And when you give them genuine responsibility, they rise to the challenge.' Her school’s activities include a scheme involving newly qualified teachers inviting comments on lessons and lesson plans from pupil observers. 'The trainee teachers have found it brilliant to have informative, constructive and appropriate comments from students,' says Debbie.
Tim Hatcliffe is head teacher at Wilbraham Primary school in Manchester's Moss Side. He says that 'pupil voice' has changed the entire ethos of his school because pupils want to learn. 'There's a clamour to be involved and they are doing it in a very positive way.' Even something as simple as the school mission statement can have an impact, he says. 'When I showed it to the children they discussed it line by line and wanted things changed. The resulting document is theirs and many of them can quote chunks of it.'
Overcoming challenges
As well as looking at the potential benefits, teachers at the GTC seminars also raised challenges for the profession and for the government. How can we hear from all pupils? How will this approach change relationships in the classroom? Do national policies give teachers the trust and discretion they need to introduce these changes?
The seminars were an opportunity for teachers to hear from two leading researchers - Professor Geoff Whitty and Professor Michael Fielding - who discussed the opportunities and challenges. Participants also heard first-hand examples of successful approaches from children from Victoria Road Primary School and Dr Reena Keeble, headteacher at Cannon Lane First School.
'Being listened to and being taken seriously creates a positive sense of self,' says Michael Fielding, professor of education at the Institute of Education, and that can have an enormous impact on pupils engagement with their learning. 'At last we are talking about people again.' But he warns that listening to pupil voices will not always be easy. 'We have to be disappointed and delighted by what students say.'
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