Pupil participation
last updated:01 Feb 2010
How do we effectively engage pupils as partners in their learning? Can their participation be at the heart of teachers’ practice? These were some of the questions addressed at the GTC’s pupil participation conference in Birmingham last term (November 2009), says freelance journalist Julie Nightingale.
The input of young people in a variety of areas – from classroom observation to school management and appointments – is seen as a way not only to engage and motivate them but also to drive school improvement.
Keith Bartley, GTC Chief Executive, told the conference that effective pupil participation depended on ‘changing the roles of teachers and learners … changing the relationship of the learner to learning, and of learning to teaching.
‘A necessary pre-condition, of course, is that the professional judgment of the teacher is trusted,’ he added.
This theme was picked up by Dr David Frost of Cambridge University, who has led GTC-commissioned school-based research in this area. One idea that emerged from the study is the notion of ‘agency’ – the idea that pupil participation is a way to build an understanding in young people of their power and responsibility.
‘Agency is key but complicated,’ he said. ‘It is something human – a sense of needing to be meaningful, purposeful and in the driving seat. And if education doesn’t help us to develop that in a rational way, we are in trouble.’
One of the most prominent themes in conference discussion was the question of how to involve marginalised children – both those with special needs and the quiet, cynical or otherwise unwilling contributors.
Responding to a question about how to foster agency in such groups, David said that, rather than focusing on ‘groups’, a better approach might be to see human agency as integral to everything a school does.
‘The research found that it is just in the way we work,’ he said. ‘It is respectful and looking for every opportunity to allow pupils some choice.’
The issue of how far individual voices risked outweighing the collective was also raised.
Learning
‘Giving in to one pupil’s desire to, for example, use a different learning method is fine, but if you accede to their wishes every time – particularly if you have already allowed them to change once – then it becomes a kind of tyranny,’ one teacher pointed out.
Tom Murphy, a science teacher from Hertfordshire involved in the Cambridge study, said one fear that held teachers back was that involving students in their own learning would initially damage GCSE results.
‘But with the relaxation of the curriculum, we have no excuses for not taking risks,’ he said.
This article was originally published in the spring 2010 issue of Teaching: The GTC magazine.
