Authorizing Students’ Perspectives: Toward Trust, Dialogue, and Change in Education

“Long-standing assumptions and structures must be dismantled to shift the culture and practices of schools (Cook-Sather, 2002b; Fullan, 1991; Oldfather, 1995; Rudduck, 2002, in press).”

“Further, students need to play a role in the development of this curriculum, since they are generally more knowledgeable and also because this ‘bottom up’ approach fosters ownership and relevancy (Cassidy & Bates, 2005) and gives them ‘voice’ (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“In short, as Cook-Sather (2002) states ‘‘authorising student perspectives is essential because of the various ways that it can improve educational practice, re-inform existing conversations about educational reform, and point to the discussions and reform effects yet to be undertaken’’ (p. 3).”

“Recent literature has pointed to the need for greater attention by educational researchers to school experiences of diverse students (Rubin & Silva, 2003; Cook-Sather, 2002; Ericson & Ellet, 2002).”

“…to school, a perspective noted and documented in the work of many teachers and researchers (e.g., Multicultural Teacher Education Christensen, 1995; Cook-Sather, 2002; Duckworth, 1996; Fecho, 2000a; Freire, 1994; Gallas, 1995, Heath, 1983; Labov, 1970; Ladson-Billings, 2001; Nieto, 1996, 1999).”

“Cook-Sather (2002) has said, pointedly and powerfully: “Decades of calls for educational reform have not succeeded in making schools places where all young people want to and are able to learn.”

“To achieve this, the projects seek to generate ‘legitimate and valued spaces within which students can speak’ (Cook-Sather, 2002: 4), where children’s perspectives are recognized as valid evidence and where adults take such perspectives seriously.”

“Positioning students as partners or colleagues of faculty, and thus deliberately challenging the class or status of students (and faculty) can create a kind of “radical collegiality” (Fielding 1999; see also Cook-Sather 2002, 2009b) that helps us move toward more democratic classrooms.”

“…1999, p. 42), but to respect their role and involvement in ways that recognise the competence of children and ‘introduces into the critical conversations the missing perspectives of those who experience daily the effects of existing educational policies-in-practice (Cook-Sather, 2002, p. 3).”

“Each participant chose a pseudonym and was asked a series of 16 in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended questions (Lancy, 2001) and three closed-category questions in a private setting, allowing their views to be voiced in confidence (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“On one hand, they are developmentally sophisticated enough to understand and negotiate complex public systems (Larson & Hansen, 2005), they are capable of sustained commitment to taking on public problems (Kwon, 2006), and they have insights to share about their experiences (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“Likewise, the current student voice movement, what some call the new wave student voice movement (Fielding, 2004b; see also Cook-Sather, 2006c; Levin, 2000; Rudduck, 2002, 2007), arose in reaction against the traditional exclusion of young people from dialogue and decision-making about issues of schooling. Like the wo…”

“The prospective teacher sat at a desk beside the high school student listening to him and taking notes on what he said (Cook-Sather, 2002b).”

“This continues to be the case in most education contexts, despite researchers’ efforts to document marginalized youths’ school experiences (Cook-Sather 2002; Mitra 2001; Thiessen and Cook-Sather 2007; Yonezawa and Jones 2007).”

“Authorizing pupil voice (Cook-Sather, 2002) changes the power”

“There is, however, and as argued by Cook-Sather (2002), ‘‘something fundamentally amiss about building and rebuilding an entire system without consulting at any point those it is ostensibly designed to serve’’ (2002, p. 3).”

“A central theme in activist research is the ‘fundamental right to ask, investigate, dissent, and demand what could be’ (Fine 2007, 613).1 In working towards what could be Cook-Sather (2002) asks educators to embrace what Welch (1990) calls a ‘feminist ethic of risk’.”

“As far back as Dewey, educators have been calling upon teachers to listen to students and to be "alive" to their thinking, affect, and learning. In a wonderful passage from How We Think, Dewey (1933) is explicit about this.”

“Cook-Sather (2002) called students ‘the missing voice’ in educational research (p. 5), whilst Levin (2000) has argued that education reform cannot succeed and should not proceed without much more direct involvement of students in all its aspects.”

“Cook-Sather (2002) argued that authorizing student’s perspectives can directly improve educational practice because when teachers listen to and learn from students, they can begin to see the world from their perspectives.”

“If students are to be actively engaged in their own knowledge construction, their voices must be heard (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“…travelers in this rite of passage. preparation is school students, and yet positioning them as experienced knowers who can serve as guides and fellow passengers greatly enhances the preparation of teachers as well as the experiences of those students themselves (Cook-Sather 2003, 2002a, 2002b).”

“This rejects previous notions that children cannot provide reliable information (Dockett & Perry, 2003) and invites opportunity for children to provide the ‘missing perspectives of those who experience the effects of existing educational policies-in-practice’ (Cook-Sather, 2002, p. 3).”

“…that school reform and curricular efforts informed by student voice increases students’ investment, ownership and consequent learning (Beaudoin 2005, Cook-Sather 2002, 2003, 2009a, b, Mitra 2004 Wehmeyer and Sands 1998); improves the effectiveness of classroom teaching (Kaba 2000, McIntyre et al.…”

“It is more than ironic that the very people who everyone wants to better serve typically are not consulted (Cook-Sather, 2002 ) .”

“In fact, many researchers now argue that it is amazing and, for some, unconscionable that the primary persons served by the educational system are rarely if ever asked how they think the system should be designed and implemented (Cook-Sather, 2002; Ericson & Ellet, 2002). Ericson and Ellet (2002) argue powerfully that…”

“Education literature is flush with arguments asserting that improving instruction depends upon research that not only examines what teachers do in classrooms but also analyzes teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of what they do there (Bullough, 1991; Cook-Sather, 2002; Joseph & Burnaford, 2001; Kloss, 1987; Niet…”

“Yet as Corbett & Wilson (1995) have argued, we need in our educational approaches and reforms to make a difference with, not for, students, because there is something amiss about a system that does not consult the constituency it is intended to serve (Cook-Sather, 2002c).”

“Further work is needed to “authorize students’ perspectives” (Cook-Sather, 2002, p. 3) recognizing that students experience classroom policies and practices on a day-to-day basis and, given this, can share ways to improve educational practice.”

“At Varsity High, the girls’ voices were silent; however, when they were given the opportunity and were ‘authorized’ to share their perspectives (Cook-Sather 2002), they provided knowledge and insight on their lived experiences in physical education.”

“Also, understanding how students perceive specific areas of the curriculum can provide teachers with invaluable information that could be useful to fit course content to specific student needs (Akyel & Yalçin 1990; Cook-Sather 2002; Pflaum & Bishop 2004).”

“Cook-Sather (2002) advocates the notion that there is something fundamentally amiss about building and rebuilding the educational system without consulting those it is ostensibly designed to serve.”

“A particular student (or students), in some setting and by some means, becomes empowered (Cook-Sather, 2002; Furman, 2002; Muncey & McQuillan, 1991).”

“(See Cook-Sather, 2002a, 2002b, 2006a, 2006b, and Cook-Sather & Youens, 2007, for other discussions of this project.)”

“In line with SDT emphasis on autonomy support and the Cook-Sather (2002) approach, it appears that such comprehensive school-wide change processes would promote deeper growth-promoting changes if they would include students as true partners in the planning and implementation of the change process.”

“Cook-Sather, "Dialogue Across Differences of Position, Perspective, and Identity: Reflective Practice In/On a Student-Faculty Pedagogical Partnership Program." Teachers College Record, 117 (2015), 2.”

“Exploring and valuing student opinions and perceptions are particularly important within a constructivist framework ( Cook-Sather, 2002 ).”

“Research on utilizing student voice in school reform and improvement has consistently shown the value of such practices (Cook-Sather, 2002; Fielding, 2001; R.G. Kane & Maw, 2005; Wood, 2003).”

“This collaboration was formed in the belief that young people should have the opportunity to participate in inquiry about institutions that shape their lives (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Cook-Sather, 2002; Oakes & Rogers, 2006).”

“…of teacher education programs that give prospective teachers opportunities to listen and learn from secondary students while learning to teach in order to experience the value in this practice or stance (e.g., Cook-Sather, 2002, 2006a; Cook-Sather & Youens, 2007; Donahue, Bower, & Rosenberg, 2003).”

“A growing body of literature on student voice argues that students’ lived experiences in school deserve a more prominent place in the literature (Cook-Sather, 2002; Ferreira & Bosworth, 2000; Kruse, 2000; Lincoln, 1995). Kruse (2000) suggested that “students can provide clear messages about what occurs in classrooms”…”

“Modeled on a project that invites high school students to serve as consultants to prospective secondary teachers (Cook-Sather 2002, 2006a, 2009b, 2010a, 2010b), the TLI positions undergraduate students as active, constructive participants in faculty development.”

“…2000; Pajares, 1996; Phelps & Hanley-Maxwell, 1997) makes clear that youth are more likely to succeed academically and go on to be successful in adulthood when they see themselves as able and authorized members of learning communities (Cook-Sather, 2002; Edwards, 2001; Sturtevant et al., 2006).”

“Cook-Sather (2002, 2006), whose focus is on secondary education, emphasizes that authorizing the student voice in education means more than just including students in existing conversations within existing power structures.”

“In the context of a new sociology of childhood (Fielding, 2004 ; James et al, 2005 ) much work has been conducted on the voice of the child (Pollard & Triggs, 2000 ; Cook-Sather, 2002 ; Hancock & Mansfield, 2002 ; Rudduck & Flutter, 2004 ; Thompson & Gunter, 2005).”

“Recent literature has pointed to the need for greater attention by educational researchers to students’ school experiences in general, including their experiences with school reform (Cook-Sather, 2002; Ericson & Ellet, 2002; Oldfather, 1995; Rubin & Silva, 2003; Schultz & Cook-Sather, 2001).”

“Students’ academic performance may be closely related to how they perceive their schooling (Byrnes & Rickards, 2011; Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“First, students are frequently ignored in conversations of educational policy and practice (Cook-Sather, 2002; Yazzie-Mintz, 2006), yet students decide their engagement or disengagement in school.”

“We developed the YPAR project because we believe that young people should have the opportunity to participate in inquiry about institutions and settings that shape their lives (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Cook-Sather, 2002; Kirshner, in press).”

“Given the girls’ lack of opportunity in the traditional school curriculum to learn strategies for changing their worlds, we saw an opportunity to respond to their needs and interests (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“It also requires trusting that Educational Research 47 students having relevant knowledge and are responsible (Cook-Sather 2002).”

“…have unique perspectives on learning, teaching, and schooling; that their insights warrant not only the attention but also the responses of adults; and that they should be afforded opportunities to actively shape their education’ (Cook-Sather, 2006, p. 359–360; see also Cook-Sather, 2002, 2007).”

“Cook-Sather (2002) argued that constructivist approaches support this view of students as the “authors of their own understandings and assessors of their own learning” (p. 5).”

“With this visible bridge, more difficult conversations to close the gap in cultural competence and bring about attitudinal change become possible (Cook-Sather, 2002; Sue et al., 2009).”

“In this paper, we refer to ‘student voice’ in a manner that is consistent with the uses by Cook-Sather (2002) and Lodge (2005).”

“Even fewer projects position students as teacher educators (Cook-Sather, 2002b; Cook-Sather & Youens, 2007; Donohue, Bower, & Rosenberg, 2003; Youens & Hall, 2006).”

“Students are frequently described as the ‘missing voice’ in educational research (Cook-Sather, 2002, p. 5).”

“There is a general tendency to overlook student voice (Cook-Sather 2002), and studies in which an attempt is made to examine student response to school events, including examination of student voice and engagement in school reform, are relatively recent (see Rudduck et al. 1996, Mitra 2001, 2003).”

“Participatory research with young people goes by several names, including youth participatory action research, student action research, and youth as co-researchers (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Cook-Sather, 2002; Kirshner, O’Donoghue, & McClaughlin, 2005; Rubin & Jones, 2007).”

“Too many current approaches to solving educational problems typically begin with the creation of a panel of experts who hold a variety of roles and a range of ideas but tend to come from similar domain silos (Cook-Sather 2002; Fullan 2011; Johnson 2010; Hokka and Etelapelto 2013).”

“When the pupils’ voice is authorised to comment (Cook-Sather, 2002), pupils could be expected to react positively, making concrete and helpful suggestions.”

“We listened with a view to responding to and with the students (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“Students are learners, researchers, and teachers informing teacher practice learning alongside teachers and researchers (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“First, as calls for youth involvement in program decision making and evaluation grow stronger, methodologies for generating respectful and ecologically valid perspectives from youth are needed (Cook-Sather, 2002).”

“…positive changes in schools, such as improvements in instruction, curriculum, teacher student relationships (Rudduck, 2007), teacher preparation (Cook-Sather, 2002), assessment systems (Colatos and Morrell, 2003; Fielding, 2001), and visioning and strategic planning (Eccles and Gootman, 2002;…”

“Centering student voice can engage learners in order to challenge the status quo of schooling in hopes of creating spaces in which youth will actively participate in their education and feel responsible for their own and others’ learning (Cook-Sather 2002, 2009b; O’Sullivan and MacPhail 2010).”

“Ruth presents research papers at national and international conferences on music education, most recently in Padova University, Italy and New York University and Boston Universities, USA.”

“…other researchers who argue for the importance of student perspectives in informing research that intends to intervene in policy and practice (e.g., Cook-Sather, 2002, 2006; Jones & Yonezawa, 2002; Kirshner & Pozzoboni, 2010; Marquez-Zenkov, 2007; Mitra, 2003, 2006; Rubin & Silva, 2003; Rudduck,…”