Editorial
The landscape of education and…
by Audrea Cheang, Brian Tan, Josephine Ng, Koh Chee Hui, Lim Siew Yee, Poh Hwee Thing, Shirley Wong, Leaders in Education Programme 2023
Part 1: Learning from Irelend
View slides here.
Part 2: Model of Student Voice for Learning
How can students, educators and schools experience cycles of learning to engender student voice?
2.1 Lundy’s Model of Child Participation
According to Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children and young people have a right for their views to be heard and acted upon as appropriate. Lundy’s (2007) model of participation is a framework for understanding and evaluating the participation of children and young people in decision-making. It is based on four key elements (see Figure 1):
- Space refers to the physical and emotional environment in which children and young people participate. Children and young people must have safe, inclusive opportunities to form and express their views, regardless of their background or abilities.
- Voice refers to how children and young people are supported to express their views in a way that is meaningful to them. This includes the language they use and how they can raise issues that matter to them.
- Audience refers to the people who listen to the views of children and young people. This can include decision-makers, adults, other children and young people. The views of children and young people should be listened to with respect and understanding.
- Influence refers to the impact of children’s and young people’s views on decision-making. Their views must be acted upon, as appropriate.
Lundy’s model has been widely adopted by the Irish Department of Children and Youth Affairs and featured in various policies and strategies to include the participation of young people in decision making. School visits in Ireland provided exemplars of how these 4 elements in Lundy’s model nurture and encourage Student Voice (SV) (see Section A).
Understanding these 4 elements is important for growing SV. How well SV and participation are understood and enacted for their intended salient outcomes hinges on the professional literacy of schools and teachers in growing SV. It is important for schools to examine the connections between what schools and teachers understand about SV and how that is subsequently enacted. How can schools and their fraternity of teachers experience learning and growth to engender SV? Let us examine the processes by which teachers grow and learn professionally.
2.2 Interconnected Model of Professional Development (Clark and Hollingsworth 2002)
Teacher professional learning and growth can be complex and Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (Interconnected Model) provides a useful frame to facilitate learning, in trying to understand processes in teachers’ professional development and growth. Clarke and Hollingsworth posit that teachers’ professional learning occurs through processes of reflection and enactment in 4 domains: External Domain (professional development and external stimulus), Personal Domain (teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and attitudes), Domain of Practice (teacher practices and experimentation) and the Domain of Consequence (student salient outcomes).
Many professional development programmes fail because they do not consider the process of teacher change and growth (Fullan 1982). This can lead to initiatives being rolled out, workshops conducted, for instance on growing SV, with the intent to and expectation that these professional development will lead to change in teacher attitudes and hence classroom practices. However, this is often not the case.
Clarke and Hollingsworth built on the work of Guskey (1986) to expand the understanding of the processes of teacher change and growth. Guskey pointed out that significant changes in teachers’ Personal Domain often occur when they experience changes in salient student outcomes. Clarke and Hollingsworth suggest that teacher professional growth is a complex, interconnected, and non-linear process (see Figure 2). The Interconnected Model includes a process of enaction, reflection, interaction with student learning outcomes, and professional discourse and development. This process of reflection shifts teachers’ personal domains of their beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes which will further impact the practices.
When we visited Ireland, a teacher in an elementary school after listening to feedback from his students, made the remark “Because of what you said today, my practice will change tomorrow”. This was an example of how students’ outcomes (Domain of Consequence) could change the beliefs and attitudes (Personal Domain), and consequently the actions of a teacher (Domain of Practice).
2.3 Professional Experimentation
A key domain that prompts teacher growth is the domain of Professional Experimentation. When teachers experience new practices that grow SV, they are operating in the creative and professional space of trying new things, stepping out of their comfort zone and this can prompt and provide for teacher growth.
The Interconnected Model shares that change occurs through the mediating processes of reflection and enactment of teacher practices. When teachers experiment with practices that grow SV, they reflect on their practice and experiment and make changes as needed. They understand themselves, their students and what works best for their classrooms. This process of reflection and enactment can lead to significant teacher growth.
Taking the example of a teacher seeking to grow SV in a school, the Lundy Model can be used to inform professional experimentation in the domain of practice in a number of ways (please refer to Part A for more examples):
- Space: Teachers can create opportunities for students to form views and express SV through multiple platforms and different ways. This can be done by intentional teaching practices such as (but not limited to) group discussions, circle time, creative projects etc that actively seek students’ views, ensuring that the discussion space is safe and inclusive.
- Voice: Teachers can help students develop their voices by providing them with opportunities to share their ideas and opinions on a variety of topics authentically, and by encouraging them to think critically and independently. Teachers can consider practices that respect and validate SV, one that respects and values SV. To do this, teachers can experiment with a common language, ask good questions, and learn to listen and facilitate discussion that builds on SV
- Audience: Teachers can consider how they can experiment with practices that can help students find audiences for their voices by providing them with opportunities to share their work with others, such as through presentations, performances, and publications. What can teachers do to build a positive and conducive classroom environment, where a culture of listening prevails? What skills and routines do teachers need to imbue in their learners for this to happen?
- Influence: SV has influence when students’ views are taken seriously and acted upon. What can teachers do to authentically think about how SV can be used to inform and influence teaching and learning processes, school policies?
By using the Lundy Model to inform their professional experimentation in the domain of practice, teachers can help students develop the skills and confidence they need to use their voices to make a difference in the world.
2.4 Reimagining the 4 Box Theory
Lundy has highlighted the right of children to voice and in schools, students are dependent on teachers to provide them with the opportunities to use SV. What if teachers also depend on (the enactment) of SV for professional growth?
Tan (2022) alluded to the different domains (referred to as 4 boxes), in relation to growing assessment literacy, a vital component of Assessment for Learning. Tan recognises that increasing what teachers know in the external domain (eg. through workshops) may not result in the application of their new knowledge to practices in classroom and school contexts, and so teachers remain in Box 1. Tan highlights the importance of reflection for teachers to move to Box 2. Boxes 3 and 4 relate to students’ agentic engagement with teachers’ feedback, which resides in the Domain of Consequence (Salient Outcomes) in the Interconnected Model.
Clarke and Hollingsworth (2002) believed different teachers may consider different classroom outcomes as salient, such as increase in student motivation or engagement, and these are not confined to a narrower definition of academic student learning outcomes. What if providing teacher growth is also a salient outcome?
Tan (2022) articulates that the journey encapsulated in Box 1 through to Box 4 represents a chronological progression commencing with teacher knowledge, followed by its application in their practice, eliciting students’ action in response to that, and finally the learning benefits and outcomes. Tan also underscores that the thought process of the teacher starts with Box 4 in mind and that teachers need to have clarity of what these salient outcomes are for students. This insight will inform the design of learning experiences (Box 3) and it will raise fundamental questions of what they need to know and practice (Boxes 1 and 2). The reflective links that Clarke and Hollingswoth (2002) have highlighted between personal domains and their professional practice, and salient learning outcomes catalyze a change within these domains.
As teachers traverse through the 4 Boxes- having experimented and reflected upon their practices in the context of student outcomes- they will find themselves at the precipice of a new Box 5 (Fig 4). An example to illustrate this could be a teacher who may have initially viewed encouraging SV with a fair amount of apprehension. Through experimentation, the teacher begins to recognise the value that SV adds to the learning environment. This prompts a reflective link that nudges a change in the teacher’s beliefs and attitudes, leading to teacher growth.
2.5 An Irish Vignette
Ireland Vignette: The SPOTLITE Program- Fostering Student Voice for Change In Syndicate 4’s visit to Ireland, we learned about St. Aidan’s Community School’s Students’ Perspectives on Teaching and Learning in Educational Space (SPOTLITE) programme. SPOTLITE aims to improve teaching and learning practices by enabling students to observe lessons and engage in meaningful conferences with teachers. At St Aidan’s, teachers experimented with an initiative to encourage student voice by creating a safe and respectful space for student voice to have an authentic audience and influence. The SPOTLITE programme empowered students to provide constructive feedback for their teachers across 6 categories:
This collaborative process serves as a bridge between educators and students, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Teachers respond positively to this approach, as it not only affirms their teaching methods but facilitates the exchange of effective pedagogical strategies and opens up possibilities for improvement. Remarkably, the impact of SPOTLITE is evident in the profound reflections shared by teachers. Teachers who have gone through SPOTLITE share their experiences and insights with other colleagues. In one interview a teacher expressed his reflections, remarking, ‘Because of what the students said today, I am going to change my teaching practice tomorrow.’ Additionally, witnessing the positive impact of this feedback, other teachers became eager to embrace effective teaching practices and expressed their interest in joining the SPOTLITE programme after observing the affirming feedback received by their colleagues. |
In the St Aidan vignette above, the teachers who experimented with the initiative recognised the importance of SV and took deliberate steps to design a learning environment that provided students with the skills to express themselves effectively. The outcome is a rich learning experience for both students and teachers alike. It provided the impetus for teacher growth at 2 levels.
Firstly, teachers started to reflect on their practice after hearing SV through SPOTLITE and they have shared that their practice will change as a result of their newfound understanding. Secondly, teachers who may have been apprehensive about embracing SV have witnessed the potential that it accorded their colleagues. It opened up the possibility that teacher growth was an inherent outcome of engaging with SV.
The process of teacher growth, as outlined in Box 5, unfolds as a teacher’s personal domain – attitudes and beliefs- shifts in response to positive outcomes generated by SV. Seeing student outcomes in terms of their SV articulated has the potential to nudge reflection, and shift beliefs and attitudes, resulting in teacher growth.
2.6 Further Extension- Cycles of Learning
Considering the learning from the use of Lundy’s Model of Participation and understanding how SV has the potential for teacher growth through Tan’s 4 Box Theory, a framework for enhancing student voice in school through cycles of learning, the Model of Student Voice for Learning is proposed:
This model considers teacher professional growth domains and understanding the potential of SV to impact teacher growth, suggesting that cycles of learning can happen when we examine intersections between domains:
- Intersection of Teachers’ Personal Domains and Teacher Practices- Space
The intersection of teachers’ personal domains of their beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about Student Voice (SV), which shapes the enactment of teacher practices and processes designed by schools, influences the Space, one of 4 key elements in Lundy’s model, for SV. Teachers’ actions based on their beliefs and understanding of SV will contribute to how they shape a safe and inclusive environment where students feel that their voices and perspectives are valued. What teachers and schools do with what they believe and know about SV will significantly impact the space that they create for voice and participation.
- Intersection of Professional Development Domains and Teachers’ Personal Domains- Audience
Professional Development (PD), -referred to as the External Domain by Clarke and Hollingsworth, could include PD courses, professional discourse such as learning teams, PD discussions about effective teaching practices and strategies. When teachers engage in such professional development and discourse in relation to SV, influenced by salient student outcomes in SV, with reflection (Clarke and Hollingsworth 2002), it impacts their personal domains in their beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about SV. Listening to the voice of students and taking student feedback and participation seriously, not only provides an authentic Audience for SV but also informs PD discourse and contributes to teacher growth, and impacts a teacher’s personal domains of beliefs and attitudes. As they refine their understanding, it creates receptivity and Audience for SV to be heard.
- Intersection of Student Learning Outcomes and Professional Discourse- Influence
As students experience and respond to teacher practices that promote the authentic use of their voice, salient student learning outcomes as a result of this will continue to impact and interact with the kinds of professional discourse of teachers, which will in turn impact teacher practices. This dynamic interaction informs ongoing professional discourse in the school community, promoting a cycle of learning and growth. As we have seen in the Irish Vignette SPOTLITE, the students salient outcomes in using voice had a direct influence on the professional discourse in teaching and learning, and ultimately, teacher growth.
- Intersection of Student Learning Outcomes and Teacher Practices- Voice
What teachers do with what they know directly affects how they create learning conditions, select teaching approaches, and provide learning feedback to students. This shapes how students interpret and respond to such learning feedback. When teachers leverage their understanding of SV to continue to refine their practices, providing students with the necessary resources and skills to use their voice to participate effectively, students are more likely to respond positively to feedback and actively participate in their own learning experiences. This reciprocal relationship influences the development and amplification of SV within the school context.
From observations of Irish schools that have been most successful in promoting SV, an enabling change environment is key. Key to this includes creating a culture of listening and having sustainable school structures are crucial conditions for enabling the cycle of learning for SV to build a virtuous spiral of growth.
A school with an ethos that has a culture of listening values students’ contributions and perspectives. It is grounded in the belief that student voices are essential for shaping their learning. Such a culture emphasizes well-being, positive relationships, diversity, and open communication. This fosters a conducive school environment where educators and school staff genuinely listen to students, striving to understand their experiences and needs.
Sustainable structures in school entail a dedicated commitment to leadership and school strategic plans that integrate SV into the school’s ethos. This ensures a comprehensive focus on school-wide approaches, resource allocation, and establishment of institutional policies and practices that make SV an integral part of school life. (see Section A for specific examples of Enablers for SV and suggestions for Singapore schools).
Conclusion
At a school or system level, this model can be used as a tool to inform planning and leadership in support of a school’s learning and growth for SV. The model recognises the complexity involved in teachers’ professional growth by considering the interactions of the different domains of teacher learning and growth. These considerations will allow school leadership or those overseeing teacher professional development helpful considerations to encourage myriad approaches to growing SV.
With the enabling conditions of a culture of listening and sustainable school structures, the Model of Student Voice for Learning generates a virtuous cycle of learning and growth of student voice, where SV is not just heard but actively embraced, and the school community is committed to and enable to grow students to become co-creators of their education journey.
With a more nuanced understanding of enabling factors that engender a school community and teachers practice, it can be used to support teachers’ reflection on their practice and agency in their learning and growth with more targeted PD conversations that teachers can have with each other and with leadership and subsequently to engender an upward virtuous cycle of growth.
References
Clarke and Hollingsworth (2002) Elaborating a Model of Teacher Professional Growth, Teaching and Teacher Education
Fullan, M. (1982). The meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press
Guskey, T. R. (1986). Staff development and the process of teacher change. Educational Researcher
Lundy, L. (2007). ‘Voice’ is not enough: conceptualising Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 927–942. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701657033
Tan, K. H. K. (2022). The Four Boxes of Assessment Literacy Feedback. Assessment For All Learners. Retrieved August 10, 2023, from https://assessmentforall.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-four-boxes-of-assessment-feedback.html