Using Student Voice to Challenge Understandings of Educational Research, Policy and Practice

In this chapter, we argue for the need to move beyond the rhetoric of student voice. A focus on the acting on of advice and working with students is our “next steps” agenda for involving children and young people in educational research, educational policy and educational practice. We demonstrate that in order to take student voice seriously, the system (policy and practice) that children learn in must radically change through listening and acting on their views, and position student voice as political and educational imperatives. From the perspective of research and practice, this chapter outlines the promises and possibilities of including student voice in change agendas. We also caution against diluting voice, marginalising some voices, and unintentionally replicating current practice through drawing on the voice of students who typically thrive within the educational system. For equitable outcomes for all learners, listening to those identified as dis-engaged, or “othering” must be part of the radical agenda, including enacting radical collegiality between teachers and learners. This requires a reconceptualisation of the broader phenomenon of what it means “to learn” for all children. Student voice is our educational call to wake up, listen and act.