Student Inquiry and the Value of Student Voice
What do you think of when you hear “student voice”? You might think of a student talking out loud and you wouldn’t be wrong, but it is also a broad research term used to describe “an assortment of activities through which students can influence decisions that affect their lives”1. In other words, research that actively involves students in decision-making processes. These decision-making processes might be related to policy, school change or many other structures that affect the everyday lives of students.
In research, trying to understand what student involvement means is a complex task. This is because different contexts, relationships between people in schools, and institutionalized decision-making processes all influence what student involvement can look like. Researchers, therefore, use different typologies to understand what involvement might mean. These typologies include but are not limited to: the student voice pyramid2, discrete categories of student involvement3, a matrix of student engagement4, a ladder of methodologies5, and a pathway of student leadership divided into stages6.
In research, trying to understand what student involvement means is a complex task. This is because different contexts, relationships between people in schools, and institutionalized decision-making processes all influence what student involvement can look like. Researchers, therefore, use different typologies to understand what involvement might mean. These typologies include but are not limited to: the student voice pyramid2, discrete categories of student involvement3, a matrix of student engagement4, a ladder of methodologies5, and a pathway of student leadership divided into stages6.
It's important to know about typologies because the ways in which we imagine and understand students’ involvement in decision-making influences how we go about actually bringing students into the process. For example, some of these typologies highlight the role of youth in the process of research7, others focus on the concept of youth development as a goal8, one aims to address injustice9, and the pyramid conceptualizes peak involvement as students learning the skills needed to lead themselves10.
Apart from the typologies used to understand approaches to student involvement, leading student voice scholarship also provides a framework of four pillars for what all ethical and rigorous student voice research should include11:
So why is student voice work important? First off, it can offer a means of challenging the traditional power structures by positioning students as important knowledge holders and contributors to research. It also brings to the forefront the goal of collaborating with students as co-researchers and building capacity for youth leadership. This is important because positioning students as valuable contributors to the creation of knowledge directly related to and capable of influencing their lived experiences means those environments may better serve their needs.
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Table 1
Example of student voice typology
Example of student voice typology
Apart from the typologies used to understand approaches to student involvement, leading student voice scholarship also provides a framework of four pillars for what all ethical and rigorous student voice research should include11:
- Reflexivity (adults and youths individually and collectively interrogate assumptions, biases, power dynamics, and experiences with and about each other that may influence the interpretation of information);
- Sensitivity to power (consideration of the conditions of power dynamics);
- Intersubjectivity (valuing students as equal partners and developing mutual understanding with researchers); and
- Strategy selection (appropriate selection of methods and methodologies that honour unique positionalities and contexts)
- What are my assumptions about the values of youth?
- What romantic or negative ideas of childhood and school do I hold?
- What kind of power am I enacting (i.e., over, with, to)?
- What characteristics do I represent (age, gender, race, class, ability, religion, nation)?
- What are my many identities?
- Which students with which identities am I asking to respond? Does this represent a range of voices?
- Are there voices and positionalities that might be left out?
- What kind of voice are students using when speaking? (i.e. authentic, authoritative, critical)
So why is student voice work important? First off, it can offer a means of challenging the traditional power structures by positioning students as important knowledge holders and contributors to research. It also brings to the forefront the goal of collaborating with students as co-researchers and building capacity for youth leadership. This is important because positioning students as valuable contributors to the creation of knowledge directly related to and capable of influencing their lived experiences means those environments may better serve their needs.
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1 Fielding, 2001 as cited in Lyons et al., 2022, p.84.
2 Mitra & Gross, 2009.
3 e.g., Treseder, 1997.
4 Lodge, 2005; Mitra & Kirshner, 2012.
5 Fielding, 2011; Hart, 1992.
6 Shier, 2001.
7 e.g., Hart, 1992; Shier, 2001; Wong, Zimmerman & Parker, 2010.
8 Mitra, 2006; Wong, Zimmerman, & Parker, 2010.
9 Mitra & Kirshner, 2012.
10 Mitra & Gross, 2009.
11 Brasof & Levitan, 2022; Fielding, 2004; Lahman, 2008; Levitan, 2018.
12 Brasof and Levitan, 2022, p. 19-28.
2 Mitra & Gross, 2009.
3 e.g., Treseder, 1997.
4 Lodge, 2005; Mitra & Kirshner, 2012.
5 Fielding, 2011; Hart, 1992.
6 Shier, 2001.
7 e.g., Hart, 1992; Shier, 2001; Wong, Zimmerman & Parker, 2010.
8 Mitra, 2006; Wong, Zimmerman, & Parker, 2010.
9 Mitra & Kirshner, 2012.
10 Mitra & Gross, 2009.
11 Brasof & Levitan, 2022; Fielding, 2004; Lahman, 2008; Levitan, 2018.
12 Brasof and Levitan, 2022, p. 19-28.
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