Before we dig into ‘Pupil Voice’ we need to take a look at what it means to have a voice. Our ‘voice’ is more than just our spoken word; it’s any communication that expresses our thoughts, feelings and needs. It’s a way of contributing to your space or place and it leads to feeling listened to, valued and empowered.
Find Your Voice
You’ll know the expression ‘find your voice’. This could also be written as find who you are right now! Find your passion, your interests. Find what you can offer to yourself, your community and the world.
Your ‘voice’ is everything that you individually offer and - by way of interaction, impact and relationship - it’s your way of belonging to something.
Giving individuals a voice is giving them a chance to find all of this.
Pupil voice, then, suddenly becomes incredibly important. Which is probably why it is included in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which states that children have the right to express their views on all matters affecting them, and to have those views given due weight.
Definition & Research
Defined by ‘Mentally Healthy Schools’ as “a whole-school commitment to listening to the views, wishes and experiences of all children and young people. It means placing value on what children and young people tell school staff about their experiences.”, research backs up the huge role that pupil voice plays in developing and supporting children on their journey in education, whether that’s in mainstream or specialist settings with the loudest and quietest verbal and non-verbal individuals.
Firstly, studies have linked strong pupil voice cultures with enhanced emotional wellbeing and a greater sense of belonging in school communities. For younger pupils especially, feeling valued by adults supports the development of confidence and self-esteem and if there is ever something schools can do to support children’s sense of belonging, then it has to be done.
Pupil voice initiatives increase intrinsic motivation and foster a sense of agency over school life. We know that different Neurotypes find motivation in different ways, for example individuals with ADHD find their motivation from an ‘interest-based nervous system’ rather than an ‘importance-based nervous system’ which means how important something is might not matter but how interested they are in it, absolutely does. Giving these pupils a voice, a choice and a platform, engages their interest and gives them further purpose to contribute to their school and their own learning. By doing so we are setting these pupils up for success rather than frustration, we are giving them a chance to form a positive inner narrative of ‘I can’ rather than the ‘I can’t’ which we can, unfortunately, so often see.
Finally, when leaders genuinely engage with these perspectives, school improvement becomes more responsive, collaborative and impactful. When children are more involved in their ‘place’, they take more ownership and responsibility and the collaboration will benefit everyone involved.
The Role of Relationship
For pupil voice initiatives to work there has to be an already established positive student-teacher relationship. The greater the relationship is, the greater the engagement and motivation will be and with the trust and comfort that comes from relationship, the students will feel much safer and more willing to contribute. Similarly, and rather harmoniously, pupil voice initiatives have a positive effect on student-teacher relationships so the more you listen and act, the stronger that trust and relationship will grow and the more you will see students positively affecting their education journey.
Reflection
You’re possibly wondering now what you and your school are currently doing for pupil voice. There will be a long list of ways you already empower your pupils, write these down and spend a little time evaluating the impact using these prompts; what can the children see around school that they have impacted? Do the children know the outcomes of ideas they've been consulted on? Do the school council get debriefed after interviews? After individually checking in with a pupil to see what helps them to learn, how do you refer back to solutions or make it clear you’ve taken their views on board?
Pausing on these questions will let you know how ‘real’ your current pupil voice initiatives are. Children will be aware when activities and actions fall into tokenism and feel contrived, even if, at a younger stage, they can’t verbalise this in any way.
Take a look at our February Muse - Pupil Voice - Enabling the Quiet ones - for a little activity to focus on this term.
