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This article shares a problem with the lack of student voice in many schools. The benefits from student voice are included in the article as well.

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The Value of Including Students

The reasons for student inclusion are multiple:

1. It teaches democracy by giving students the experience of practicing the complexity of political decision-making in a democracy. Traditionally, our high schools have conceived of democracy as something taught in social studies classes, not as something to be practiced. Additionally, while most high schools include "developing responsible citizens" as part of their mission statements, few make any mention of democratic principles or the teaching of democracy. This is apparently not a high priority. Student governments are commonly viewed as social planning committees to run student events, nothing more. Students go through most of high school without ever directly experiencing participatory democracy.

2. It helps develop student leadership. The only way to learn how to be a leader is by acting in a leadership role.

3. There is considerable evidence that student achievement and engagement in a school can be increased if students feel that they have a real voice. Federal Hocking High School, which I describe below, is an example of this. As student involvement in school governance increased, the number of college-bound students grew from 20 percent to 70 percent! By giving students more responsibility and demonstrating confidence in their ability to be effective, we motivate them to develop even more.

4. It can significantly improve a district and/or school's quality of decision making because of the quality of student input, and because students offer a perspective that is otherwise lost from that process. We each know some teens whose insight and wisdom make them capable of thoughtful, perceptive, well-measured decision making. Our efforts to educate would benefit from including the voices of these students.

There is no good, valid reason not to change this and give students a meaningful voice in district and school decision making.

Examples and Resources

There are multiple examples of schools and districts where this is taking place, albeit they are few and far between. One of the many things distinguishing Federal Hocking High School is that students are heavily involved in the decision-making process, including teacher hiring, curriculum decisions, and creation and enforcement of school rules. Every educator should read Time to Learn by George Wood, the man behind these policies at Federal Hocking, who explores this in more depth.

There are numerous other sources to help guide you. Dana Mitra has been a national leader in efforts to increase student voice in decision making and all of her work is worth reading, but start with Increasing Student Voice and Moving Toward Youth Leadership (PDF, 625KB) and the excellent Student Voice in School Reform.

Another two quick, helpful reads are Student Voice Initiative from Canada, and Roberto Joseph's The Excluded Stakeholder: In Search of Student Voice in the Systemic Change Process (PDF, 401KB).

Specific Changes Easily Implemented

In the meantime, here are my own suggestions for changes that could be accomplished easily and, if implemented, would help make your schools and districts comparable to Federal Hocking.

Although the age limit for school board members is 18 in most states, and although some districts that currently include students keep their role in decision making negligible at best, students can still have a significant influence on local school boards. I suggest having at least two student members on every school board, elected by the district's student body. They should sit at the table with the adult board members. Maybe they can't vote or be involved in sessions deemed confidential under state law, but most effective boards eventually reach consensus on decisions, and the student board members should have an equal voice in that process.

Even the brightest and most politically savvy students would need training to become effective board members. I therefore recommend that a prerequisite to running would be participation in a board-related leadership training workshop that could take place after school or on a weekend. This would be led by a teacher, administrator, or former board member.

I also suggest that the district-wide election of these student board members take place simultaneously with the sanctioned school board elections, which would make their election a high-profile process and add some prestige to the role.

In addition, I suggest creating a student-faculty council in every school. Ideally, it would include four students, four teachers, and possibly one administrator. But of course the exact composition could be decided in each school. Every policy regarding student behavior should be a subject for discussion, and students should have an equal voice and vote. My recommendation is not theoretical. I experienced this highly effective process in a high school where I taught and was a member of the council. Two of the students went on to become class presidents at their respective universities.

Finally, although curriculum committees should be composed of teachers who have the experience and knowledge to make curricular decisions, I think a non-voting student representative could add to the quality of the committee and also be an excellent learning experience for the student.

Leadership Can Make It Happen

Student leadership involvement should take place in every high school district. The failure to do so excludes those most affected by decisions from having a voice in that process. It also deprives school boards of some potentially valuable insights.

The arguments against this role for students are weak, frequently founded on an underestimation of student maturity and perception that too often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But the leadership must come from administrators and teachers, in concert with student leaders. We cannot expect the students, who have been taught for years that they should not have a voice, to lead the way. This can start on a school level, but it would also be exciting to see a consortium of administrators, students, and teachers in every high school work collaboratively to bring about this change. If a small school in one of the most economically challenged areas of Ohio can accomplish this, I think any district can.

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Increasing Student Voice in Local Schools and Districts | Edutopia

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The reasons for student inclusion are multiple: It teaches democracy by giving students the experience of practicing the complexity of political decision-making in a democracy. Traditionally, our high schools have conceived of democracy as something taught in social studies classes, not as something to be practiced.

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This article talks about a type of school program that opens children to their community. It's better than the old traditional way of teaching

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When city planners in Portland, Oregon, were looking for ideas to make public spaces more inviting to youths across the region, they turned right to the source. Tyler White, a junior at De La Salle North Catholic High School, teamed up with a diverse group of students from several area schools to research and develop a detailed action plan for youth inclusion.

"We talked to movers and shakers, read case studies, interviewed experts, and surveyed 200 youth from across the city," White says. In a presentation to city staff, students shared their original designs for an app and accompanying website that would help young people find locations to meet their specific needs and interests. They also pointed out what the city is missing when it comes to what young people want and suggested ways to make public transportation more youth-friendly. "We had real conversations with people who have power and influence," White recalls. "That shouldn't be so revolutionary-it should be the norm."

Real-world learning experiences like this are becoming more common in the Portland area, thanks to an innovative youth-leadership program called PLACE (People Leading Across City Environments). An initiative of Catlin Gabel School, an independent pre-K through 12 school in Portland, PLACE is open to youths across the region on a sliding-fee scale. To date, students from some two dozen public and private schools have participated in projects focused on everything from food insecurity to neighborhood walkability.

"We are living and learning in the same community we are trying to change," says Angela Lu, a senior at Catlin Gabel and another PLACE participant. "This program empowers youth, and it also empowers the communities where young people live."

The Big Idea

Since its launch in 2010, PLACE has been pioneering an approach to learning that doesn't fit neatly into existing instructional frameworks. It's experiential, project-based, interdisciplinary, and inquiry-driven, with deliberately diverse groups of students investigating real issues for real clients from the local community. Students learn research and community-engagement skills more commonly taught in graduate-level urban planning programs than in high school, and produce professional-quality reports incorporating data they have gathered and analyzed.

There's also a deliberate emphasis on social justice, with students leading their communities in discussions of difficult issues such as police use of force.

"Empowering youth to be engaged citizens is at the heart of everything we do," explains George Zaninovich, who directs a collection of programs that fall under the PLACE umbrella. PLACE has expanded from its initial summer programs to offer urban studies electives during the regular school year, incorporating academic content that ranges from economics to sociology to environmental studies.

More informally, PLACE participants lead community forums on hot topics, such as "Who can use the 'N' word?" A storytelling project called I Love This Place publishes stories about community change contributed by young writers, including Tyler White.

In early 2016, PLACE moved into a storefront space that it shares with a coalition of youth-empowerment organizations. The location is deliberately removed from the Catlin Gabel campus and located in an urban neighborhood that is rapidly gentrifying. Young people come here for after-school tutoring, help with college applications, and writers' workshops, in addition to PLACE programs. Fittingly, the new space, called The CENTER, was designed by students, for students.

A Growing Trend

Across the country, interest is growing in using the community as context for more authentic learning and increased youth engagement. Although PLACE is unique to Portland, programs that are similar in spirit include The Washington Program at Episcopal High School in Washington, DC, and City as Our Campus at Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh. Iowa BIG, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, engages students from several public high schools in immersive community problem solving connected to academic goals. This year, a semester-long program called Lab Atlanta, sponsored by the Lovett School, opens with its first cohort of 10th graders from both public and private schools across the Atlanta region.

In Portland, keys to building the PLACE program have included "being patient and really listening," says Tim Bazemore, head of school at Catlin Gabel. Before opening the storefront space, for example, "we took a year to work the neighborhood, meet people, be willing to hear 'no,' and not get angry or defensive." The PLACE team was careful not to come across as community "saviors," but instead took time to build a coalition of partners with a shared interest in youth inclusion and social justice. "We want to be in and of the community," Bazemore says.

Back on the home campus, Bazemore has had to work through scheduling and other logistical challenges with faculty and parents to make room for PLACE. "We have to be flexible with some structures to support different kinds of learning," he says. Teachers and parents, he adds, "recognize the learning value."

What Students Say

For students, this approach to learning delivers benefits that go well beyond academics. Tyler White says his participation in PLACE "has morphed me into a different person. Before this, I didn't know how I could engage with my community. This project taught me how to reach out, how to organize. It taught me actual skills I will need in life-how to conduct myself in an interview, how to present myself to people who have the power and ability to make something happen. Nothing in [regular] school is this engaging."

The deliberate mixing of students from different schools, socioeconomic backgrounds, and races helps students get out of their bubbles, adds student Angela Lu. "I've met community members I might not have crossed paths with otherwise." She credits the program's design with "creating a space where we all feel supported and can push each other to work harder."

Learning to work as an effective team with peers from different backgrounds "has helped me see people for who they are, without labels," adds White.

Tools for Replication

In response to inquiries from around the globe about how to start such a program, Zaninovich has coauthored an open-source guidebook called Make Your PLACE: A Guide to Facilitating Youth Civic Leadership.

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Turning the Community Into a Classroom | Edutopia

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When city planners in Portland, Oregon, were looking for ideas to make public spaces more inviting to youths across the region, they turned right to the source. Tyler White, a junior at De La Salle North Catholic High School, teamed up with a diverse group of students from several area schools to research and develop a detailed action plan for youth inclusion.

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This article talks about how our schools are killing creativity in every way.

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I speak about education from an unflattering point of view -- maybe because it is destroying our fascinating, curious minds.

I don't claim to be an expert in education. I am still a student and I speak for myself. I believe that students should have a voice in the education system today, because mainly they are the ones who are being educated. The control of education should be in the hands of students. They should be centered first and foremost.

Many people have written about ways to change education, but what good has it done if we are leaving out the voice of the students?

Years continue to pass, some students graduate, some fail out, some drop out and nothing really changes. The education system reminds me of a dictator that is unwilling to step down.

I'm aware that no education system is perfect, and I believe they are all the same across the world. We memorize, study for the test and forget, only to know 10 years later what an atrocious world we have been constructing.

I strongly feel that our methodologies in schools are demolishing creativity. Students have lost their capacity of creation simply because our teaching methods don't stimulate innovation and creativity.

Remember being a kid and wanting to play around? No one told you how to use your imagination or taught you how to be creative. You played with LEGOS. You pretended you were an astronaut and imagined traveling in space. Being naturally creative, you asked questions like "Why is the grass green?" and "Are we alone?" -- questions no wise man could answer.

Then came school, a child's worst nightmare. You learned to live in a rotten environment. You were bullied, made fun of, and you had this teacher that told you to stop dreaming and live in reality. So what did you learn at school? You learned to stop questioning the world, to go with the flow, and that there's only one right answer to each question.

The "whys" you have always wanted to ask are never on the test, and they are omitted from the curriculum.

Creativity isn't a test to take, a skill to learn, or a program to develop. Creativity is seeing things in new ways, breaking barriers that stood in front of you for some time. Creativity is the art of hearing a song that has never been written or seeing a work of art on empty canvas. Its essence is in its freshness and the ability to make dreams come to life.

Imagine this: A normal classroom with cheerful faces. Students' excitement to start school ignites the classroom. The teacher asks the students to draw a tree. Some students were talented, others were okay, and some students couldn't give a visual figure of a tree. The teacher rates every student's work. Some students get an A+, some get a D and others get a big fat F.

Those students who got A's now believe they're highly talented and artistic, but those who got an F... Well, they start to think they are losers and their works is rubbish.

From this "draw a tree" assignment, creativity starts to linger in the air and then, in time, fades away. This is why many adults say "I can't draw!"

In school, children are "taught" to draw shapes like a "perfect" triangle. Everything is "properly" drawn. Whenever a child attempts to color something, the teacher screams in panic: "Do NOT color outside the lines!"

In the 21st century, the world demands students who can think creatively and critically. As technology develops, we will have robots to do all the basic work for us. However, it is our mission to ensure that the next generation will be full of inventors, musicians, painters, mathematicians who will, in turn, bring humanity to another level.

In his TED Talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" Sir Ken Robinson said that instead of growing into creativity in school, we grow out of it. Students all over the world have had more years of schooling than they care to count. During this process, students are taught that making a mistake is a sin. We have planted in our students' minds a picture of a perfectly, carefully drawn life.

When I play golf I sometimes feel that I'm focused so much on the line that I forget about the flow of the putt. The same thing is being applied to schools. We focus too much on standardized testing and then we forget what the real aim of education is.

Today's teaching techniques are taking the beauty out of learning. Diminishing creativity from our student's mind is a serious problem with wide-reaching effects.

How exactly are schools diminishing creativity?

We learn that being "good" means sitting still and nodding yes, while being "bad" means attempting to do things differently.

The cycle of sitting still, memorizing, testing and getting a job have existed for a long time now and few dared to challenge it. However, those who dared to challenge the status quo like Albert Einstein, the Wright brothers, and Walt Disney have changed the course of history.

I understand that memorizing is the fastest way to get good grades, get into a good college, and get a job (which we equate with a good life). We are being educated for the promise of money. As a student I know one thing for sure: I never want to be a product living my life inside a box. I want to cherish my brilliant mind. I want to imagine, to create, to be the best I can possibly be. I never want to be a robot. I want to argue, to challenge and define the impossible. I cannot possibly let someone assemble my life.

How do we expect students to be creative if teachers give them the outline, the title, and the structure of their "creative writing assignment?" We give students model answers to memorize, we give a specific title to write a poem about, and we truly give them everything but the freedom to express their ideas.

Youth have fresh ideas. While teachers complain that students are spending an awful lot of time on social networking, they forget to mention that it's the only way we, the students, can have our voice heard.

Education isn't about facts being stored in our minds so that we can get tested on them. Education is the beauty to nurture creativity, to fuel curiosity and to create a well-rounded person.

America is battling its way out to the top and promising that no child will be left behind. Behind this competition, we forget the purpose of education. Schools become business, and factories where children come out as pale as ghosts with everything being structured "perfectly" and "properly" in their minds.

Somewhere in our battle and pursuit of meaningless papers, diplomas and money, we have lost the true meaning of learning.

During our insane worship to win the race, during our mad love to become number one, we forget that our schools are raising children that are racing to nowhere.

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I speak about education from an unflattering point of view -- maybe because it is destroying our fascinating, curious minds. I don't claim to be an expert in education. I am still a student and I speak for myself.

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This article talks about a practice that embraces a child's creativity, innovation, and connection to their community

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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A Great Problem About Digitizing Traditional Teaching

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A Great Problem About Digitizing Traditional Teaching

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We need to create more teaching methods. Most schools are digitizing teaching  but not in an innovative way.

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Blended learning has the potential to transform the way teachers teach and students learn-if we take advantage of all that it offers.

A few months ago, I noticed an increased amount of discussion around the notion of blended learning. Many of these conversations started on a similar note: "We're blended-all of our teachers use Google Classroom" (or Edmodo, Schoology, Canvas, Moodle, etc.). However, in probing further, I often discovered that these tools had merely digitized existing content and classroom procedures.

Instead of filling an inbox on the teacher's desk with packets and worksheets, students now completed the exact same procedures online. Rather than write homework assignments on the board, teachers posted them to the students' digital news feeds. While blended learning brings with it the promise of innovation, there is the peril that it will perpetuate and replicate existing practices with newer, more expensive tools.

The Peril

The dissemination of digitized, teacher-driven content is not full blended learning. Though this can be viewed as a first step toward new models of learning, the peril lies in complacency. When blended learning is equated with digital workflow, students remain consumers of teacher-directed content instead of becoming creators of knowledge within a context that they can actively control.

The Promise

True blended learning affords students not only the opportunity to gain both content and instruction via online as well as traditional classroom means, but also an element of authority over this process. Freeing students from the confines of the school day, the walls of the classroom, the sole expertise of the teacher, and the pace of the rest of the class, blended learning could fundamentally change the system and structure of school, and provide students with a more personalized, active learning experience.

Last year, I interviewed three instructional coaches from Bellevue, Nebraska, about their 1:1 iPad initiative (where each student has an iPad) and their move to blended learning. They described efforts to provide multiple avenues for students to access content, strategies for using audio and video to scaffold independent learning, opportunities to adapt instruction based on real-time data, and the chance to engage in more meaningful face-to-face conversations. These coaches saw blended learning as providing students with control over how they learn, the pace of the learning experience, and where they might choose to learn within the classroom.

For example, Ann Feldmann (@AnnFeldmann1) described how teachers might harness the power of screencasting to read and explain content-allowing students to choose the pace of their learning as well as the mode through which they experienced the content. To prove that all students can benefit from these opportunities, Ann's colleague Jeanette Carlson (@MrsJCarlson) tweeted the image at left. These kindergartners not only learned to work independently on an analog task but also leveraged videos to help them decipher directions and comprehend the material.

At a more advanced level, Jeanette found blended learning particularly helpful in teaching challenging concepts during her business class. Through screencasting, she essentially cloned herself, creating a video to walk students through a difficult task. This blended approach freed her from the front of the room so that she could work with students on an individual basis and provide customized instruction.

Ann and Jeanette's colleague Jeffrey Bernadt (@JeffreyBernadt) elaborated on the concept and shared how he leveraged blended learning to provide his high school social studies students with multiple options for acquiring content knowledge-video, digital text, paper or e-books, or face-to-face conversation. Instead of requiring students to sit in desks and learn in lockstep, Jeffrey created an environment where his students could control the path, pace, and even place of their learning. These examples highlight how students can engage with blended learning to gain content and instruction, but the coaches also described how digital tools give students new voice and choice in demonstrating their learning.

Blended learning can mean a step forward toward something greater- giving students agency over their own learning, but that is dependent on the direction chosen by the teacher. In a recent blog post, Will Richardson raised the point that educators do not "give" agency to students through choice or technology or even blended learning. Instead, students acquire it when teachers "create the conditions under which agency can flourish."

In a 2013 Christensen Institute report, the authors pose the question: "Is K-12 blended learning disruptive?" That is, does it create a new definition of what qualifies as "good"? They argue that to be disruptive, blended learning needs to replace the existing teacher-directed orientation of school with a more student-centered model. Blended learning could create a new definition of teaching and learning (the promise), or it could become nothing more than a digital version of a traditional notion of school (the peril).

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Are We Innovating, or Just Digitizing Traditional Teaching?

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Blended learning has the potential to transform the way teachers teach and students learn-if we take advantage of all that it offers. A few months ago, I noticed an increased amount of discussion around the notion of blended learning.