Reflections on our student voice data collection 2025 by

ameliafarrasknowles — 2025-10-06 20:35:42 UTC

A little awkward - requires a few attempts to get the process running smoothly to make it a norm for both students and teacher. But I can see that it is useful and well resourced / it is defiantly "doable".

ameliafarrasknowles — 2025-10-06 20:37:52 UTC

I chose three students that have different characteristics and got a full spectrum of answers. One, we very unsure of how to act, answer and approach the situation and gave surface level answers. Another was reflective, thoughtful and gave full answers showing they understood the LI and SC well.

ameliafarrasknowles — 2025-10-06 20:39:48 UTC

It has made me more aware of the importance of LI and SC and the association they have with creating a 'safe' and 'secure' learning culture and environment which in tern supports relationships. Now I refer back to the Course Outline in class more often to show how the LI fit with the Topic / Unit and how the Topic / Unit sits within the Term / Year Outline/ Aims/ Goals...intentions.

The logistics of collecting the data have been a challenge for me. I find it important to carefully talk through the ethical considerations with the students and to make my non-poker-face a mask so I won't influence the data.

2025-10-08 20:00:42 UTC

The student voice I have collected so far has been fairly consistent- the learning intentions are usually clear to students, while the success criteria is variable.

2025-10-08 20:01:46 UTC

2025-10-08 20:02:13 UTC

Awkward as first, until getting to know the questions and how to deliver them

The student voice I have collected is telling me I need to be more explicit in the success criteria for individual lessons, as well as for entire units and topics. I need to make that more clear for students.

2025-10-08 20:02:59 UTC

I found it easier to just collect the student voice through a more informal conversation, rather than using the app. By doing this, I could get real time feedback on the lesson, which could be implemented in the moment, whereas when I used the app, it turned it into a "big deal", where I'd fall into the same traps as the collection of student voice in the google form.

2025-10-08 20:03:19 UTC

So far i have only been using my surveys to collect student voice, so no one on one yet. I found the one on one process to be a bit daunting and possibly limiting in the amount of student data I can actually collect.

2025-10-08 20:03:33 UTC

2025-10-08 20:03:45 UTC

I personally find it difficult to feel like I have authenticity within this type of data collection, especially because of the rigidity of the script.

2025-10-08 20:04:17 UTC

The logistics of collecting data has been very overwhelming to be point where I have not done the Otter AI collection yet, as having to organise a lesson where I can pull out a student or two for a few minutes has been a huge barrier. Collecting with the AI would need to be something that is done in a buddy system where you work out someone who has a free period and can pop in to collect a couple kids to ask the questions. Informal data collection of chatting to kids in class is something that goes really well for me and is something that I have had in my teaching practice for a long time, adding in a couple extra questions has given me better conversations

2025-10-08 20:04:28 UTC

It showed that the "WHY" is the most important thing to make learning stick with students. They have to have some connection and commitment to the learning for them to want to do it but most importantly retain the information across lessons

I definitely found it easier to get someone else to ask my students the questions first, but I am aiming to transition to asking my own student now because it is easier and more direct.

2025-10-08 20:04:29 UTC

i realse that I need to make the learning intentions more clear

2025-10-08 20:04:35 UTC

2025-10-08 20:04:49 UTC

The struggle for seniors to find the value within the success criteria and not just look at the end goal (credits).

Process

2025-10-08 20:04:54 UTC

The process was fine, I didn't feel awkward at all. I think that I would like to find out more about what works for the student, thinking about what was discussed about co-constructing lessons.

Depends...

viv_milton — 2025-10-08 20:04:59 UTC

I found the formal process of taking students out of my own classes and recording their voice rather awkward, but collecting voice more casually in class (recording or not) has gone really well and this is my current preference.

I haven't yet had the opportunity to have another colleague collect the voice from my students or to collect voice from another teacher's students. I would really like to explore this way of doing it and if across staff many are finding this approach useful, I think it should eventually be formally included in the PGC (via the tuakana-teina relationship).

nataliewilliamson4 — 2025-10-08 20:05:00 UTC

It can be tricky logistically as I am in a room that doesn't have a withdrawal space attached. So most of mine with my own students has been quite quick and informal. I have tried using the library space so I can work with students individually when it is available, and then I can record it properly to review later.

I liked the process of collecting student voice. I think it works better to do a class that is not your own because it takes away the need for students to say what their teachers want to hear.

2025-10-08 20:05:05 UTC

2025-10-08 20:05:28 UTC

Junior and Senior students value different aspects of learning. Junior students, at times, are more focused on the now and having "fun" lessons, while senior students are focused on achieving credits or building towards them.

I have used the student voice to make sure that I identify the students that are having trouble understanding.

2025-10-08 20:05:34 UTC

bencook6 — 2025-10-08 20:05:44 UTC

Without very explicit and very clear learning intentions, students gave a variety of answers that weren't always consistent with what I had planned. This reminded me of the importance of clarity and being specific about with students as well as checking in throughout the lesson with students who may need further guidance

I agree with a comment made that the students are not making the links between classes. It might seem obvious to me (the person who planned the coherent unit) but the step by step and long term goals are not obvious to students who have been to other classes and gone home and done sports practise in between my lessons. The repetition is important/

2025-10-08 20:05:51 UTC

I am still getting there. I have done some anecdotal feedback but am still needing to refine and develop the 1-1 conversations with students.

2025-10-08 20:05:53 UTC

The need for consistency with approach across all my classes. In some classes, student voice is used well and is effective to co constructing lessons/content, but not in others.

2025-10-08 20:06:00 UTC

I make a lot more adjustments to my classes as they happen, rather than taking that data away to be "implemented next year", but actually forgotten about. This has helped me in particular with some of my lower achieving students, though is still a work in progress

2025-10-08 20:06:06 UTC

It made me more aware of putting learning intentions on the board and following them through. Some students were aware if they were successful or not, others needed to have it explained.

Different answers between core classes compared to options - this is what stood out for me the most!

2025-10-08 20:06:25 UTC

Collecting student voice through Google Forms was a smooth and efficient process. Students were comfortable sharing their thoughts anonymously, which gave me honest and valuable feedback. The data summaries and graphs made it easy to identify common themes and areas for improvement in my teaching.

I think it showed that students generally (in my interviews) had a good idea of what they were learning and their was a pattern of students needing teacher support to "know if they had been successful in their learning" - i.e "Miss will tell me if I have done it right" type answers

2025-10-08 20:06:26 UTC

2025-10-08 20:06:32 UTC

Generally, I found that the students surveyed did know what they were learning and when they would be successful. However, I know this would not be true across all my classes. I feel like it's a balance of maintaining consistency in content teaching and expectations, and adapting the teaching to the class in front of you. Some students also just take more time to put all the pieces together.

Students have a real need to know the learning intentions and success criteria and feel confident when there is clarity around the learning intentions

2025-10-08 20:06:45 UTC

2025-10-08 20:07:04 UTC

Some students need you to be explicit with what is the not spoken or rarely spoken learning intention of what skills are we learning that are useful for the out of school world (whether how to interpret data, make deductions, logic) through the method of the lesson content. E.g. today we are learning about how volcanoes work through you collecting data and presenting it in a poster, the actual intention is getting students used to reading through material and finding the key information then writing it in a way that makes sense to them, which is a life skill they would need

2025-10-08 20:07:11 UTC

Having easily quantifiable LI's and SC's means students are generally more able to explicitly understand and answer the scripted questions about what they are learning. The more abstract the lesson or objective the harder it can be to have a 'common' understanding of the 'how do you know you have you achieved this?'

Sometimes for me the success criteria and learning intention can be the same and can be used as a topic lead as well as an individual lesson intention.

2025-10-08 20:07:32 UTC

nataliewilliamson4 — 2025-10-08 20:07:37 UTC

Sometimes what we are actually learning and what the students think we are learning don't match. I think this is about the need to be explicit with LIs and SCs. But also it's about the abstract nature of some lessons. If the skill being taught is measurable, it makes it a lot easier and clearer to students what the LIs and SCs are.

viv_milton — 2025-10-08 20:07:53 UTC

That verbally talking about the learning intentions and success criteria at the start of the lesson isn't enough. "Aims" are included in written form for nearly all of our activities and these usually align with the learning intentions of the lesson, but students definitely aren't engaging with this if it isn't made explicit. A combination of verbal and written is needed as a minimum. This links to how I am in the process of tweaking my practice...

Generally students know what they're (meant to be) learning, but can often struggle with how they will know when they have actually learned it, especially with big overarching skills that are taught over the course of a unit.

2025-10-08 20:07:57 UTC

I implement change from day to day now, instead of trying to make beginning of the year overarching changes that are too big to implement. I incorporate LI and SC in my planning. I put them in my slides to remind me to talk to them. It can even encourage me to shift the order of my lessons or change up activities in order to be more in line with my own LI and SC. I have more clarity myself in the 'why' of my lessons.

2025-10-08 20:07:58 UTC

2025-10-08 20:08:06 UTC

The logistics of formal data collection have been pretty overwhelming. I have found it much more manageable to have conversations in class rather than taking students out.

2025-10-08 20:08:16 UTC

Probably the most impactful PL on my teaching practice - considering and taking seriously the student's opinions and feelings about the teaching they are receiving led to far less explicit instruction, much more self-discovery enabling, and also a recalibration of what students find engaging or interesting (and more importantly, what they don't).

2025-10-08 20:08:30 UTC

Some students need you to have the one on one convo and repeating what they are actually learning, rather than just writing it on the board - knowing your individual learners is key and differentiating

2025-10-08 20:08:36 UTC

I'm more explicit in what and why we are learning, making changes on the go rather than thinking about how to make those changes.

Easier to make changes in the classroom compared to practical lessons is what I have found

bencook6 — 2025-10-08 20:08:39 UTC

I have found that I was using the feedback questions in my daily teaching where I will walk around the class and collect real time data. This wasn't always recorded, but it allows me to make changes to the lesson as I am going.

2025-10-08 20:08:42 UTC

It's driven home the fact that different classes need to be taught differently. It's also driven home the fact that sometimes when delivering the curriculum content, less co-construction happens and you don't get to hear the students personal voice as much. Finding time to reconnect to the individual student consistently throughout the year, even through the thick of content delivery is so important.

I found it restricting as I could only access one student at a time vs a whole class google forms survey but both methods have their advantages

2025-10-08 20:09:12 UTC

2025-10-08 20:09:19 UTC

I feel that having a neutral third party (another teacher) come in and ask some of the questions that I have created, would also potentially reduce the potential awkwardness between student and teacher within the student voice process.

2025-10-08 20:09:31 UTC

I was certainly hesistant to collect the voice from the most challenging classes.

...

viv_milton — 2025-10-08 20:09:32 UTC

So now I aim to verbally explain the learning intentions and success criteria, write these on the board whenever possible, refer to them during the lesson and do a quick check at the end of the lesson - "how well do we think we have met this criteria?"

I think the process is a little daunting. Maybe it would be better done as a whole department thing.

2025-10-08 20:09:56 UTC

I think in a practical based subject, the collection of student voice sometimes can be lost. So I use verbal student voice a lot hence the questioning is quite explicit.

2025-10-08 20:10:08 UTC

I used to teach content and then have an assessment period and I assumed by the assessment period the students knew what to do. I've started having more clear LI and SC even in the assessment period (eg SC: you should have written an intro and para 1 by the end of this lesson) to break up the work and make the assessment clearer and more achievable.

2025-10-08 20:10:26 UTC

It has made me think about this as just one part of the puzzle. For this process to be authentic and effective, we must do much more student voice collection in general . We need to have more conversations around learning styles in general and I think adding or changing the questions would be helpful. So instead of " How do you know you have been successful in your your learning?"

2025-10-08 20:10:30 UTC

2025-10-08 20:10:42 UTC

part 2 : - which I still think puts pressure on the student and also feels quite teacher focused , the question could be "what strategies work best for your learning? what have teachers done in the past that help your learning?" then actually taking this on board and explicitly using those answers in lessons could shift the culture

nataliewilliamson4 — 2025-10-08 20:12:32 UTC

I try to ensure I give clear LIs and SCs and why they are what they are. I also try to be flexible if individual students need different LIs/SCs or if the lesson is a disaster, look on it as a chance to reflect on my practice and look for new ways to teach the lesson. I think it also allows us to challenge our own thinking around what oonstitutes a "good" lesson. It can be confronting to think about whether a lesson has value/is worthwhile, and we need to be thinking about whether we are giving students busy work - if we can't articulate the LCs/SCs, how can we expect our students to?