Using students as observersThe processes and practicalities of using students as observers to

raise standards in KS5 learning and teaching*

Tony Breslin

Director, Breslin Public Policy Limited

Leading and managing an outstanding Sixth Form

Improving student guidance, expectations and attainment Central London

Friday 24th June, 2011

*This presentation draws on Beyond ‘Student’ Voice: the school or college as a citizenship-rich, human scale and voice-friendly community (Breslin, 2011) published in The Student Voice Handbook (Kidd and

Czerniawski, 2011; forthcoming)

Emerald, ISBN-978-1-78052-040-7

(Apparent) tensions in the policy agenda

• Between achievement and inclusion

• Between increasing fees and widening participation

• Between ‘civil society’ and formal politics

• Between ‘factory learning’ and ‘personalisation’

• Between promoting participation and active citizenship in (‘Big’) society while appearing to marginalise these things in the curricula and wider lives of schools and colleges

A pedagogy for engagement

• Inwardly inclusive, participative, deliberative

• Outwardly altruistic, engaged and connected

• ‘Citizenship-rich’, ‘Inclusion-first’ and ‘Human Scale’

• Holistic in purpose (developing students rather than simply teaching subjects)

• Acknowledges a broader community responsibility

• Seeks to close the “participation gap”

The “Citizenship-rich” Sixth Form

• Is successful, sustainable and self-recruiting

• Relates to the student as an engaged learner-citizen rather than simply a disgruntled consumer

• Operates as a different kind of community and is different in the community, placing a special emphasis on “giving voice”

• Is demonstrably committed to widening participation

• Utilises and bridges curricular and extra-curricular spaces as channels for developing the knowledge, skills and dispositions required for effective engagement

Student voice: definitions and rationales

• “Pupil (or student) voice is about pupils (students) having the opportunity to have a say in decisions in school (or in the Sixth Form) that affect them. It entails pupils (students) playing an active role in their education and schooling (learning) as a result of schools (and FE institutions) becoming more attentive and responsive, in sustained and routine ways, to pupils’ (students’) views”David Hargreaves (2004)

• “We need a vision for schooling and (further and higher) education that involves children (and learners) as shapers of the system …we need to make children (and students) active participants in the discussion, not just recipients of the outcomes… when you place children (and students) in the seats where decisions are made, they take it seriously”Maggie Atkinson (2011)

Giving voice: from observation to feedback - practicalities

• Honing student empathy

• Reaching beyond the usual suspects (sharing voice)

• Creating a range of participation and feedback channels

• Developing participation skills

• Developing observation skills

• Honing feedback skills

• Building feedback loops

• Preparing colleagues for all of the above

Giving voice: from observation to feedback - processes

• Student as researchers frameworks

• Students as observers (as young ‘advisers’ or young ‘inspectors’)

• Students as decision-sharers (as co-interviewers or associate governors)

• Students as co-teachers (especially in working with prospective sixth formers

• Students as messengers (through open assemblies, working group participation and giving presentations to leaders and influencers

• Preparing colleagues for all of the above

Beyond student voice – because every voice matters

• Teaching staff

• Members of the wider school or college workforce

• Parent or guardian

• Neighbourhood and community

• Employers and civil society

Closing Thoughts

“…our aim is no less than a change in the political culture of this country, both nationally and locally: for people to think of themselves as active citizens, willing, able and equipped to

have an influence in public life…” Professor Sir Bernard Crick (1998)

Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools

“Employers said they found it increasingly hard to fill graduate vacancies because students fail to match academic achievement with leadership, team-working and communication

skills” Alan Milburn ( 2009)

Unleashing Aspiration

tony.breslin@breslinpublicpolicy.com