What Is Student Voice Anyway? The Intersection of Student Voice Practices and Shared Leadership

Abstract

Purpose: Educational leadership traditionally has defined school leadership as an adult-only space. An emerging group of scholars is expanding the field to challenge who should be considered an educational leader and whose voices should be centered in change processes. Examining the ways in which students serve as leaders in schools, student voice scholarship has expanded rapidly over the last two decades. However, it has not cohered around a shared understanding of the central components of the practice of student voice in classrooms and schools. Research Methods: Our process drew upon two different data sources in parallel—a systematic literature review and interviews/focus groups with students, teachers, and school leaders. We designed our process in this format to draw upon what has been done before and to understand whether the past still aligns with current practice. We hope that in addition to articulating student voice constructs, this article also can offer methodological contributions as demonstrating ways to understand educational practices based on past and new research. Findings: This article presents a framework of the core components of student voice in classrooms and schools: structures (setting, focus, and intent) and relationships (access, representative, roles, and responsiveness). Implications for Research and Practice: This framework provides a roadmap for students, teachers, school leaders, and academic scholars to understand how leadership at the school and classroom levels can envision and design student voice practices. Further, it offers a starting point for articulating the range of possibilities for student voice in classrooms and schools.