This paper reports on research conducted in alternative schools/flexible learning centres 1 designed to support young people marginalised from mainstream schooling in Australia. Many of the young people attending these centres had left school due to difficult personal circumstances and/or significant conflicts with schooling authorities. We argue that the ways in which these schools construct their learning environments, teaching programmes and pedagogical relationships are conducive to encouraging such young people to re-engage with educational processes and thus should be supported as viable alternatives within schooling sectors. Moreover, we contend that data gathered from these sites should be used to inform many of the practices within mainstream schools that currently contribute to the marginalisation of certain categories of youth.

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In this paper we are concerned with the notion of 'pedagogic voice'. We recognise that within the schooling context 'voice' can represent many things. For instance, it can relate to organisational matters in terms of the kind of say students have in the day to day running of the school and it can also relate to the opportunities students have to challenge perceived injustices or to the way in which conflicts are mediated. These are all important considerations and tie in closely with notions of democracy and schooling. Pedagogic voice relates to the presence of students' voice in teaching, learning and curriculum matters. A lack of voice in schools has been attributed to many marginalised students' alienation from mainstream schooling. Drawing on interview data collected in an alternative, or second chance, school catering to many such students we demonstrate how attention to pedagogic voice can not only work to engage students in learning, but also improve civic engagement.

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