Exploring student participation across different arenas of school life

Abstract

Much has now been written on student participation at school. Yet a lack of conceptual clarity, contestation over purpose and benefits, and uncertainty about how to culturally embed and effectively facilitate participation in school contexts continue to pose considerable challenges. This article reports the qualitative findings from a large-scale, mixed-method study that sought to explore how participation is perceived and practised in schools. The qualitative phase involved students from Years 7-10 (n = 177) and staff (n = 32) across 10 government and Catholic secondary schools in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The data demonstrate that considerable efforts are being made in NSW schools to expand opportunities through which students might 'participate', with these explored across three key arenas of school life: the classroom; co-curricular activities, including formal participatory structures; and informal relational spaces. Although participatory opportunities were largely ad hoc and often dependent upon the approach of individual teachers or school initiatives, differing enactments of childhood and adulthood were identifiable between the three arenas, along with varying expectations in this regard. The classroom emerged as a positive arena at present, and one in which adult-child relations are beginning to become reconfigured. The co-curricular arena was much more contested, with the breadth of potential participatory opportunities perhaps distracting from the need to address underlying intergenerational issues. However, informal relational encounters between students and teachers were becoming increasingly egalitarian, and these offer scope for creating the cultural preconditions such that student participation might expand more evenly across school life.At the moment it's just very much skimming the surface and we do something, 'Oh that wasn't a bad idea . . . ' but it's not really embedded, it doesn't have that well, fine-tuned and rounded approach. (Principal, School A) 1034 A. Graham et al.

Children and safety in Australian policy: Implications for organisations and practitioners

“…Recent research highlights that having opportunities for participation is positively associated with children’s wellbeing (Graham et al 2018) and that their safety may be enhanced when they are empowered to participate in organisational contexts (Graham et al 2016). However, policy that constructs children primarily or predominantly in terms of vulnerability tends to perceive safety as an adult responsibility.…”

Inclusive Inquiry: Student–teacher dialogue as a means of promoting inclusion in schools

“…For example, studies by Mitra (2003, 2004) and Mitra and Serriere (2012) point to how an engagement with student views can help promote the growth of agency, belonging and competence amongst students. Other scholars have argued that it can promote stronger relationships between students and teachers (Fielding & Bragg, 2003; Fielding, 2004; Hope, 2012; Baroutsis et al , 2016; Graham et al , 2018). Thinking about the curriculum, Leat and Reid (2012) report how an engagement with student views had a positive effect on what was taught, by whom and how; and Waitoller et al (2016) describe a collaborative inquiry for inclusive education that ‘tapped into’ students’ out‐of‐school knowledge.…”

Impact of organisational practices on the relationships between young people with disabilities and paid social support workers

“…'Solidarity' refers to the valuing of an individual's particular traits and abilities, and the distinctive contribution these bring to a community (Honneth, 1995). Drawing on earlier research grounded in the theoretical underpinnings of Honneth's work and adapted to studying relationships in organisational settings (Graham, Powell, et al, 2016;Graham, Truscott, Simmons, Anderson & Thomas, 2018), the three modes are articulated here as 'cared for', 'respected,' and 'valued'. These modes or patterns of interaction hold potential to conceptualise interpersonal relationships between young people and support workers (Niemi, 2015;Blonk, Huijben, Bredewold, & Tonkens, 2019).…”