Empowering engagement through student voice

“Student voice is not simply about giving students the opportunity to communicate ideas and opinions; it is about students having the power to influence change. Authentic student voice provides opportunities for students to collaborate and make decisions with adults around what and how they learn and how their learning is assessed. This is known to lead to improved educational outcomes” - Amplify, empowering students through voice, agency and leadership (State of Victoria, Department of Education and Training, 2019).

Student agency refers to the level of autonomy and power that a student experiences in the learning environment. Student voice and agency are intrinsically linked. Agency gives students the power to direct and take responsibility for their learning, creating independent and self-regulating learners. (Student Voice & Leadership, bpark.vic.edu.au)

Research shows that secondary students frequently disengage from participating in health and physical education (HPE) classes. However, when students felt heard and were given choices as to what they enjoyed and desired to do, student participation increased to 90-95%.

In supporting practice principle 3 (Practice Principles for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, State of Victoria, Department of Education and Training, 2018), the message that we can create a positive climate of learning by empowering students with their voice and agency is clear. 

Student voice facilitates opportunities for students to ask questions, share their ideas and opinions, reflect through feedback with teachers and peers, engage with curriculum planning based on their interests, set learning goals, develop learning intentions and engage in differentiated learning, which we also know develops student learning as a high impact teaching strategy. (High Impact Teaching Strategies, Department of Education and Training, Victoria, 2021)

Benefits of student voice

Research findings show that student voice, agency and leadership have a positive impact on self-worth, engagement, purpose and academic motivation (Quaglia, 2016), which contribute to improved student learning outcomes (Hattie, 2009).

When incorporating student voice we see increased engagement in activities, development of leadership skills, a positive and inclusive learning environment and improved wellbeing. By including students’ voices in curriculum design we can facilitate a student-centred and dynamic curriculum.

As both positive and negative experiences in HPE shape future behaviours and attitudes, we would suggest that engaging students as co-creators or co-constructors of their experiences has the potential to develop more meaningful engagement.

How can you promote student voice in your HPE teaching and learning?

To meet the ever-changing needs and interests of students, it is imperative that curricula and programs continually evolve. This includes incorporating student voice at all curriculum levels. 

Some ideas include:

  • Start a unit of work by finding out from the students what and how they want to learn – gauge what they know, want to know, and wonderings e.g.: KWL charts, Kahoot, Padlet, mindmaps etc.
  • Co-designing appropriate learning goals with their teacher through surveys and suggestion boxes, focus groups, polls and ranking scales of activities.
  • Collaborating to generate student-centred success criteria for learning tasks.
  • Have “expert” students design an activity to teach others a new skill/concept.
  • Encourage students to provide feedback to their peers and teachers in a guided and supportive environment – use what worked well/even better if, feedback box, etc 
  • Assessments – allow them to select a line on a rubric to be assessed on, use developmental rubrics with student-friendly language for maximum utilisation by students. 
  • Provide choice during learning experiences – equipment, independent/pair/group work, topic/skill/focus to investigate, and how they will deliver findings.
  • PE Blogs – collate student reflections, group discussions, and ideas to share with the whole school community.
What are some examples for the classroom?
  • Levelled tasks or stations to allow students to focus on their areas of need or interests.
  • Self and peer assessments.
  • Setting personal SMART goals.
  • Plickers, feeling mats, and other methods to provide feedback and interest.
  • Choice of warm-up game.
  • Variety of equipment choices to demonstrate skills and achieve success – e.g.: different racquets, bats and balls for striking.
  • Access to a variety of sports equipment to make up your own game.
What students say about having their voice heard:

“I would participate in any activity that a student suggests, because if it is kid suggested, it is kid approved, so the chance I would be interested automatically increase if another student has endorsed the activity.”

“Not just about listening, but creating actionable change from their ideas and opinions.”

“The world is constantly changing, and so are the needs of students.  Important to constantly include students in conversations that are going to directly affect them.”

“It shows that teachers care about what is important to us.”

 “If you got your say at school you feel welcome and that you are meant to be here.”

“Makes me feel empowered and invested more in my learning.”

What next? Are you empowering your students to enhance their learning?

Consider the following when planning your next unit/topic:


(Amplify, Empowering students through voice, agency and leadership, DET, Victoria, 2019)

Want to learn more?

Our Annual November Conference has the following sessions on student voice:

  • A19: (7-10) Increase engagement and inform planning through student voice! Monique FitzGerald, Gabrielle Smales, Active Schools project ACHPER Victoria.
  • A20: (7-10) Student voice and the co-design of new approaches to fitness testing. Dr Laura Alfrey, Monash University, Alison Dowler and Kara Dunstan, Western Port Secondary College.
  • B16: (F-6) “You’ve got to take the handcuffs off” - Primary physical education teachers’ experiences of enacting meaningful student voice. Dr. Cassandra Iannucci, Deakin University and Dr. Cameron Van Der Smee, Federation University.

For details and registration, please click here to visit our website >>

Questions or comments?

If you have a question similar to this, or on another topic, which you would like some advice on, please send us an email! We love hearing from and working with you to help improve your HPE programs and teaching.

Feel free to direct any questions to our PL Team - Jo, Renae or Adriana.
 
Further reading and references