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May 4, 2007
Listening to students' voices
One of the core questions of the Minnesota Anniversary Project is "What can students teach us about how school needs to change so that we see dramatic improvements in student achievement?"
We're taking a variety of approaches to get at that question. One such approach is a project we're doing in partnership with a group of Humphrey Institute Policy Fellows. The project is called Students Speak Out, and its aim is to hear from students about their experiences in the Minneapolis Public Schools -- and why they leave the system (or stay in it). The fellows are gathering information from students in a variety of formats: one-on-one interviews, focus groups, an online survey, and a forum called Students Take a Turn, where policymakers pose questions to a group of students.
We're just learning how to do this work - but fortunately, we have some good guides. Education Evolving, an education policy "design shop" based in Saint Paul, has a program called Student Voices that provides students with ways to engage in education policy conversations.
Student Voices has produced a number of papers written by and with students - and now they have a new project called Student Voices on Video. In the videos, students at alternative schools throughout the Twin Cities (and their advisors) talk about the work they do - and why it makes sense for them.
Here's an example of a student who created a comic book about the American Revolution:
The stories that students tell are compelling, and they can teach us about the questions in education policy that really matter to them. I'm looking forward to the Citizens League doing more work with students - and more work with dynamic media like video.
Posted by Victoria Ford at May 4, 2007 10:23 AM
Comments
Education|Evolving is thrilled to work with the Citizens League to bring student voices into the discussions about current major topics in education.
Our videos will highlight unconventional learning in all settings, including traditional district settings. So anyone out there with some suggestions for material we should be covering should email us at studentvoices@educationevolving.org.
Posted by: Kim Farris-Berg | May 16, 2007 6:08 PM