Abstract 0763 Students as Researchers My growth of educational knowledge

Arguments in support of pupil voice: (Rudduck/QCA) Argument 1: We need a better fit between young peoples' capabilities and their standing and responsibility in school; talking to pupils can help us bridge the gap. Argument 2: The Children's Rights Movement is behind it and 'everybody's doing it!' Argument 3: School improvement gains from pupil participation. Argument 4: The qualities that we look for in young people are those that participation and consultation can help develop. What are the Benefits of Students as Researchers? Cognitive benefits to be accrued from student participation in research: (Steinberg and Kilenchoe, 1998, pp. 240-1) Critical student research: 1. Moves students to the critical realm of knowledge production ... 2. Focuses student attention on thinking about their own thinking ... 3. Creates an analytical orientation ... 4. Helps students learn to teach themselves ... 5. Improves students ability to engage in anticipatory accommodation. 6. Cultivates empathy with 'others'. 7. negates reliance on procedural thinking. 8. Research becomes a way of life, a way of approaching the world. 'students benefit from learning new and applicable skills, where they can have some influence and be actively involved in the learning process. In this way, students are more likely to take responsibility for their own learning, and that of others, thereby genuinely becoming leaders in their own learning and life in school.' McGregor, J. NCSL

What is 'students' research'? 'It is a curious fact, that with all the research conducted in classrooms, students have not been substantively engaged in whichever research processes are used. That is to say, there has not been 'sustained involvement' by students themselves in investigations which ultimately have consequences for the ways in which teachers teach; the manner in which the curriculum is designed and enacted; and, he modes of assessment and reporuing which will be employed.' Groundwater-Smith, S. (1999) 'Students: From Informants to Co-researchers,' accessed at http://www.aare.edu.au/99pap/gro99031.html Michael Fielding (2002) has created a typology of students' participation in school-based research: 1. Students as a data source. 2. Students as active respondents. 3. Students as co-researchers. 4. Students as researchers.

There are overlaps and uncertainties in the current terminology of students as researchers. Often 'students' and 'pupils' are used interchangeably but problems arise when 'students as researchers' refers not just to young people in school classrooms undertaking enquiry but also to students in higher education studying on degree courses. In this presentation I use 'students' to mean young people in schools and where I refer to 'pupils' (i.e. drawing on relevant literature) this is with similar intent. 'Pupil voice is the consultative wing of pupil participation. Consultation is about talking with pupils about things that matter in school. It may involve: conversations about teaching and learning; seeking advice from pupils about new initiatives; inviting comment on ways of solving problems that are affecting the teacher's right to teach and the pupil's right to learn; inviting evaluative comment on recent developments in school or classroom policy and practice.'Rudduck, J.

Why Should Students become Researchers? 'Children come fully equipped with and insatiable desire to explore, to experiment and to inquire... Unfortunately the educational process often is oriented to controlling rather than learning, rewarding individuals for performing for others rather than cultivating their natural curiosity and impulse to learn. From an early age, our fragmented curriculum teaches competitiveness and reactiveness. We are trained to believe that deep learning means knowing accepted truths rather than developing capacities for effective and thoughtful action; acquiring knowledge is for passing tests rather than accumulating wisdom and personal meaning. We are taught to value certainty rather than doubt, to give quick answers rather than to inquire, and to know which choice is correct rather than to reflect on alternatives. Learning is perceived to have little or no relevant application beyond the school;l t everyday living, further enquiry, or knowledge production.' Forward, Costa, A.L. to York-Barr, J. (2001) 'Students have knowledge of the school that adults do not. They may also have different views on what is important' McGregor, J. NCSL

Why is Research by Students important? What's in it for pupils? (from the TLRP) Being able to talk about your learning helps students develop: * a stronger sense of membership, feeling more positive about school and more included in its purposes - the organisational dimension * a stronger sense of respect and self-worth so they feel positive about themselves - the personal dimension * a stronger sense of self-as-learner so they are better able to manage their own learning - the pedagogic dimension * a stronger sense of agency so that they see it as worthwhile to school matters and contribute to improvements in teaching and learning and wider school matters - the political dimension Sarah Fletcher: My reflections * learning how to organise and share their own learning - the societal dimension * learning to engage creatively with the ideas of others including younger peers and develop new methods for undertaking research and disseminating it - the creative dimension * building different and more culturally sensitive relationships with their teachers - the ethical dimension * learning to build creative partnerships with adults working with teachers as researchers - the collaborative learning dimension What's in it for schools? (Beresford, 2000) 'the development of certain student behaviours will improve learning. These are, in no particular order: * Self-assessment The ability of students to access the skills and resources necessary to achieve learner autonomy. * Independent learning. The ability of students to use a range of learning strategies which enables them to learn independently of teachers. * Affinity to teachers. The ability of students to maintain a relationship with teachers that enables them to seek and receive help and support when they require it. * Learning repertoire. The ability of students to exploit fully the range of teaching and learning strategies encountered in and out of the classroom. * Orientation to Learning. The ability of students to be self-motivated and to enjoy learning. * Adjustment to School. The ability of students to learn within a structured environment of rules and behaviour parameters.

What are the generative implications for educational research? 'Mentoring and training may be new roles that exisiting students as researchers can take on, particularly in relation to younger children (McGregor, P. 13)

Promoting and sustaining a culture of students as researchers 'If you have completed a first cycle or year of Students as Researchers' projects, and intend to continue, it is worth considering how to build capacity and it to become a more established feature of how the school operates. Some points it bear in mind include: * developing students' roles (monitoring changes as a result of previous research recommendations; helping to involve new students; helping to train new students; acting as 'consultants' or advisers to new group.) * developing the identity of the work (producing leaflets or other written records of the research in order to build a sense of its history; putting a logo on all communications that come from the group or groups to give the initiative continuity and coherence.) * involving different staff and developing staff roles. (making sure that information about the projects is part of the induction of incoming staff so that they become aware of the research traditions of the school.); as far as possible delegating and enthusing other staff; ensuring that discussions of future funding priorities consider staff and students' needs for support or training in this area.) Macbeath, J., Demetriou, H., Rudduck, J. and Myers, K. (2003) Consulting Pupils: A Toolkit for Teachers, Pearson Publishing

What are some of the barriers to students being researchers? 'A lack of confidence among both adults and young people may result from existing power relations where students are too often seen as passive recipients of transmission practices in school. Some of the greatest barriers to developing joint enquiry are adult perceptions of young people as being able to take responsibility or to be ethically sensitive in their research. Teachers may be understandably anxious about opening their practice to scrutiny ... students need time to develop the trust in relationship that allows risk-taking to happen, particularly where peer pressure may suggest it is 'uncool' to contribute. Structures are of course critical and resources such as time and finance need to be available. ' (Mc Gregor, J.) 'there is a growing awareness about the dangers of consulting children solely in response to utilitarian demands for accountability. Such data collection and analysis may be misused to encourage children to conform, to betray their interests and to be destructive of the trans-formative possibilities of children's participation, ' (Fielding, 2001) "Asked about the design failures of his school one truculent 15 year old reported that "the trouble with the design is that no one around here knows how good we are" 'if children and teachers are involved in the design of their own learning environments, then performance will improve even where the design is poor. Where design is excellent performance will be stellar in its improvement. Their advice is powerful, but their reflection starts a process of meta-reflection about teaching and learning that is itself a key catalyst.' Stephen Heppell's website accessed 30/08/05 http://www.heppell.net/weblog/stephen/ Critically engaging, for the NCSL, with a number of case study reports where schools are involved in enabling student participation, Kaye Johnson (2004) observes (p.20) '(teachers) were now asked to suggest ways of changing aspects of the school to hep pupils to manage their conduct more effectively. Some staff had been unable to accept this and had decided to leave. While parents had not directly complained about the increased emphasis on pupil participation, a small number had concerns about teachers being released from classroom duties to write reports. These parents were concerned about disruptions to their children's learning because of the change of teachers. 'some of the pupils found this stronger emphasis on their learning and operations of their school challenging. Previously they had been able to avoid accepting an active role in their school.' 'Not only was the need for change not recognised, many parents and staff actively opposed anything which could be seen to undermine (the school's) traditional ways of operating.' The first problem concerned the lack of support shown by the teachers. The second problem was the limitation of SRC (Students' representative council) business to subjects on which adults believed that pupils should comment. The third problem, which was perhaps the most fundamental,was the lack of pupil engagement with the SRC.' Additional (Technology-related) Barriers Only those students who have access to Broadband connections at school, and very possibly at home, are likely to be able to construct web-based accounts of their work with ease. This raises serious questions relating to the 'technological divide' (Mirandanet Conference, presentation by Doug Brown, DfES, September 2, Combe Grove Manor, Bath. Students as researchers need to be enabled within a culture of teachers as researchers but where this does not exist or where teacher researchers do not employ web-based technology to disseminate their research, students are less likely to be ICT enabled by them.

FAQs about Students as Researchers (Part One adapted from a Hot Seat forum on pupil voice and personalisation, led by Malcolm Beresford, August 2005, accessed at Talk2Learn at http://www.ncsl.org.uk ) Part One:Generic Questions: * Pupils don't value the School Council - how can we improve that? * How can we include pupils in interviewing new staff, including non-teaching staff? * Besides questionnaires and asking for feedback from the school council - what other successful ways involve pupils? * How do we ensure our school is really focused on pupils and their learning? * How do we develop our understandings of pupil voice? * What are the main leadership and management challenges associated with developing personalisation through pupil of student voice? * Is there a gender issue in how students research - and in how teachers research? * How do we convince our school managers that we should be listening to pupils more? * Listening to pupil voice in school is a massive issue - lessons in the classroom, homework, after school club, pastoral issues etc. Where do you start? * How can we assist students to initiate educational debate as well as participate in it? Part Two: Further (Contextual) Questions * How might the school deal with students who abuse their right to freedom of speech? * Are there sufficient staffing resources to enable regular discussion groups with students? * Is the school prepared to listen to and be guided by students in its own decision-making? * How would the school react where students identify a teacher who is failing in his duties? * Is the senior management and governing body prepared for any challenges to its authority? Part Three: Further technology related FAQs * Do we have staff expertise to assist our students in using web-based templates? * How will we monitor what students write about their research in their web pages? * Are we happy to enable students to contribute to web-logs about their research? * What is our school's policy on putting photographs and videos on the Internet?

Examples of SR and their predominant educational significance Bishop Wordsworth's School (pedagogical/technological and generative) Oldfield Girls' School (emancipatory/methodological) Hayesfield Girls' School (technology/pedagogical) Abersychan Comprehensive School (pedagogical) Hanham High School (democratic/methodological) Croatia/Bognar (emancipatory/methodological)

How can students be researchers: Case Study Student research at Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury

"The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) ensures children have not only the right of provision and protection, but also those of [participation - that is rights to express views and to be heard, and to take part in activities that affect them. The Convention requires us to be less condescending and more open in our attitudes and behaviour to young people who will shape the world for those who are yet to be born." Steinberg, S.R. and Kilenchoe, J. (1998) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Practice and practicalities in enabling students as researchers What would happen if we treated the student as someone whose opinion mattered in the introduction and implementation of reform in schools? Fullen, M. (2001) * the commitment of the senior management team is essential. * teachers need to be experienced in and committed to developing their own learning. * students as researchers need time to reflect and discuss their ideas with one another. * students need a platform to discuss their ideas with relevant adults in a trusting way. * students need clerical support to enable them to write up their research and share it. * students as researchers need training in research methods and the stimulus to develop. new ways of researching in systematic and rigorous ways.

Useful resources and references websites with useful links http://www.bsip.net http://www.consultingpupils.org.uk http://www.studentsasresearchers.nexus.edu.au http://www.aare.edu.au/99pap/gro99031.htm http://www.soundout.org/studentresearch.html literature resources Alexander, R. (2004) Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking Classroom Talk, Cambridge, University of Cambridge Press Arnot, M., McIntyre, D., Pedder, D. and Reay, D. (2003) Consultation in the Classroom; developing dialogue about teaching and learning, Cambridge, Pearson Batty, J., Rudduck, J. and Wilson, E. (2000) 'What makes a good mentor? Who makes a good mentor? The views of year 8 mentees'. Educational Action Research, 7, 3, 369-378 Beresford, J. (2000) Student Perspectives on School Improvement, paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Cardiff, 7-10 September Cook-Sather, A. (2002) 'Authorising Students' Perspectives: Towards Trust, Dialogue and Change in Education', Educational Researcher, 31, 4, pp. 3-14 Fielding, M. (2004) Transformative Approaches to Student Voice; theoretical underpinnings, recalcitrant realities, British Educational Research Journal, 30, 2, pp??? Fielding, M. and Bragg, S. (2003) Students as researchers: making a difference, Cambridge, Pearson Publishing Flutter, J. and Rudduck, J. (2004) Consulting Pupils: What's in it for Schools? London, RoutledgeFalmer Fullen, M. (2001) The New Meaning of Educational Change, Columbia University, New York, Teachers' College Press Kellett, M. (2003) Empowering ten-year-olds as active researchers, paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference , Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Sptember 11-13 September Macbeath, J., Demetriou, H., Rudduck, J. and Myers, K. (2003) Consulting Pupils: A Toolkit for Teachers, Pearson Publishing McGregor, J. (?) Students as Researchers: Development and Enquiry Programmes, Nottingham: National College for School Leadership accessed 28 August 2005 at http://www.ncsl.org.uk Morrison, I., Everton, T. and Rudduck, J. (1999) 'Pupils helping other pupils with their learning: cross age tutoring in a primary and secondary school', Research in Education, 61, 187-200 Rudduck, J. (2002) 'The transformative potential of consulting young people about teaching, learning and schooling', Scottish Educational Review, 34, 2, pp. 123-137 Rudduck, J. (?) Pupil Voice is here to stay! accessed on 28 August 2005 at http://www.qca.org.uk/futures/ Rudduck, J. and Flutter, J. (2000) 'Pupil participation and pupil perspective, 'carving a new order of experience' Cambridge Journal of Education, 30, 1, 75-89 Rudduck, J. Chaplain, R. and Wallace, G. (eds.) (1996) School Improvement: What Can Pupils Tell Us? London, David Fulton Steinberg, S.R. and Kilenchoe, J.L. Students as Researchers: Creating Classrooms that Matter, London, Falmer Press T.L.R.P. (?) Consulting Pupils about Teaching and Learning, accessed at http://www.tlrp.org on 28 August 2005 York-Barr, J., Sommers, W.A., Ghere, G.S. and Montie, J. (2001) Reflective Practice to Improve Schools: An Action Gide for Educators, Thousand Oaks, Canada, Corwin Press

Conclusion: Learning from literature For the exciting possibilities for working in partnership with pupils to be realised, I recommend that schools, as individuals sites, networks and systems, adopt action frameworks which take into account the following three issues: 1. Recognise the impediments to working in partnership with pupils. 2. Acknowledge that young children are competent contributors. 3. Create opportunities for primary school-aged children to initiate topics for review. 'Students are evaluated on the lowest level of human thinking - the ability to memorise, the ability to follow directions. Thus, unless students are moved to become knowledge producers who connect such information with their own lives, schooling will remain merely an unengaging rite of passage into adulthood.' (Steinberg and Kilenchoe, J. 1998, p. 9) 'students are taught to surrender themselves to the system and become passive recipients of official truths. The idea of students as researchers who explore their own lives and connect academic information with their own lived experience is alien to many schools.' (Steinberg and Kilenchoe, 1998, p. 13) 'as teachers relinquish the authority of truth providers, they assume the mature authority of facilitators of student enquiry.' (Steinberg and Kilenchoe, 1998, p. 17) In creating web-based template so their research, students at Bishop Wordsworth's School have 'not only learnt research skills but pedagogical skills involving the determination of how to arrange their research findings for presentation, what to leave out and what's essential, how to contextualise their findings in a way that makes them meaningful for other students and teachers.' (Steinberg and Kilenchoe, 1998, p. 18) 'Some might dismiss the research efforts of these young children and conclude that adults could have researched the topic much more extensively. This would be to miss three important points. Firstly, the children succeeded in getting responses from within their peer group in a way that may not have been possible for adult researchers because of power and generational issues. Secondly, their work adds to the body of knowledge about children and childhood from a genuine child perspective. Thirdly, the dissemination of research carried out by them and, importantly, owned by them, empowers children with a voice. Kellet, 2003)

Conclusion: Learning from practice or How am I learning to support students and teachers as researchers, using web-based technology? * Students and teachers may need coaching in research techniques and using web-based technology but their natural inquisitiveness and desire to learn will (hopefully) enable them to far outstrip my learning. Because the teacher and students at BWS already understood the language and capture of research from their lessons in school, we had a means of communicating ideas and collaborating. * Training in research techniques can be enabling but it can also stifle initiative - much of the BWS project was not planned step by step and we did not originally intend year 12 to be research mentors. * Students can teach us new and better ways of using web-based technology - I much prefer the several photographs of the group on the BWS web-based snapshot to any that I managed to take of them! * Students and their teachers are a powerful force for change in schools but are reliant on the support and goodwill of senior management and where possible the overt assistance and recognition by SMT. The head teacher invited students to present their work to him and this provided the focus and impetus for much of our early work. After the presentation he invited the students to present to other teachers. * It may take outside 'experts to get the process going but they should work alongside and not in control any more than the teacher should control how the students research - we are in a support and challenge role which is core to mentoring - rather than in a didactic mode which is core to teaching. * In a well run research project the creativity and imagination of the students, teacher and university-based research mentor can and should all come into play. We all have useful skills and perspectives. * In this project I learnt to load video into KEEP Toolkit snapshots as a result of sensing frustration that I/we could only display accounts about what happened rather than enabling experiences that occurred. * I learnt that it would be a travesty not to invite students to work alongside other researchers to improve teaching and learning in our schools. We must, however, not force this issue and we mus be on our guard to ensure that the rights of children to freedom not to participate if it is not appropriate.