Student voice is acknowledged in the literature as an opportunity to empower students to participate meaningfully and collaboratively in improving their experience of school, encouraging their engagement in learning and improving teacher-student relationships. Facilitation of student voice is a key component in constructing discourses of respect, empowerment and citizenship in schools. Education for citizenship and societal participation is also highlighted as an important value in European citizenship thinking. Education in schools is based on a trichotomy of knowledge acquisition, personal development and societal preparation. Most schools appear not to have a problem with the knowledge component but personal development and societal preparation are more difficult. In spite of the wide array of literature on the topic of how to promote students' participation where all students have a voice and opportunities to play an active role in decisions which affect their learning, and prepares them for active citizenship, experiences of the project members with schools reveal that there is little research or anecdotal evidence of widespread efforts by schools to develop forms of partnership between students and teachers which are underpinned by democratic engagement and respect. Student voice - the bridge to learning (BRIDGE) will provide different models of working in partnership with students by giving them voice and develop their skills and attitudes to become responsible and democratic citizens. BRIDGE will create and implement ideas for pedagogical practices that support the active role of students in their learning by building bridges between students and teachers. Through CPDs, and other initiatives teachers will be supported to build partnership with students so that they can reach their full potential as learners and democratic citizens.For each objective clear, relevant and measurable results have been indicated and a range of appropriate evidence has been planned which will show whether the project has been successful. This will help us to evaluate the overall success of the project and identify next steps for improvement. During and at the end of the project the report (analysing and reviewing the methodology and project aims) will be prepared and shared among project partners. There will be 15 schools in 5 EU countries who will be directly involved in the project. Besides that, project participants will be also associated schools and their teams of primary and secondary level, involving heads, teachers and internal and external support staff: advisers, counsellors, initial teacher trainers, researchers, curriculum developers, the inspectorate, education authorities and decision makers (local, regional, national and European). All member partners will work with schools on national level so the project results will be disseminated to as many schools as possible. Intellectual outputs will be developed to support teachers in building partnership with students. The project will develop different MODELS of working in partnership with students which will systematically and sustainably increase students' engagement and participation enhancing student-teacher relationships in the classroom at national and transnational level. Practical TOOLS will be collected in active TOOLBOXES, available via webpage. These tools will be used and evaluated in local, regional, national and international CPDs and conferences. There will be three national and one international Student voice conference, where students'experiences will be demonstrated through roundtables.Young people will benefit in a range of different ways: increased confidence, self-esteem, responsibility, communication skills, qualities of leadership, and ability to listen to others. Students will become more active learners and consequently develop their self-regulating abilities. Their engagement and motivation will increase by giving them voice. Student will develop their competencies to become responsible and active citizens. Teachers will reflect upon their teaching practices in order to optimize the learning of the learners. Thus they will build commitment and capacity to work in partnership with students.In a few years’ time, through deeper understanding and long term use of MODELS, CPDs and TOOLBOXES, classroom teaching and learning culture will improve. Students will have a voice to take an active role in decisions which will affect their learning and consequently their participation in the society.
Context/background of the project: Student voice is acknowledged in the literature as an opportunity to empower students to participate meaningfully and collaboratively in improving their experience of school, encouraging their engagement in learning and improving teacher-student relationships. Facilitation of student voice is a key component in constructing discourses of respect, empowerment and citizenship in schools. Education for citizenship and societal participation is also highlighted as an important value in European citizenship thinking. Of particular importance in this project was the voice of the individual student by which every individual is able, with confidence, to express his or her point of view, opinions, ideas, suggestions, worries and concerns which relate directly to learning and teaching. Specific objectives of the project were: - To build teachers’ commitment and capacity to work in partnership with students in support of their learning. - To support students to become more active, responsible and engaged learners, and consequently develop their self-regulating abilities. - To develop models of partnership between students and teachers which are underpinned by democratic engagement and respect so that students can reach their full potential as learners and democratic citizens. Five agencies with the task of developing and supporting national curricula for general education from countries across Europe participated in the project: Hungary, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland and Slovenia. ZRSŠ - NEIS (The National Institute of Education) consists of departments and regional units, covering the entire vertical of the education system from early childhood education to primary and secondary level. Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development – SLO serves as the national institute for curriculum development in the Netherlands. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is a statutory body, which advises the Minister for Education and Skills on curriculum and assessment from early childhood to the end of second level. The Hungarian Institute for Educational Research and Development, founded by the Ministry of Human Capacities is an institution providing general and strategic support services for the educational sector. Education Scotland is an Executive agency of Scottish Government, and the national organisation in Scotland for promoting and supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education. BRIDGE has created and implemented ideas for pedagogical practices that support the active role of students in their learning by building bridges between students and teachers. Through CPDs, and other initiatives teachers were supported to build partnership with students so that they could reach their full potential as learners and democratic citizens. For each objective clear, relevant and measurable results have been indicated and a range of appropriate evidence has been provided which shows the success of the project. There were be 15 schools (primary and secondary level ) directly involved in the project, involving heads, teachers and internal and external support staff: advisers, counsellors, initial teacher trainers, researchers, curriculum developers, etc. All member partners have worked with schools on national level so the project results were disseminated to as many schools as possible. Intellectual outputs were developed to support teachers in building partnership with students. The project has develop different MODELS of working in partnership with students which can systematically and sustainably increase students' engagement and participation enhancing student-teacher relationships in the classroom at national and transnational level. Practical TOOLS were collected in active TOOLBOXES, available via webpage. These tools were used and evaluated in local, regional, national and international CPDs and conferences. There were three national and one international Student voice conference, where students ‘experiences were demonstrated. Young people have benefited in a range of different ways: increased confidence, self-esteem, responsibility, communication skills, qualities of leadership, and ability to listen to others. Students have become more active learners and have consequently develop their self-regulating abilities. Their engagement and motivation has increased by giving them voice. Student have developed their competencies to become responsible and active citizens. Teachers have reflected upon their teaching practices in order to optimize the learning of the learners. They have built commitment and capacity to work in partnership with students. Through deeper understanding and long-term use of intellectual outputs learning culture will continue improving. Sudents will have a voice to take an active role in decisions which will affect their learning and consequently their participation in the society.