It is as if students occupy a dichotomy in society where their voices are either completely worshipped or totally dismissed, and worse still, sometimes fully repressed. Mainstream media frequently place student voice on a pedestal, highlighting the “outrageous” things kids say or making the opinions and ideas of students into the flavor of the day in advertisements.
In a variety of institutions throughout our society educators rarely want to know what students think, feel, act, and understand. When it does happen, well-meaning educators often seem stuck in their assumed role of sage advice-givers and secret knowledge-holders.
“I want to eat a slice of bread.”
“Why?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Why are you hungry?”
“Because I skipped breakfast this morning.”
“Why?”
“I got in a fight with my little sister.”
“Why?”
“I spilled her bowl of cereal on her by accident. She was wearing her new outfit, and I was in a hurry to get food from the kitchen, so I rushed by her in there and bumped her by accident. I was running late for a meeting at school where there’s a boy I really want to talk to…”
…And so forth. The 5 Why’s can provide a useful “drilling” technique in situations where you really want to know what students are thinking. There are other techniques, too. However, blasé or indifferent attitudes defeat student voice. Students frequently intuitively sense when educators do not authentically care about their perspectives. The idiom, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to,” applies here.
Listening to students and validating what they have said is just the start to the Cycle. The next step is authorizing.
Steps of the Cycle
Read on to learn more, or visit SoundOut for a brief summary of the entire Cycle of Meaningful Student Involvement.