Students from across Berrien and Kalamazoo Counties were engaged in the development of this toolkit. They were invited to share what they thought was important for adults to know and then provided direct feedback on the information in this resource.
Overwhelmingly, we heard students’ desire to have voice and choice and to feel seen and heard. Ultimately, students want adults to build the foundation of student engagement on the concepts found in “Fair Process.”
Fair Process includes three core principles:
Engagement: Involving individuals in the decisions that impact them. This communicates respect and invites collaboration.
Explanation: Everyone involved and affected should have clarity about what the final decision is, how it was determined and the why behind the decision. This helps participants know that they were heard and their opinions matter (even if the final decision is not what they would have first chosen). It also provides a feedback loop to participants and an opportunity for learning.
Expectation Clarity: Once a decision is made, it is clearly stated so that everyone knows and understands what is expected. This builds a sense of “fairness” that everyone is “playing by the same rules.”
“Equity is an approach to ensuring equally high outcomes for all by removing the predictability of success or failure that currently correlates with any racial, social, economic, or cultural factor…Equity isn’t a destination but an unwavering commitment to a journey” (Jamila Dugan, Street Data, 2021).
We have a need and responsibility to use tools and approaches that re-center students and those holding marginalized identities. Amplifying student voice is one way to name and lean in a different direction than adultism and the continued marginalization of young people. Education in the United States has a deep history that has celebrated and centered certain cultures and identities over others. When we “pass the mic” to our students in spaces where they are traditionally impacted but not included, we create spaces for students to exercise agency and critical engagement.
When deepening a practice of amplifying student voice, the approach to practice matters. When engaging student voice pay attention to these key pieces:
Which students are invited and cultivated to share their voices?
An open invitation will often amplify voices that are already centered by dominant cultures.
Engaging diverse voices (consider the following social identities: race, ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, disability, first language, nationality, and more) requires intentional invitation and sometimes scaffolding. Scaffolding may include building group agreements that create brave spaces and/or intentional invitation such as mutual invitation that invites all voices to take space.
Have you created a space for students who are historically underrepresented and marginalized to have their voices amplified?
Have you built relationships so students know the invitation is legitimate?
Have you set the stage to create a safe and brave space for sharing?
Have you reflected on your own biases including adultism to support real listening, collaboration and partnership?
Are you providing the resources (education, support, flexibility) necessary for students to share their authentic voice?
Creating shared expectations around the setting/space and experience (what and how engagement looks).
Are adults in the space prepared to be flexible in their approach to embrace what students might share?
Have appropriate resourcing/supports/scaffolding been considered to make sure all students can participate; for example: considering the time of day, translation needs, length of time, format for sharing (written, spoken, etc.), transportation needs, etc.?
What Can be a Barrier: Adultism
“How do we reimagine spaces of power where knowledge is exchanged to allow for value to be redistributed, reimagined, recalibrated to be able to bend itself to the needs of the most marginalized young people'' (Dr. Christopher Emdin).
Adultism confers unearned advantages to adults at the expense of young people. It shows up in conscious and unconscious ways that assume adults are smarter, more worthy, and the ones who should primarily be centered and consulted on a broad spectrum of topics. In education adultism or ageism can show up in ways that systematically exclude students from the decision-making that affects their education at various levels. Culturally and interpersonally, adultism can manifest in negative stereotypes about our students, in assumptions that educators know better than their students, and through the tone of voice used toward, or jokes made about, young people. Student voice is a tool and approach that recognizes the agency, ability, and responsibility students should have to inform decisions that impact their lives. If you suspect your classroom, building or district does not already foster a culture that values and celebrates student input, exploring barriers and assumptions related to adultism may be important before implementing any student voice initiatives (The Free Child Project).
Steps to Counter Adultism (Adapted from Adam F.C. Fletcher: The Basics of Adultism)