Written by: Kesha Hood

Equity in education centers around a student’s ability to access learning and obtain what is needed for their individual success. One lever that can ensure that equity is achieved is the implementation of true student voice. In education, student voice refers to the values, opinions, beliefs, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds of individual students and groups of students in a school, and to instructional approaches and techniques that are based on student choices, interests, passions, and ambitions (Glossary of Education Reform). Student voice is more than a catchphrase in which educators understand that children need to be involved when it comes to decisions about their learning. It is more than a peer-selected group that meets once a month to make plans for school events. Student voice represents and includes every student and is not limited to the popular, the vocal, or the students with good grades. All students need to feel valued equitably, and giving each student a chance to use their voice fosters self-worth. Actively listening to a student in order to gain knowledge on how they best learn is at the foundation of this equity movement and has been proven through research in multiple studies. The student voice initiative should not stop at the classroom but also be utilized by school administration to gather vital information on best practices and effective strategies through student opinions on how to increase student and staff success.

Student voices include students as a key stakeholder in the education process so that what is equitable in services has the input of the individual receiving it. The Dudley Flood Framework for Change is a commitment to act and provides systematic approaches to a diverse stakeholder group within and outside education to establish collective practices to eradicate systemic inequities. This unique framework elevates care as foundational to equity and this care centers around student worth in the process.

Student voice should be an intentional process at every level including classroom, school, district, and the state. For North Carolina educators, the facilitation and implementation of student voices in decision-making is central to determining educator effectiveness in and out of the classroom. Educators have long voiced the need for students to be problem solvers and student voice allows students to be a part of this process. It holds students accountable and responsible for their self-efficacy and learning plan by increasing their role in finding solutions to obstacles. Student voice establishes the opportunity for students to advocate for resources to mitigate self-reflected barriers and become the 21st-century learners educators have always wanted them to be in the classroom and beyond.