If you’ve previously read this blog, you are aware that my colleague, Lynn Fuini-Hetten, and I host a podcast (Shift Your Paradigm) that delves into learner-centered education broadly and learner-centered leadership more specifically. We are currently working through all of our interviews, sorting out themes and principles for learner-centered leadership.
For me, one of the most striking learnings has been around learner voice. In the most powerful learning environments, learners have an authentic, real voice in nearly every decision that impacts learning. This is a transformational mindset shift.
Often in our schools, “learner voice” comes off as tokenism. Make sure you have learners represented on committees. Make sure they get in front of the school board to show the vision in action and where learning is going. Create student advisory groups. But in many cases, control is still predominantly with the adults. Design thinking principles tell us that transformation challenges becomes sustainable when driven by a balance of stakeholders inputs and outputs throughout the organization.
How can we create the conditions for authentic learner voice? Here are some ideas from podcast episodes:
Provide young learners the opportunity to:
- be a prominent voice in the design of a new learning model.
- be a prominent voice in the design of physical learning spaces.
- co-design curriculum based on passions and interests, even suggesting new curricular offerings.
- co-design internship and intercession programs connected to areas of interest.
- serve on governing bodies with adults, having an equal voice.
- serve on committee and advisory groups around authentic challenges in the learning environment; let the learners lead the design process to arrive at and iterate solutions.
- create mechanisms to receive feedback from learners; be transparent about the feedback and work with learners to take action to design improvements/iterations.
- tell the story of transformation through media production, tours, panels, etc.
What aspects of your organization do the adults currently control? How can you create the conditions for young learners to share leadership responsibilities and develop authentic learner voice? How might you listen more deeply to learner voice and shift your own paradigm of what is possible when adult and young learners co-create/co-design transformation together?
Connect with Randy on Twitter, the TLTalkRadio podcast, and the Shift Your Paradigm podcast!
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