-
Have a real conversation
with a student. Ask a student what they want to do find out how you can help
make that happen.
-
Actively support
student-led action however possible, including working with students
out-of-school to accomplish their goals in education.
-
Start a resource library at
your school that will inspire students to make change. Include books,
websites, and organizations working on democracy, social change, school
improvement, and youth power.
-
Use active learning methods to teach students
about education, including service learning and
constructivism. Build on what they already know.
-
Develop a student-adult partnership program
in your school where students and educators can actually discuss school
together.
-
Create a student action
center in your school for students to become involved in changing their school
and communities.
-
Use
participatory action research
in your classroom for students to take action in your school.
-
Be an advocate for students at school meetings. Make sure students are at the table whenever your
school is making choices about students.
-
Create classroom lesson
plans that actively engage students in critical thinking about education
and action that changes schools.
-
Make students concerns visible
in your school by posting them in your classroom and sharing them at
meetings where adults are.
-
Sponsor
a letter
with students to the administration about student issues.
-
Respect students
as you do adults. Don't expect more from students than you do adults and
don't interpret for students what they can say for themselves.
-
Co-design a lesson plan with students about education reform and student involvement.
-
Listen
specifically
to students whose voices are seldom heard in schools, including students
who are minority, low-income, have low grades, or don’t interact with
their peers.
-
Host an activity
for students and educators to encourage student-adult partnerships.
-
Engage students as classroom
consultants, interns, apprentices, and
activities staff.
-
Be consistent and clear
about your expectations of students in your classroom.
-
Team up with students
to have a town meeting or school forum for everyone at your school.
-
Identify and network with
students
in your school who are concerned about their school.
-
Connect with other adult
allies who want to involve students meaningfully, both in your school and
others, and around the community.
-
Include students in hiring
adults
at your school, including staff, teachers, and administrators.
-
Arrange resources
for students who would not otherwise be able to participate in school activities,
including transportation, permission, and childcare.
-
Support political candidates
for local, state, and national office who make
listening and working with young people a priority.
-
Arrange for a radio
station to sponsor a call-in show led by students that allows them to
talk about their concerns about school.
Arrange an meeting with the principal for
students to highlight
the concerns and recommendations they have for school.
-
Create a school-wide vision for student involvement and voice that includes adults and students.
-
Serve on an advisory board
for a student-led effort.
-
Refuse
to attend meetings
where students are not invited or where you can not bring students with
you.
-
Be a real, active, and engaged friend
to students.
-
Discourage unfair opportunities
for students based on academic performance, attendance, race, gender,
etc.
-
Create student-led experiences in your classroom and throughout your school.
-
Make your classroom
a
comfortable, safe, and affirming place so students can “hang-out.”
-
Help students create a
newsletter, or work with your
school newspaper, to share students' concerns about their school and
education.
-
Help students create a
listing
of all opportunities for their involvement in your school and
community.
-
Call for
your school
to have regular student evaluations of themselves, teachers,
administrators, and classes that influence performance evaluations,
contracts, and hiring.
-
Ask a student for help. If
they know about computers, ask them to assist you. If they understand
diversity, ask them to teach you.
-
Sponsor a support group
for
students who face particular difficulties such as parents’ divorce,
violence, etc.
-
Raise funds
for a
student-led organization focusing on school issues.
-
Actively support youth-led
organizations
in your community, and encourage them to address education reform.
-
Join (or form) with students
a community task force to address youth issues and coordinate responses
in schools.
-
Prepare
students for multiple roles
in your school, including learner, teacher, and leader.
-
Ask
students' advice
on school issues you are wrestling with.
-
Be an advocate
for student
involvement and student/adult partnerships throughout the education
system.
-
Start an adult support
group to share ideas, concerns, and ways to listen better to students.
-
Recognize
student involvement. Don’t assume that just because someone
is a student that they enjoy school. Help them appreciate it by giving
class credit or through other meaningful recognition.
-
Include students on
committees in professional education organizations.
-
Hold students accountable
for their mistakes and challenges. Be honest and forthright with young
people, and support their efforts to improve.
-
Treat students as
individuals. One student cannot
represent all students, and must learn how to represent themselves.
Teach them.
-
Speak to students with respect, and avoid interrupting students.
-
Involve students from
the beginning of class by having them create a list of their own
expectations for the climate of the classroom through
the end by having them conduct self-, class-, and
teacher-evaluations.
-
Become a systemwide advocate by continuing your
movement towards Meaningful Student Involvement by
calling for student voice throughout the education
system, and by offering yourself and your classroom as a
resource consistently.
