Voices and silences in a social network mediated Student Voice experience

Main Article Content

Valentina Grion
Stefania Manca

Abstract

Based on the theoretical framework of Student Voice, this paper presents a research study designed to verify whether a social networking site such as Facebook represents a feasible way for secondary school students to express their voice on school so as to enhance the quality of school education. With this purpose in mind, a private group was set up on Facebook and some questions were posted to activate participation. Moreover, two surveys were administered to gauge students’ confidence with Facebook and explore the reasons behind their overall reticence to participate in the proposed activity. The low levels of response provide the authors with elements for reflecting upon the Student Voice approach and how it might be implemented successfully at school level. They also lead to some considerations about the use of social networking sites in the school context.

Article Details

Section
Articles - Special Issue

References

Anderson, T., & Dron, J. (2011). Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(3), 80-97.

Angus, L. (2006). Educational leadership and the imperative of including student voices, student interests, and students’ lives in the mainstream. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 9, 4, 369-379.

Broadfoot, P. (2007). An Introduction to Assessment. New York, NY: Continuum.

Cammarota, J., & Fine, M. (2008). Revolutionizing education: Youth participatory action research in motion. New York, NY: Routledge.

Codello, F., & Stella, I. (2011). Liberi di imparare. Le esperienze di scuola non autoritaria in Italia e all’estero raccontate dai protagonisti. Firenze, IT: Terra Nuova.

Codignola, E., & Codignola, A. M. (1975). Scuola-Città Pestalozzi. Firenze, IT: La Nuova Italia.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research Methods in Education. Oxon, UK: Routledge.

Consiglio d’Europa (2012). Raccomandazione CM/Rec(2012) del Comitato dei Ministri agli Stati membri sulla partecipazione dei bambini e degli adolescenti di età inferiore ai 18 anni. Retrieved from http://www.cameraminorilepadova.it/wpcontent/ uploads/2013/09/Participation_ita.pdf

Cook-Sather, A. (2002). Authorizing Students’ Perspectives: Toward Trust, Dialogue, and Change in Education. Educational Researcher, 31(4), 3-14.

Cook-Sather, A. (2009). Learning from the Student’s Perspective. A Sourcebook for Effective Teaching. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.

Cook-Sather, A. (2013a). Legittimare i punti di vista degli studenti. Nella direzione della fiducia, del dialogo e del cambiamento in educazione. In V. Grion & A. Cook-Sather (Eds.), Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia (pp. 27-61). Milano, IT: Guerini.

Cook-Sather, A. (2013b). Espressione, Presenza e Potere: “Student Voice” nella ricerca educativa e in educazione. In V. Grion & A. Cook-Sather (Eds.), Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia (pp. 121-135). Milano, IT: Guerini.

Cook-Sather, A. (2014). The Trajectory of Student Voice in Educational Research. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 49(2), 131-148.

Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in teaching & learning: A guide for faculty. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Crook, C. (2012). The ‘digital native’ in context: tensions associated with importing Web 2.0 practices into the school setting. Oxford Review of Education, 38(1), 63-80.

Czerniawski, G., & Kidd, W. (Eds.) (2011). The Student Voice Handbook – Bridging the Academic/Practitioner Divide. London, UK: Emerald.

Davies, H. T. O., & Lampel, J. (1998). Trust in Performance Indicators?. Quality in Health Care, 7(3), 159-62.

Dron, J., & Anderson, T. (2014). Teaching Crowds: Learning & Social Media. Athabasca, AU: AU Press.

Elwood, J. (2013). The role(s) of student voice in 14-19 education policy reform: Reflections from students on what they are, and what they are not, consulted about. London Review of Education, 11(2), 97-111.

Fielding, M. (2004). ‘New Wave’ Student Voice and the Renewal of Civic Society. Review of Education, 2(3), 197-217.

Fielding, M. (2006). Leadership, radical student engagement and the necessity of person centred education. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 9(4), 299- 313.

Fielding, M. (2012). Beyond Student Voice: Patterns of Partnership and the Demands of Deep Democracy. Revista de Educación, 359, 45-65.

Fielding, M., & Bragg, S. (2003). Students as researchers: Making a difference. Cambridge, UK: Pearson Publishing.

Flutter, J. (2013). Alla ricerca delle voci degli studenti: il viaggio di una ricercatrice. In V. Grion & A. Cook-Sather (Eds.), Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia (pp. 100-120). Milano, IT: Guerini.

Flutter, J., & Rudduck, J. (2004). Consulting Pupils. What’s in it for schools?. London, UK: Routledge.

Gemma, C. (2013). Lo studente: fonte sussidiaria per l’analisi dell’insegnamento. In V. Grion & A. Cook-Sather (Eds.), Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia (pp. 155-165). Milano, IT: Guerini.

Greenhow, C., Gleason, B., & Li, J. (2014). Psychological, social, and educational dynamics of adolescents’ online social networking. Media Education: Studi, Ricerche, Buone Pratiche, 5(2), 115-130.

Greenhow, C., & Li, J. (2013). Like, Comment, Share: Collaboration and Civic Engagement Within Social Network Sites. In C. Mouza, & N. Lavigne (Eds.), Emerging Technologies for the Classroom. A Learning Sciences Perspective (pp. 127-141). New York NY, Heidelberg DE, Dordrecht NL, London UK: Springer.

Grion, V. (2008). Insegnanti e formazione: realtà e prospettive. Roma, IT: Carocci.

Grion, V. (2011). Valutare a scuola: dall’approccio docimologico alla valutazione come apprendimento. In P: Sorzio (Ed.), Apprendimento e istituzioni educative. Storia, contesti, soggetti (pp. 191-217). Roma, IT: Carocci.

Grion, V. (2013). Partecipazione e responsabilità nelle Indicazioni Nazionali per il curricolo del primo ciclo d’istruzione. In V. Grion & A. Cook- Sather (Eds.), Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia (pp. 136-154). Milano, IT: Guerini.

Grion, V., & Cook-Sather, A. (2013). Student Voice. Prospettive internazionali e pratiche emergenti in Italia. Milano, IT: Guerini.

Grion, V., & De Vecchi, G. (2014). Il ruolo di bambini e bambine nei processi d’insegnamento-apprendimento: Student Voice e leadership educativa condivisa. Educational Reflective Practices, 1, 30-46.

Groundwater-Smith, S., Dockett, S., & Bottrel, D. (2015). Participatory research with children and young people. London, UK: Sage.

Hargittai, E. (2010). Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the Net Generation. Sociological Inquiry, 80(1), 92-113.

Hargittai, E., & Walejko, G. (2008). The Participation Divide: Content Creation and Sharing in the Digital Age. Information, Communication & Society, 11(2), 239-256.

Heilbrun, C. (1988). Writing a woman’s life. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Hutchings, P., Huber, M. T., & Ciccone, A. (2011). The scholarship of teaching and learning reconsidered: Institutional integration and impact. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2009). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Chicago, IL: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Manca, S., & Ranieri, M. (2013). Is it a tool suitable for learning? A critical review of the literature on Facebook as a technologyenhanced learning environment. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 29(6), 487-504.

Mason, R., & Rennie, F. (2008). E-learning and Social Networking Handbo ok. New York NY, London UK: Routledge.

Nixon, J., Martin, J. McKeown, P., & Ranson, S. (1996). Encouraging Learning: Towards a Theory of the Learning School. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

Ofsted (2014). The framework for school inspection. Retrieved from http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/framework -for-school-inspection

Ranieri, M., & Manca, S. (2013). I social network nell’educazione. Basi teoriche, modelli applicativi, linee guida. Trento, IT: Erickson.

Rudduck, J. (1999). Teacher practice and the student voice. In M. Lang, J. Olsen, H. Hansen, & W. Blunder (Eds.), Changing schools/changing practices: perspectives on educational reform and teacher professionalism (pp. 41-54). Louvain, BE: Garant.

Rudduck, J., Chaplain, R., & Wallace, G. (Eds.) (1996). School Improvement: What Can Pupils Tell Us.? London: Fulton.

Shields, C. (2004) Dialogic leadership for social justice: Overcoming pathologies of silence. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 109–132.

Selwyn, N. (2009). Faceworking: Exploring students’ education-related use of Facebook. Learning, Media and Technology, 34(2), 157- 174.

Selwyn, N. (2012). I social media nell’educazione formale e informale tra potenzialità e realtà. TD - Tecnologie Didattiche, 20(1), 4-10.

Smyth, J. (2006). Educational leadership that fosters ‘student voice’. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 9(4), 279-284.

Smyth, J., & McInerney, P. (2012). From silent witnesses to active agents: Student voice in re-engaging with learning. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Weiner, B. (2003). The classroom as a courtroom. Social Psychology of Education, 6(1), 3-15.

Williams, F. (1941). Introduction. In J. Macmurray (Ed.). A Challenge to the Churches - Religion and Democracy (pp. 1-14). London, UK: Kegan Paul.

White, S. (2008). The Emerging Politics of Republican Democracy. In White S. & Leighton D. (Eds.), Building a Citizen Democracy (pp. 7- 22). London, UK: Lawrence & Wishart.

Wright, K. (2008). Researching the views of pupils with multiple and complex needs. Is it worth doing and whose interests are served by it?. Support for Learning, 23(1), 32-40.