Imagine a middle school girl, around 12 years old, being racially profiled on a school campus by her peers and teachers. After another student pulled off her hijab, the staff who witnessed the bullying did nothing to help the girl, who did not find peace until entering high school.

“I was going to get in trouble until I explained what happened to a Muslim teacher,” Marwa Jomaa, a Canadian student at Westwood Community High School, said.

The education system handles problems within school communities daily, but the students who are being affected do not always get a choice. Student voice – described as a reflection of students’ opinions, values, and thoughts – opens up many opportunities for meaningful discussion between students and staff. 

When students can use critical thinking and problem-solving skills in real-world situations, they may feel more confident, easily build connections with teachers, and promote engagement in the classroom. Students’ voices hold power since the future is in the youth. In fact, 65% of children in elementary school will someday work in a job that has yet to be created.  As a result, some schools have taken more alternative teaching methods, while others prefer to stay traditional.

Research by the Quaglia Institute for School Voice and Aspirations (2016) found that students who believe they have a voice in school are seven times more likely to be academically motivated than students who do not.

Alternative Practices

Student-led learning is a form of teaching in which students take initiative and are responsible for their own learning. This gives students a chance to have some semblance of control over their education and growth. Some schools have already implemented student-led learning, like the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School. 

For decades, children have been encouraged to be seen and not heard. This originated as a lesson to teach them to be quiet and well-behaved, but as the world modernizes, it has become increasingly more important for students to represent themselves in public spaces. In the Walton Family Foundation-Gallup Voices of Gen Z study, it was reported that less than half of K-12 students believed their coursework challenged them or provided opportunities for growth.

Similarly, students who feel like equals to their teachers are more likely to be actively engaged in the lessons.

Interviews with students and experts across the country revealed a range of concerns about how student voice is addressed in schools, especially regarding harassment and bullying.

“Bullying and harassment [are not] taken very seriously…sometimes it’s the teachers doing the bullying,” Jomaa said.

Traditional Practices

Education systems can be traced back to 4000 BCE, when the Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese began educating boys at schools and girls at home. Education continued to evolve, and eventually, in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, giving boys and girls of different races equal educational opportunities. Schools today have many different teaching tactics, but one common denominator remains: one teacher, one classroom, 20-something kids crammed into desks.

Traditional does not necessarily mean archaic. Structured, teacher-led classrooms can be highly effective for students who thrive under clear expectations and direct instruction. Long-established classrooms foster a consistent learning environment, make resources readily available, and cover a wide range of content – all of which can be beneficial to students.

However, despite these advantages, research suggests that overall engagement remains low in American schools. According to a Gallup survey, only 47% of U.S. students say they feel engaged in school.

In contrast, student-led learning is a more modern approach, giving students more control over their education, although some traditional educators remain hesitant about making the shift.

Not only that, but it also comes with challenges; general education teachers might be afraid of the change.

Journalism

On April 26, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) hosted a conference for high school and college students in Chicago.

With the hashtag #MoreLatinosInNews, NAHJ hopes to encourage Hispanic students to join the journalism field. The conference was intended to connect students with renowned journalists and offer insight into what the world of journalism currently looks like.

Essentially, it aims to help students (specifically those who aim to work in the journalism field) to learn how to use media such as print and TV to vocalize their opinions and share important stories.

“Students are giving us the real sense of who we are…if students get involved, the community gets to hear the voice of the new generation speakers,” NAHJ president, Dunia Elvir, said.

Other journalism organizations like SJA, NSPA,  and others have the same message.

At the local level

In 2024, West Chicago Community High School (WCCHS) started a strategic planning meeting involving students, and surveys were sent out to those involved as well as those who were not.

The results were very telling: while 79% of students agreed that WCCHS has taught them to be good citizens, it has also been proven that target learning areas (good work habits, collaboration, etc) are not being met. 313 students agreed that WCCHS is doing a poor job of preparing students to think critically. The survey results highlight concerns about student preparedness for the real world, but how faculty will address these concerns remains uncertain. 

“With some of the students who are more introverted…the challenge comes, how do we capture their perspective, thoughts, views? And I think that’s a challenge in every high school in America,” WCCHS Superintendent Kurt Johansen said.

According to Johansen, student voice is more than necessary in schools. Some students feel the same, others not so much.

“They just had an event where students got to talk to the candidates for the new school board, and students were actually asking questions…which I think is really nice. So, I feel like WEGO does incorporate their students in a lot of their decisions and what they do here,” WCCHS senior Miranda Bucio said.

Similarly, WCCHS staff believe that the students’ voice has a great impact on how the administration makes decisions about school issues.

“We have to ensure that our students understand that their voice does matter,” Johansen said.

Student council & its impact

The National Association of Student Councils (NASC) is driven by four main pillars: leadership, service, student voice, and active engagement. Student Councils are opportunities for the youth to build their social skills and to gain civic experience. In survey findings reported by RAND.org, only 80% of American high schools offer civic/leadership extracurriculars. Yet, research by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University found that youth who develop their voice during high school are more likely to vote as adults.

“I feel like they [student council] have a lot of say…they just brought in a new system where a few students from each grade go to meetings with teachers…so I feel like those leaders play a big part in what happens at school,” Bucio said. 

The Student Council at WCCHS plays an important role in brainstorming student activities and solving problems. More specifically, the student council at WCCHS comes up with themes for school dances and creates fundraisers for other school causes.

“Students are able to control how they express themselves through the choices they make in student council…also [are able] to share ideas or concerns with either one of the sponsors or in full meetings,” freshman Gabriel Valenzuela said.

While students at West Chicago seem to be involved in decision-making, this is not the case in schools worldwide. However, one high school student in Florida seems to think Student Council members make a noticeable difference in school culture.

“I feel like the student council helps make school more likable and makes kids a little more comfortable,” council member at Colonial High School (CHS), Margot Wallace, said.

Florida is a melting pot for educational controversies. For example, book banning has become more prominent since 2022, and the “Stop WOKE Act” limits students and teachers academically and socially. Accordingly, Wallace did express some concerns revolving around staff engagement in school issues.

“Whether you’re in Cambridge, ROTC, or SGA (all of which are programs at CHS), then that is when they really care about what school issues are. As far as being a regular student goes, they care a little less,” Wallace said.

Student voice is a hot topic across the globe, not just in America. Specifically in the UK, some students express their concerns involving stubborn staff members and their lack of receptiveness towards students’ issues.

“The student support team refuses to hear students out…creating an uncomfortable environment for both students and teachers,” Gracie Dowling, a UK student at Ormiston Rivers Academy, said.

Many secondary school students are left out of the loop, or their concerns are disregarded. However, as education continues to modernize, that is subject to change. Only time will tell how student voice is incorporated in schools worldwide.