Engaging with Student Voice in Research, Education and Community

The purpose of this book is to interrupt much of the current rhetoric regarding the engagement of children and young people as consultants on the social and pedagogical practices of schooling. It argues that often giving students a voice in schooling is little more than requiring them to legitimate existing practices as a means of enhancing the marketability of the given school. The text does not limit itself to conditions of school education alone, but broadens the horizons to take in students in higher education, as well as young people in their interactions with cultural institutions and the wider community. It sees its mission as having a liberatory, democratic function engaging young people as active and knowledgeable agents in a wide series of social enterprises. It draws upon a range of cases and includes a range of practical examples for practitioners and researchers.