Nothing about me, without me
Student Council (StuCo) Elections in Middle School
Across the world, from the UN General Assembly happening this week, to ISA's StuCo elections, a similar sentiment is sweeping the globe, often summarised by the phrase 'Nothing about me, without me'.
What this phrase implies is that the many groups who traditionally have been 'spoken for' are now demanding a seat at the table to be heard directly. This is everyone from refugees who have just been 'beneficiaries of aid' in the past, to children about whose needs adults have presumed to know better. The slogans started as major organisations began proclaiming they worked 'with not for' marginalised groups, and ended with the slogan above.
What does this mean at ISA?
One of our strategic priorities is to include more student agency and voice in our decision making processes. We think this is important both because we will make better child-centred decisions, and because we know our learners need to be ready for what the OECD calls a VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous). We start building these competencies when they are in school, not hope they happen later.
After a rigorous election process, we welcomed a new MS StuCo this week, with Rose Veitch as President.
I asked Rose what student agency and voice means to her, and what she hopes to do in the role this year.
"It is important that students have a voice because for everyone to have an enjoyable time at school it is necessary that everyone has a say and that is my aim as president: to make sure it is not just me, but everyone who is involved. This will make us better a school and support everyone to feel happy and comfortable with how the school runs. This will also help me to learn leadership skills to cooperate with anybody in the future."
The wider StuCo teams are looking at Hart's ladder of engagement to support greater agency and voice in project planning. The model is helpful in identifying what kinds of student agency are supported or assumed by young people.
As principal I will meet monthly with the two StuCo groups, and actively seek input into our strategic discussions of things like timetable review, curriculum choices, etc, and with the clear aim to support students at the higher level of the ladder. This is probably rung 6 of the ladder, but an important development. I am looking forward to working with Rose's team as they push towards rung 7 and 8.
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