Student voice for promoting inclusion in primary schools

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of a study that involved collaborative action research with primary schools (5–11-year-olds) in one city in the South of England. The study focused on exploring how inclusion in schools can be promoted through an engagement with student voice. Data analysed involved detailed lesson observations, fieldnotes from meetings between teachers and children, interviews with teachers and children and notes from network meetings. The findings of the study suggest that inclusion can be promoted in schools when (1) a dynamic process of making students heard is employed by: using participatory student voice activities; valuing what students say through a process of dialogue; and moving into actions; and (2) when adult mindsets are open to such ideas and make these mindsets explicit through specific behaviours. The paper concludes by arguing that primary school children are not only able to be engaged in such processes, but more importantly, can throw a different light to collaborative efforts to become more inclusive in schools.