Choice and voice from the students’ point of view in schools with personalised learning environments

Abstract

Choice and voice is a central requirement in the context of personalised learning concepts. Despite contemporary rhetoric, a variety of innovative schools have gained many years of practical experience with choice and voice, but a lot less is known about the perceptions of this approach from the point of view of students. This article examines how students at secondary level I perceive choice and voice in schools with personalised learning environments. Findings indicate that students regularly exercise their freedom of choice, particularly with regard to questions concerning the organisation of learning. The enthusiasm of students for participation in determining content and goals is less pronounced. The degree of personalisation, which indicates how strongly a school is motivated by personalised learning concepts from the point of view of teachers, proves to be a relevant predictor in the multilevel structural equation model of the awareness of students regarding choice and voice options. Correlations in multilevel structural equation modelling also illustrate that awareness of choice and voice options is frequently accompanied by a positive perception and support of the teacher. This article contributes to the explanation of the complex term of personalisation by demonstrating that, in addition to its theoretical significance, choice and voice also represents an important dimension of personalised learning concepts from an empirical point of view.