Rights Respecting Schools:Workshop Series

2012 - 2013

Workshop 3

Meaningful Student Participation

Five-Minute Reflection

INSTRUCTIONS

• Welcome!

• Fill in the opinion scale for each of the statements on the Self Assessment Handout.

• Please consider all of your relationships withchildren – at school and at home.

Workshop 3: Meaningful Student Participation

AGENDA

• Activity 1: Five-Minute Reflection

• Activity 2: Defining Meaningful Student Participation

• Activity 2: Debate It! A Little or A Lot?

• Activity 3: Tools to Gauge and Plan Student Participation

• Activity 4: Good Practices for Meaningful Student Participation

Defining Meaningful Student Participation

What do you think is meant by meaningful student participation?

What makes the participation meaningful?

MEANINGFUL STUDENT PARTICIPATION

Defining Meaningful Student Participation

Meaningful Student Participation is engaging students as partners in educational planning, research, teaching, evaluating, decision-making, advocacy and more.

~SoundOut: Promoting Student Voice in Schoolsoundout.org

Articles Outlining Rights to Participation

Article 5: The State must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents to provide guidance for the child that is appropriate to her or his evolving capacities

Article 9: non-separation of children from families without the right to make their views known

Article 12: the right to be listened to and taken seriously

Article 13: the right to freedom of expression

Article 14: the right to freedom of conscience, thought and religion

Articles Outlining Rights to Participation

(Continued)

Article 16: the right to privacy

Article 17: the right to information

Article 29: the right to education that promotes respect for human rights and democracy

Student Participation in Rights Respecting Schools

Benchmark 8

The school has an active student council that is democratically elected.

Chartwell Elementary School – British Columbia

Student Participation in Rights Respecting Schools

Benchmark 9

School committees and decision-making processes include student representation and the active participation of students.

Student Participation in Rights Respecting Schools

Benchmark 10

Students are consulted and help make decisions on a regular basis in the classroom and in the wider school environment.

Our Ideal School Activity at Westmount Park Elementary School - Québec

Student Participation in Rights Respecting Schools

Benchmark 11

The school has an elected student council whose members act as ambassadors for the Convention and the Rights Respecting Schools initiative.

St. Gabriel Catholic School - Ontario

Student Participation in Rights Respecting Schools

Benchmark 12

Students are provided with opportunities to support the rights of others locally, nationally and globally.

Debate It - A little or a lot?

To what extent should students have the opportunity to

participate in decision-making processes in schools

concerning both:

• curricular programming (formal, informal, extra)

• and administrative programming (budget allocations,

assessment and evaluation, staff meetings, etc.)?

Hart’s Ladder of Participation

RRS Action Plan: Our Roadmap

What is being done?What do we need to do next?

CRT completes RRS Action Plan

Our school has a roadmap for our future

Good Practices for Meaningful StudentParticipation

Work together asa group to determine which strategies wouldwork best to meet your assigned benchmark.

Create this 3-columned chart

Strategy Resources TimelineActivities the school will

undertake.People resource, budget and

materials needed to undertake activities.

Timing of year, duration of time needed to accomplish the

activities.

Take Away Resource – For Everyone

50 Ways Adults Can Support Student Voice

Describes 50 ideas adults can use tocreate meaningful opportunities

for students to participate

Printed handout

Take Away Resource – For Staff/Students

Student Councils in Elementary Schools

Outlines a clear process for developinga democratically elected and

envisioned student council

Available for download onrightsrespectingschools.ca

Take Away Resource – For Staff/Students

Student Participation Assessments

This guide includes fun and engagingactivities for encouraging input, ideas,

and feedback from children.

Suitable for use inside and outside the classroom.

Available for download onrightsrespectingschools.ca’

Take Away Resource – For Parents

What Adults Can Learn from Kids

Adora Svitak, prolific short storywriter and blogger since age

seven, challenges adults to listen to and learn from children.

Available for download atted.com/talks/adora_svitak.html

Congratulations!

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