{"id":12493,"date":"2019-03-04T08:08:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T14:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/?p=12493"},"modified":"2019-04-29T11:42:15","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T16:42:15","slug":"seeking-student-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/2019\/03\/04\/seeking-student-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeking Student Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StudentsWhat does the term \u201cstudent voice\u201d mean today? Internationally recognized expert in youth voice and student engagement, Adam Fletcher relates that it goes far beyond the important work of helping students develop their own voices. The concept now implies a much deeper commitment, suggesting that educators have an ethical imperative to engage students in new ways that are vital to school improvement. With student voice integrated into the core values at MPA, even our youngest children help to significantly impact their educational environments and experiences.<\/p>\n

MPA\u2019s PreK teacher Debbie LaChapelle describes how her small but mighty students shape their education. One four-year-old girl, for example, requested a PreK art show like the older children have. LaChapelle picked up on the idea, credited the student with it, and shifted her curriculum to include an annual art exhibit. \u201cI witness in my students pride, confidence, respect for themselves and others, empathy, and leadership,\u201d she shares. \u201cWhen their ideas and thoughts are accepted and validated, it illustrates to them that they matter and can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kari O\u2019Keefe provides another example of how first graders design their educational environment. \u201cFrom the moment you walk into the classroom, one sees that the room belongs to the students. They have created everything from the alphabet and number line to the bulletin boards and borders. They came up with classroom expectations and labeled special areas of the space. They have a true sense of ownership as they\u2019ve helped to create every aspect of their classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StudentAs students move into Middle School, it is vitally important to continue engaging them in their own education, recognizing that they have developed stronger ways to express themselves. However, MPA students learn that as they develop their own identities, they must also practice empathy for others. That same empathy serves as the essence for their own voices to emerge, according to Ann Devout Atchison, Middle School English teacher. She shares, \u201cMy job is to facilitate curricular choices that not only teach students to read, write, think, speak, and listen with increasing clarity and artistry, but to create security, adventure, and thirst so that seventh and eighth grade voices will not only be uniquely empowered and realized, but heard and understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

One might wonder how MPA teachers bring student voice into more structured subject areas such as math and science, where concepts are based on proofs and laws. It\u2019s obviously a balancing act. Even here, there\u2019s room for creativity in educating and inspiring learners, and part of the teacher\u2019s role is to guide students to be self-reflective.<\/p>\n

Middle School science teacher Courtney Nagle relates how being an educator at MPA \u201cgives me the freedom to be creative and promote creative assignments.\u201d She cites examples such as a sixth grade assignment to create their own insect and the fifth grade inventor\u2019s fair. The tradition of SEEK projects also allows students a great deal of freedom to study virtually anything related to science. Children\u2019s ability to identify and follow areas of personal interest reinforces what our educators know\u2014that human beings are more likely to learn best when the motivation is intrinsic rather than extrinsic.<\/p>\n

As a Middle School math teacher, Chris Peterson expands on that idea, \u201cKids care more about learning and retain the information better when they are more engaged with their learning. Students also seem to enjoy class more if they are fully focused on the topic.\u201d It makes sense, but as an instructor, this requires stepping away from the traditional top-down approach to education.<\/p>\n

\"TeacherAs students progress to Upper School and topics become even more rigorous, the core concept of student voice stays intact. Many alumni, for example, fondly recall the impact of Upper School physics teacher Marc Shapiro\u2019s bridge-building project, which gives an embodied and real-world understanding of physics. Shapiro says, \u201cIn the end, I don\u2019t want a student to maintain a \u2018unique perspective\u2019 that is contrary to the laws of physics. Rather, I want them to recognize their own perspective, compare it to how they have found that nature actually works in our class investigations, and adjust their understanding as necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah Sullivan, Upper School science teacher, appreciates the challenge of leaning into the concept. She actively seeks opportunities to follow her students\u2019 interests, offering an example from her environmental science course, where their questions about gall formations on campus plants led
\nto a multi-year study. \u201cWhat started as a last-minute lab to let students answer their own question of \u2018what\u2019s inside a gall?\u2019 turned into a complex investigation into parasitism and predation,\u201d Sullivan reflects. \u201cMy colleagues and I allow students to engage more fully in issues that we\u2014as a global community\u2014will need their knowledge and passion to solve, such as climate change. In order to have real impact on students and the environment, it has to be something that they are excited to engage with, rather than a requirement. We can start them on this while they are still at MPA.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the fine arts, where self-expression is already highly encouraged, students are given a great deal of freedom to shape their learning experiences as individuals and as groups. Middle and Upper School art teacher Renee Sonka provides an example. \u201cEach year, I have fifth grade students think about what artistic advice they would give others. We call this collection of comments our \u2018Art Manifesto.\u2019 Initially, their ideas are somewhat obvious, but a good teacher\u2019s role is to guide them through a process that helps them tap into their creativity and articulate fresh ideas in their own voice, making room to think beyond typical boundaries. We end this exercise with a beautiful variety of thoughts including: admire your work, be positive, take your time, try new things, be humble, be active, make it count, be grateful, be confident, get outside, vote, don\u2019t settle, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student voice does not look the same for everyone. Sonka recalls, \u201cWhile it is fulfilling to witness all students develop their artistic voice, it is particularly moving as a teacher to see a strong visual voice emerge from someone who is quiet, verbally. One student in particular who comes to mind, was quiet in class and at home, but went on to pursue art school in New York. As a senior, she\u2019d developed a body of work that was conceptually and visually complex, weaving together strong statements about education, the economy, healthcare, human rights, energy, the environment, the arts, and even the college admissions process. When her parents saw the depth and breadth of her visual thought, they said, \u2018Whoa, she\u2019s no wallflower!\u2019 All students transform when they find their authentic voice, and educating the whole child means we recognize that some students are stronger communicators in languages that are non-verbal\u2014in this case, visual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the students\u2019 voices, MPA has pushed itself to innovate. They will continue to show us what\u2019s new, what\u2019s needed, and what they\u2019ll use in their education far into the future.<\/p>\n

Mounds Park Academy, a PreK-12 private school in Saint Paul, is currently accepting applications for the 2019-20 school year. For more information about admission and to schedule your tour, visit\u00a0moundsparkacademy.org\/admission<\/a>. We look forward to getting to know your family!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does the term \u201cstudent voice\u201d mean today? Internationally recognized expert in youth voice and student engagement, Adam Fletcher relates that it goes far beyond the important work of helping students develop their own voices. The concept now implies a much deeper commitment, suggesting that educators have an ethical imperative to engage students in new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":12494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,26,24,29,9,12,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admission","category-blog","category-featured-posts","category-homepage","category-lower-school","category-middle-school","category-upper-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12493"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12942,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12493\/revisions\/12942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moundsparkacademy.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}