Paradigm Shift in Education

The paradigm shift in education has been a central issue in educational research for decades. Education is no longer characterized in term of what teachers teach but rather in terms of what students are able to do with their knowledge (Flynn 2015). Therefore, the significant change in the pedagogical culture should transform from teacher-centred teaching to student centred learning (Quaglia 2014). Although experts speak about student agencies and curriculum negotiations (Bron 2014, 2016, Boomer 1978),  many educators have improved a lot, new technologies have been introduced, inquiry-based learning has been applied to engage students and activate their curiosity, but in the mainstream of education the great shift in the pedagogical philosophy has not been accomplished and all those positive changes seem to be rather methodological tricks than to become truly student centred philosophy; something is still missing.

Bridge and Paradigm Shift

The aim of our Erasmus project entitled Student voice - the bridge to learning (BRIDGE) is to provide different models of working in partnership with students by giving them voice and developing their skills and attitudes to become responsible and democratic citizens.   BRIDGE will create and implement ideas for pedagogical practices that support the active role of students in their learning by building bridges between students and teachers. Through in-service teacher trainings, and other initiatives (e.g. curriculum negotiation, student friendly assessment, learning outcomes approach, etc.) teachers will be supported to build partnership with students so that they can both reach their full potentials. The ‘student voice’ approach will empower students to participate meaningfully and collaboratively in improving their experience of school, encouraging their engagement in learning and improving teacher-student relationships.

The project presumes that the student engagement and working in partnership with them giving them voice and develop their skills and attitudes to become liable and autonomous citizens and creating and implementing ideas for pedagogical practices that support the active role of all students in their learning by building bridges between students and teachers, which leads to effective learning and student wellbeing in education (Quaglia 2014). The BRIDGE project cannot work without the main actors of education therefore besides research institutions schools have been participating in the project.

Bridge - Student Voice

As student voice has a different meaning for everybody the partners approved the need for a clear clarification and agreement on terms of student voice. The Erasmus Project Student Voice -The Bridge -is taking a collaborative, inclusive approach to developing enhanced student voice in our classrooms and across our schools. Our students and teachers feel empowered, develop a range of skills, and are supported in becoming self directed learners and active citizens. As part of this process our students play a meaningful role in collaborating with their teachers in shaping the curriculum and culture at class and whole-school level.

The definition is in harmony with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (Convention 1989) – which claims the right to express their views in matters effecting them and have their opinions given due weight commensurate with age and maturity. 

Our R&D in Hungary has been carried out on the base of the BRIDGE Evaluation and Methodology Framework (Bron 2016) with three partner schools. Primary school 1 is well-known for its student-centred pedagogy and its traditions in student voice approach. Pupils of primary school 2 come from the neighbouring housing complex, some of them with Roma or migrant background, a great number of underprivileged pupils and children with integration, learning or behavioural problems. The Secondary Vocational School is very traditional with high standard of academic knowledge, language competencies and professional skills in economics. During the school-year 2016/2017 a small research was accomplished in the schools. The cross-case analyses of the online student and teacher questionnaires and focus interviews showed great differences between the schools. The analysis covered more areas of the teacher and student partnerships, now we mainly focus on Student Voice sections. There tends to be a clear difference between the answers of the primary and secondary school teachers in ’Student Voice practice’. The primary schools seem more positive about listening to pupils and respect their opinions while student debates and decisions in classroom situation seem to be less tolerable in the secondary school. We can also see a tendency in the answers that teachers think areas within classroom situation less important to become a possible area of strengthening Student Voice, they prefer out of lesson/school situations in this question (Imre 2017). In the student questionnaire, we examined the issue in more detail at how students tended to participate in learning and in decision-making relating to learning and to the school, and examined learning in lessons, learning outside lessons and questions relating to the functioning of the school. According to the students, in order for a school to function well, it is important to encourage students to express their opinions. Other important considerations are taking account of students' individual abilities and providing for student councils to work effectively. Interestingly, homework, teaching methods, and the shaping of lesson content by students seem to be least important in forming judgments about a school (Imre 2017). Revealing the background conditions, the partner schools agreed on the BRIDGE approach to be improved during the forthcoming period. The teachers in collaboration with their students and researchers have been improving and applying methodological tools, models and trainings for teachers. The results of the process will be presented in detail in the presentation.

Due to the BRIDGE research and development, more and more practitioners should get motivated and interested in extensive student participation. Via professional learning and sharing of good experiences, the participating teachers embed student voice into their pedagogical practices; students will be aware of a changing classroom culture, willing to participate and take responsibility for their own learning, will be more engaged in thinking about the learning to develop their metacognitive skills and take part in their curriculum development. Furthermore, international and national Bridge networks sharing our good practices, examples and experiences relating to student-centred approach, we can sustain the development with using top down as well as bottom up strategies, and the created processes should support and strengthen the paradigm shift in education. In Hungary, we expect student voice strategy start at classroom level with significant changes in classroom practice, with enhanced feedback between the learners and the teachers. When teaching and learning become more interactive and personalized, our students will grow into better learners, able to participate in planning their own learning processes and curricula at their own school level, being responsible for it and meet their self-designated success criteria (Black 1998). An expected outcome of the international research and collaboration in Hungary that the newly developed student voice tools, models and in-service teacher trainings will have spread and national student voice networks will have existed in the near future.

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