Abstract

Research indicates student voices are largely under-represented in the processes of curriculum reform (Flynn, 2021). When school students are invited to share their views on their experiences of curriculum, they often do not respond in large numbers or are only invited to do so from within classroom contexts, which may constrain their responses. This paper reports on our success using social media (SM) as a method to recruit Australian senior secondary student participants for a national online survey about their experiences of school history. Finding that this method attracted a high level of student participation, a demographically diverse sample and generated rich data, we advocate for using social media as a key element of survey methods for adolescents. In Australia, as in other international settings, the role of students is often seen to sit within the nano site of curriculum making, that is within the context of classrooms or other learning spaces and in relation to teachers (Priestly, 2021). Accessing students and giving them a platform to have conversations about their experiences of curriculum outside of this nano site, expands possibilities for including students as curriculum actors across the macro and meso sites of curriculum making (Priestly, 2021)(Priestley et al., 2021). Through the dissemination of research findings that foreground their voices, students are valued as curriculum actors that contribute to curriculum discourse at the state and national levels, which can encourage other curriculum actors to engage students in a wider range of curriculum making activities across sites. The paper explores how this student-centred approach opens the possibilities for curriculum inquiry researchers in other learning areas and jurisdictions, as well as across education research more broadly.

It also engages with a topical area emerging from research methods literature worldwide. The popularity of the student surveys to capture student perspectives has been widely documented, both in Australia and internationally, as an effective way of measuring student engagement to inform whole school and curriculum reform (Campbell-Phillips, 2020; Jensen, 2011; Mayes, 2020). The global crisis in education, exposed by the impact of the pandemic across the world made it more urgent  for researchers to recognise a significant shift in the nature of student-centred research and develop the capacity to access curriculum conversations with an already difficult to reach group (Dusek, Yurova, & Ruppel, 2015). Research that values and responds to student voices is also vital at a time when young people are feeling isolated and disconnected from their schooling following Covid-19 related disruptions.

Recruitment via SM is increasingly popular, however, a lack of ‘empirical literature investigating the ethics of engaging participants via SM’ (Hokke, Nicholson, & Crawford, 2020, p. 12) deters researchers from taking up the opportunity, particularly for the recruitment of young people (Mackenzie et al., 2021). Not without its challenges and limitations, the generative experience we had using SM to recruit young people of their own volition prompted us to ask: What methodological diversity can the use of social media bring to educational research that looks to represent student voice? We address this question by using our online survey project that investigated possible reasons for declining enrolments in senior secondary History subjects as a case study. The paper outlines the methodological approach taken and evaluates the efficacy of utilising Instagram and Twitter as sites for both recruiting and reporting back to students. Despite the context being Australian, we argue SM has potential to support student-centred methodological approaches in ways that are globally relevant, innovative and inclusive. We contribute to literature that assesses the potential of recruitment via SM while offering unique insight into the possibilities for empowering students as  research participants.

By 2018, Instagram was the most popular social media app among young people around the world. More than 70% of people between the ages of 12 and 24 are Instagram users (Huang & Su, 2018). Based on anecdotal evidence and cross sectional studies conducted in other fields, which show a decline in the use of Facebook by youth (Ford et al., 2019), we made a decision not to use Facebook. This was further supported by studies that showed paid advertising is often used for recruitment on this platform (Amon, Campbell, Hawke, & Steinbeck, 2014). After gaining ethics approval for the study (19th May 2022, Ref: HAE-22-034) we employed an age appropriate consultant to ensure the attractiveness of the Instagram page to target the specific age group. Understanding the psychology of Instagram to gain maximum success with the site was imperative in the design of the Instagram page. For example, noted in other fields such as tourism management, ‘color psychology plays important roles in product packaging’ (Yu, Xie, & Wen, 2020). Informed by our consultant, our product required a mix of red, purple, particular shades of green, which are popular with teenagers, combined with the use capitals in the font was essential. We also planned the placement and timing of seventeen posts during the life of the survey–taking into consideration the time of year for senior secondary students to avoid exam times and school holidays¬–and the construction of language. Anonymity and consent was ensured by ‘using a two-question process’ (Mackenzie, Berger, Holmes, & Walker, 2021, p. 226) to enter the survey; demonstrating they had read the PLS and giving Consent. This strategy met ethical compliance which required participants to demonstrate that they understood the consent process (Mackenzie et al., 2021). As a result of this student-centred method, between March and October 2022, 292 participants were recruited for the online survey. Our method also included, five Twitter posts to attract interested parties who might pass on the link and some snowballing was done through professional and personal networks. The limitation of this research with regard to its methodology is that we were not able to identify percentages of through which channel or platform the link to the survey was accessed. However, the Instagram page showed consistent and popular access over the life of the survey, indicating it was a significant draw card.

Based on our experience, the use of social media combined with targeted snowballing is an effective means of recruitment for the online survey underpinned by student-centred research. The closed questions of the survey showed, by demographic, that recruitment was from a diverse range of students and schools. For example, 39 Catholic schools, 94 from government schools and 109 from private schools. All States and Territories were represented with the exception of Northern Territory. The open-ended questions elicited candid and thoughtful responses, suggesting students felt safe to express themselves. Despite ethical and practical considerations, we argue the most significant advantages of using social media for this study, was its provision to tap into an unfettered student voice away from the formalities of the regulatory classroom environment and the direction from other curriculum actors. Further, as Mackenzie et al (2021) showed in their study, it is a method that, with ethical considerations in place, ensures that adolescents make their own choice about participating in educational research (p.226), which means greater opportunity to take them seriously as curriculum actors.

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