Full Description
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and grapples to find ways to respond to climate change, there is growing recognition of the need to give space and time in primary schools to hear children's experiences, ideas and perspectives on these matters and to promote their active participation in democratic solutions. This book presents vibrant examples from professional educators and researchers across the globe who are demonstrating how primary schools can nurture the conditions for new democratic education through empowering educators' and children's voices and agency.
Written as a genuine partnership between research experts and experienced classroom teachers, the book delves into historic and contemporary theories and evidence about the children's voices movement, and new democratic education, helping to root teachers' practices to strong educational theoretical concepts. The second section presents a set of diverse and detailed examples drawn from primary classrooms and schools that illustrate how these ideas are taking shape in teaching and learning across the world; chapters will bring to life the principles upon which schools have empowered young voices, sharing examples of success and thriving students. Finally, a set of thought-provoking manifestos will offer new opportunities and fresh theories for educators to explore, with the purpose and intention to take forward in their own primary school contexts.
This is a vital resource for any new or experienced teacher or school leader looking to take research-informed and principled approaches to changes in schools so that teaching and learning ignites the social imagination for 21st-century educators and learners.
Contents
River map: Introducing the book's structure 1. Children's voices: the river's source Section A Children's Voices Found 2. Raising voices: Journeying towards a new democratic education 3. Enabling parity of participation by listening to 'pupil voice' 4. Wilful strangers in a possible democracy Section B. Children's Voices Heard 5. Fake news: Is developing critical literacies a waste of time? 6. An education for democracy: empowering agency and community in a Czech school 7. Voices from a distance: learning from pupils' experiences of online teaching to ensure educational continuity 8. Schools as embryonic societies: Introducing elements of democratic education in everyday school life 9. Citizenship education as a relational practice: Inclusion and participation of young citizens based on the example of 1:1 mentoring 10. Building cultural literacy through dialogue: democracy at the heart of learning 11. From polite agreement to passionate uncertainty: 'turning towards difference' in Philosophy for Children (P4C) Lessons Section C Children's Voices Unleashed 12. Votes for children! 13. Children unlocking/unleashing their voices during and beyond a national lockdown 14. Reinforcing the pipeline of citizenry: how high school students create platforms for elementary and middle school students' voices in Kentucky, United States 15. The ADVOST project: Facilitating voice and agency in the early years classroom 16. The Superpower of the Child: A movement for student agency from Riverside School, India 17. Voice, Agency, and Power in the Classroom Afterword: Learning to live together Postscript: Children's voices: Becomings River map: logging your journey
