Welcome to the Specialist Schools Trust iNet Online Conference series 2004-2005

iNet, international Networking for educational transformation, is the international arm of the Specialist Schools Trust. The aim of iNet is to develop a global network of schools committed to working together and sharing knowledge.

The Online Conferences are a vehicle that brings together global knowledge on identified themes. These themes have been identified by Professor David Hargreaves in his book, Personalising Learning: Next Steps in Working Laterally, as key to the transformation agenda.

There will be four Online Conferences in this series, the themes being:

• Student Voice;
• Leadership;
• Learning to Learn; and,
• New Technologies.

Each conference will run for seven days and will feature seven Focus Papers to stimulate discussion and debate. Participants will also benefit from a group of General Papers on each of the four topics, which are written by educators around the world. Each day participants will have the opportunity to debate one of the Focus Papers online, as well as contribute to the General Online Discussion. At the end of the conference, the knowledge shared will be brought together in the form of a publication.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those participating in the Online Conference. We, at the Specialist Schools Trust, are committed to harnessing the potential of new technologies to develop and share a collective pool of wisdom. This new knowledge will be a powerful force in the transformation of schools. Enjoy the discussion!

Sue Williamson
Director – Affiliation
Specialist Schools Trust

Student Voice: How Often do we Really Listen to Them?

So, why student voice? All too often, the most important people involved in education are left out of conversations about planning for educational transformation.

Increasingly, it is recognised that many students have valuable ideas about what would make their learning more meaningful and engaging – yet they are often being educated without voice or choice in the process. Perhaps there are some key questions to ask our students, such as:

• do schools actively deny the creativity and responsibility students have within them to change schools;
• how and what can educators learn from students whose voices they don’t want to hear;
• what are the issues, and opportunities, of working with students to conduct research in schools; and,
• where, and how, are schools engaging students as change agents?

Today’s students are bright, well-informed and have valuable ideas to contribute. This Online Conference offers the opportunity for students and educators to develop conversations, both generally on the theme of ‘student voice’ and more specifically on Focus Papers that have been written to stimulate discussion and debate.

Tony Bloxham
Head of Leadership Development Programmes
Specialist Schools Trust

Welcome to the first of a series of four iNet Online Conferences. Having already edited all of the papers you will read, reflect on and discuss online over the next seven days, I can promise that this week offers a hugely rewarding professional experience.

It is apparent that student voice is increasingly being recognised, in many countries, as a powerful force for school improvement. Beyond this, it is also being recognised as key to building a collaborative and democratic society, as Marcia Prieto’s paper from Chile so clearly reminds us.

This Online Conference includes student and teacher ‘voices’ from the UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand and the USA. As you will see from the collection of papers we present, the definitions and expressions of student voice are diverse, and located at sometimes distant points on the continuum of student empowerment. This is even the case with schools from within the same country.

The important thing, however, is that wherever they are on that continuum, schools in many countries are making an important journey, one that has the potential to transform relationships and structures within schools, improve learning outcomes and, ultimately, strengthen the democratic fabric of the national and global societies we all live in. Recent events at Beslan underline just how desperately we need, as a global society, to strengthen our concepts of social justice, conflict resolution and participatory democracy. In the end, the civic education of our young people will be the key.

This week is not for spectators. It is a week of active professional conversation, with every one of you joining in. Please put aside any shyness or professional modesty and join in the Online Discussions, at least once every day. Make new comments on the papers, share what you are doing at your own school, and reply to the comments of your colleagues.

I look forward to ‘meeting’ all of you online this week.

Debra Brydon
Online Conference Manager