Unlocking elementary students’ perspectives of leadership
Keywords:
Cogenerative Dialogue, Student Voice, Educational Leadership, Elementary Education, Student AgencyAbstract
This study examines whether and how principals take their lead from students, and use student
voice, to create more responsive schools, and more responsible models of leadership. I
consider issues of student agency and voice within four very different elementary school
settings. Further, I consider the challenges students face, and the ways principals are preparing
to address these challenges. In this study I address roadblocks to responsive leadership in
urban, suburban, and rural schools using a cogenerative qualitative approach that principals
and students can use to create new dialogue and shared theories that are focused on improving
both administrative function and the instructional programs of their schools.This approach has
revealed a new shared theory which includes students in models of school leadership. Central
to this theory is a call for principals to use more student-driven approaches, so that young
students can be empowered as learners and leaders in their own right.
Downloads
References
American educational research journal, 23(3), p. 437-459.
Becker, H. S. (1961). Boys in white: student culture in medical school. New Brunswick:
Transaction.
Biklen, S. K. (2004). Trouble on memory lane: adults and self-retrospection in researching
youth. Qualitative inquiry, 10 (5), p. 715-730.
Blase, J. & Blase, J. (1999). Principals’ instructional leadership and teacher development:
teachers’ perspectives. Educational administration quarterly, 35(3), p. 349-78.
Butler, K. (2008). Principal preparation programs. District administration, 44 (10), p. 66-68.
Denzin, N. K. (1978). The research act: a theoretical introduction to sociological methods (2d
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Elden, M. & Levin, M. (1991). “Cogenerative learning: bringing participation into action
research,” In W. F. Whyte (ed.), Participatory action research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Gentilucci, J., & Muto, C. (2007). Principals' influence on academic achievement: the student
perspective. NASSP bulletin, 91(3), 219-236.
Gossen, D. (1992). Restitution: Restructuring school discipline. Chapel Hill, NC: New view
publications.
Hess, F. (2007). What innovators can, and cannot do: Squeezing into local markets and cutting
deals. Education next, 7 (2).
Jones, K. R. & Perkins, D. F. (2004). Youth and adult perceptions of their relationships within
community-based youth programs. Youth society, 38 (1), p. 90-109.
Kirchner, G. (2005). Towards cooperative learning in elementary school physical education.
Springfield, IL: C.C. Thomas.
Lambert, L. (2002). A framework for shared leadership. Beyond instructional leadership, 59 (8),
p. 37-40.
Mitra, D. L. (2004). The significance of students: can increasing ‘student voice’ lead to gains in
youth development. Teachers college record, 106 (4), p. 651-688.
Mitra, D. L. (2008). Student voice in school reform: building youth-adult partnerships that
strengthen schools and empower youth. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Panitz, T. (1996). Collaborative vs. cooperative learning: comparing the two definitions helps
understand the nature of interactive learning. Cooperative learning and college teaching, 8
(2).
Schneider, E. (1996). Giving students a voice in the classroom. Creating a climate for learning
54 (1), p. 22-26.
Shultz, J. J. & Cook-Sather, A. (2001). In our own words: students’ perspectives on school.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Spillane et al. (2001). Investigating school leadership practice: a distributed perspective.
Educational researcher, 30 (3), p. 23-28.
Talbert, J. E. (1995). “Boundaries of teachers’ professional communities in U. S. high schools:
power and precariousness of the subject department,” In L. S. Siskin & J. W. Little (Eds.),
The subjects in question. New York: Teachers College Press.
Warner, D. (2010). Using student voice for school transformation. Eltham, AU: Eltham College
of Education Press.
Waters et al. (2003). Balanced leadership: what 30 years of research tells us about the effect of
leadership on student achievement. Aurora, CO: mid-continent research for education and
learning.
Wilkinson, A. (1998). Empowerment: Theory and practice. Personnel review, 27(1), p. 40-56.
