This paper explores how students can be positioned as contributors to leading practices that shape the nature of their schooling experiences. Student voice and agency agendas have grown in popularity over recent years but understanding the possibilities and boundaries of the ways that students can contribute to their educational experiences…

There is global recognition of the need to teach and assess complex competencies, which are often referred to as twenty-first century or work-ready knowledge and skills. While several assessment frameworks have been co-developed by researchers and teachers to assess competencies in schools, little is known about how these frameworks are shaped,…

This article reports on an international mixed-method study on student leadership that sought to maximize opportunities for students to be engaged as researchers. Applying the conceptual lens of student voice, we reflect on students' contributions to each stage of the research. This included efforts to integrate the components of Mitra's 'pyramid…

Increasingly, universities are involved in providing leadership development opportunities that support students' academic endeavours and their personal and professional development, including employability and citizenship skills. Leadership experiences are beneficial not only for students, but also for universities, the wider community, and future…

Higher education institutions are increasingly focussed on improving the capacity and potential of their graduates to gain employment. Attempts to develop employability skills through both mainstream and extra-curricular activities create new demands and expectations for students. Despite these demands, little attention has been given to student…

Primary school approaches to student voice and leadership rarely change, despite concerns about manipulation and tokenism. This single case study investigated an approach to student voice and student leadership in an Australian primary school that was very different to a traditional student council. Thematic analysis of school documents and staff…

The laboratory plays an important role in teaching engineering skills. An Electrical Engineering department at an Australian University implemented a reform to monitor and improve student satisfaction with the teaching laboratories. A Laboratory Manager was employed to oversee the quality of 27 courses containing instructional laboratories.…

This study reports on a three-year group randomized controlled trial, the Cyber Friendly Schools Project (CFSP), aimed to reduce cyberbullying among grade 8 students during 2010-2012. In each year, 14-15 year old student "cyber" leaders acted as catalysts to develop and implement whole-school activities to reduce cyberbullying-related…

This research investigated the female adolescent view of leadership by giving voice to student leaders through focus group discussions. The questions: What is leadership? Where/how was leadership taught?, and How was leadership practised? were explored within the context of girls' schools located in Australia, with one school located in South…

This paper outlines a study of an alternate approach to educating Year 9 students in a residential setting. The School for Student Leadership (SSL) in Victoria, Australia, provides a nine-week program focusing on leadership, relationship-building and self-awareness. The philosophy of the school, which has continually evolved since its inception in…

The School for Student leadership (SSL) provides a unique educational experience for Australian Year 9 secondary school students at a time when parental expectations may not necessarily be in alignment with student engagement and motivation. Yet there are often concerns amongst both students and their parents about spending time outside…

The development of an inclusive community is underpinned by values that support an appreciation of diversity. This paper is based on a larger research project, "student leadership in a primary classroom", which developed different ways for students to interact with each other. The focus not only promoted full student participation in…

Leadership capacity-building is a key factor in sustainable school improvement, and the leadership contribution of students is an integral part of an authentic distributed conception of school leadership. Thus it is important to understand the factors which influence high school students' motivations to engage in formal and informal leadership in…

The Australian Government report Teachers for the 21st Century: Making the Difference (DEST, 2000) highlighted that teachers were central to student learning, and that there was a need for professional development for teachers in order for them to adapt to changing student needs. These ideas are not new and have been have been supported by other…