ERIC Number: EJ1361589
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 23
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0737-5328
EISSN: N/A
Who's Afraid of Student Voice: The Challenges of Learning to Listen to and Learn from Student Feedback
Jerusha Conner
Teacher Education Quarterly, v49 n4 p49-71 Fall 2022
Student voice has become a popular concept in education; however, little research has examined how teachers learn to solicit student feedback about their teaching. This study explores the cognitive, motivational, and affective challenges teachers encounter or must overcome when beginning to implement student voice practices in their classrooms. Using a mixed-methods study design that pairs open-ended survey questions with in-depth interviews, we find that teachers' reservations about student voice are rooted in four main concerns: fear of losing their authority in the classroom, doubts about students' capacity to respond appropriately to such opportunities, lack of time, and lack of will to change their practice. Case studies reveal further learning challenges as well as key outcomes, including learning to rethink assumptions about students, themselves and their authority, and their instructional practices. These findings suggest that student voice can be a powerful catalyst for teacher learning. Teacher educators who want to help teachers learn to listen to student voice should address the underlying beliefs, doubts, and fears teachers have about this unconventional practice.
Descriptors: Teachers, Student Empowerment, Feedback (Response), Opinions, Teacher Response, Teacher Attitudes, Barriers, Psychological Patterns, Emotional Response, Student Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A