Resources

Leila Walker, Senior Researcher, Futurelab
Ann Logan, Educational Consultant

The full version of this report is available to download in pdf format - see box below. On this page you'll find the report's preface.

Preface

In January 2007, Becta (British Educational Communication and Technology Agency) commissioned Futurelab to carry out a meta-review of current learner voice activity across primary, secondary, further and higher education. Desk-research and expert interviews inform the main corpus of this report. In addition, a workshop with practitioners, researchers and technologists was held to update information regarding the potential use of technology in learner voice initiatives.

We would like to acknowledge the following people for providing insights into learner voice activities across practice, policy and academia: Sue Attards, Sara Bragg, Nell Banfield, Alex Bols, Martin Brennan, Anna Craft, Lynn Davies, Matthew Dean, Peter Ferne, Clare Fox, Sarah Fletcher, Su Garlick, Richard Gentle, Adrian Gray, Carl Greenham, Roz Hall, Diane Hallas, Julia Hayes, James Hartley, Andrew Hudson, Peter Humphreys, Michele Innis, Asher Jacobsberg, Alex Jones, Jo Lee, Clara Lemon, Jack Lewars, Matt Little, Gill Mullis, Philippa Newby, Sean O’Sullivan, Tom Reed, Tim Riches, Luke Rodgers, Ros Smith, Dan Sutch, Dan Tagg, Hugh Thomas, Maggie Thomas, Peter Twining, Ed Whitelaw.

The purpose of this report is to provide educators working within primary, secondary, further and higher education with a guide to how learner voice is currently being used to shape policy and practice in education. Case studies have been chosen to illustrate the potential impact learner voice can make across the UK’s education sectors. Although the case studies provided are from different sectors – we would encourage readers to explore the methods and activities used in each, as these may offer new perspectives that you may wish to consider in your own context. In addition, the report discusses how digital technology may be used to advance learner voice initiatives by enabling greater learner-driven practice, as well as engaging all learners, particularly those who are typically under-represented.

The main aims of this report are:

• To summarise the evidence from research, policy and practice for the promotion of learner voice engagement across the primary, secondary, further (FE) and higher (HE) sectors of education.
• To highlight current learner voice practice and the need to enhance the process.
• To outline the potential role of digital technologies to empower all learners to have their say.
• To provide useful guidance on developing learner voice activities.
• To provide a directory of resources to engage learner voice across the education sectors.

The audience of this report is likely to be headteachers, college principals and practitioners as well as academic registry officers and local authority education advisors.

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