The Curriculum And Assessment Framework - 2157 Words

Over the past decade there have been vast changes to our education system here in Northern Ireland. The revamp of the curriculum is described by CCEA (2007) as ‘a curriculum and assessment framework that is capable of meeting the changing needs of pupils, society and the economy.’ Despite the review tackling proposals for change across a wide variety of areas within the curriculum, it can be said that it has failed to meet the changing needs of the pupils in terms of learner voice. Rodgers (2005) defines leaner voice as ‘the active opportunity for students to express their opinions and make decisions regarding the planning, implementation and evaluation of their learning experiences.’ This definition is very fitting to our society today†¦show more content†¦There are various strategies that can be employed to support pupil voice both within the classroom and whole school context. One of the main up and coming strategies that schools seem to be foc using on is that of a school council. School councils are the easiest way for schools to give pupils their say and make decisions about current issues. â€Å"School councils are a very tangible manifestation of pupil voice. They can be important in offering a formal, democratic, transparent and accountable whole-school forum for pupil participation, linking to the broader governance framework of a school† (Alderson 2000:121-34). Surrounding every strategy, there is a widely seen debate about how beneficial or problematic each strategy is. For school councils to be beneficial in promoting pupil voice, there must be a fair representation of all pupils within the school. Levin (1998) described the moral concept surrounding this strategy where democratic practice should lie among the least powerful. The least powerful in our schools are the younger pupils, the quiet pupils and those pupils with SEN. When all individuals are fairly represented the system will lend to adequate and successful learner voice. School councils allow pupils to see first-hand how their needs and views will be responded to and how their opinions will be valued by all. They can be contextualised to a classroom environment whereby each class has a council