I love student voice, I advocate for to students to use their voice, but I don't always like what I hear - and sometimes it's not the words by themselves, but the tone or the body language that accompanies them. Sometimes, when my students use their voice, they hit on the one thing that makes me rage.
"When are we getting our marking back?"
Usually just an annoying question that presupposes I have nothing else to do when I get home than to mark their essays or static images. On the last day of last term though - by crikey. Immediately after handing in his static image, one student asked when he was going to get it back.
My response: "You mean the one you've just handed in? The one that I haven't had a chance to even look at yet?"
"Yeah".
A conversation ensued with body language that overtly stated that nothing else mattered in my life except getting this child's grade back to him. He is a big advocate for student voice, is on the student council, and thinks that everything he says should happen, just because he's voicing his opinion. I don't want my kids growing up thinking that student voice means that if they say they want something done their way, that they will get their way. This student had no regard for anything except himself - and for student voice to work I believe that students need to have empathy and understand that sometimes, what they're saying might not get them what they want.
But, how do I find that balance?
Any comments/suggestions/experiences gratefully received.
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