Stephen Bigelow, PhD - Education Leadership

Student voice is often discussed in education but can look very different depending on your leadership role. Whether in the classroom, leading a building, or overseeing a district, you listen to and act on student perspectives. I’ve seen how powerful student voice can be and faced moments where I didn’t do this as well as I should have. These experiences remind me why it’s so critical, especially as we strive to improve educational systems for all students. Student voice should be far more than token representation — a single student sitting at the board table or a select group involved in decision-making. While those roles have their place, empowering student voices requires going deeper and creating spaces where students feel their perspectives matter. Providing open information forums — where students of all backgrounds could freely share — has consistently been one of the most effective strategies. Student Voice in the Classroom As a teacher, I found that moving beyond lectures to ...

  The very title of this article might bring some of you a sense of dread. Depending on your experiences, strategic planning can evoke memories of lengthy meetings, endless debates, or a document that ultimately gathers dust and is forgotten. Yet, when done collaboratively, the process can be significant.  Strategic planning is an opportunity to collectively define the mission, vision, goals, and pathways to achieve them. Teachers bring the classroom perspective; administrators add operational insights; parents and community members contribute their expectations and aspirations for the district. Together, these viewpoints create a shared sense of purpose.  While these discussions are essential, the process can get bogged down in wordsmithing the mission and vision statements. I occasionally found this stage frustrating, but it is necessary to walk away with a clear mission and vision that everyone in the organization can easily remember, attach to their day-to-day purpose...