Transformative Spheres of Meaningful Student Involvement

Meaningful Student Involvement is not a stand-alone activity. Educators and school leaders commit to transforming the hearts and minds of school communities through initiatives that concentrate on the well-defined need to integrate roles for students as partners throughout education. Taking a whole systems approach to addressing that challenge, individual classrooms, whole buildings, or entire districts emphasize new designs, materials, processes, tools, policies, or any combination, in order to address multiple problems
surrounding student engagement and student voice. These strategies should be integrated, dealing with key issues throughout the school community.

I’ve created the following graphic to illustrate the systems approach of Meaningful Student Involvement. It reflects three spheres of activity where I have seen and worked with schools as they integrate the approach.

The Transformative Spheres of Meaningful Student Involvement

Core Sphere: The first sphere of Meaningful Student Involvement are the locations for Meaningful Student Involvement. While I have identified specific activities throughout the school where student voice can be engaged, this sphere reflects a larger systemic approach to integrating students as partners throughout the education system.

Nesting Sphere: The second sphere of Meaningful Student Involvement are the roles through which research and practice consistently demonstrate the outcomes of the approach. I call it the “Nesting Sphere” because these activities hold the Core Sphere intact by nurturing student/adult partnerships in action rather than concept. Meaningful Student Involvement is conceptual and practical, not either/or.

Surrounding Sphere: The outer sphere of Meaningful Student Involvement are the avenues for transformation. Each of these reflects a different way that summarizes the major areas of action: Culture is made of the beliefs, habits values, visions, norms, systems, and symbols within a specific and definable school community; The named activities, policies, strategies, processes, allocation, coordination, and supervision of people throughout a school community happens through the structure; and the opinions, actions, knowledge, and beliefs of individuals are best summarized by their attitudes. All this surrounds Meaningful Student Involvement.

Written by Adam Fletcher, this article was originally posted to http://commonaction.blogspot.com. Learn more at adamfletcher.net!