Students on Listening to Students
Students have identified a crucial link between their learning and having access to classroom and school environments where they feel listened to by adults, where they feel that their voices matter.
“I had one teacher who responded differently. Instead of trying to make me go back in her room, she asked me what was wrong. She listened to me. She compromised with me and found ways to help me. Taking just a few minutes to ask me what was wrong and help me problem solve made a huge difference. I felt understood.”
— Theresa
During this pandemic and in its aftermath, we must take the opportunity to reevaluate our school system and who it is built for, and hopefully with the voices of every student, regardless of who they are, we can create a new system that is built for everyone.”
— Sean
“Students must have a voice in deciding how to make things better. The focus needs to be on more than just the school’s reputation. The focus needs to be on what students need to feel supported at school.” — Melanie
“Although I understand why the school made that decision, I wish we felt more listened to. In this situation, how would you feel as a Brockton student if the school dismissed concerns about your safety? Most Brockton schools did not have school, but we did. I am NOT disappointed by their final decision not to have a snow day, but I AM disappointed that the school missed an opportunity to listen to us and care about our concerns.”
— Oreoluwa
“It has been even harder coming back to a different environment and being introduced to new expectations. I have been doing my best, but if I’m in a classroom in which the teacher doesn’t recognize my hard work, I don’t feel comfortable or motivated. I feel like my work and dedication to the class are unrecognized and unvalidated. I don’t feel a connection with the teacher or the class. This makes it hard to learn because I don’t want to do an assignment just for a good grade.” — Jaydah
“She understands us. When we have problems, she talks to us. She gives us life lessons so that when we grow up we know what to do and we’re not like deer in headlights or whatever.… She actually listens to us, unlike other teachers that say, ‘Oh, when you come into my class, you leave your problems outside. You do my work.’ She’s not like that.”
— Focus Group Report
“There was never a chance to voice our needs and wants or give feedback, and instead they just focused on what they wanted from us. Because of that, students as individuals were left behind without the ability to express our honest selves.”— Briar
“I have also experienced the feeling of not being listened to when I have gone to guidance for personal problems. Having support systems like guidance in place doesn’t necessarily mean that students actually receive real support.” — D’Marcos
Schools need to set up systems to listen to students. Schools are for students after all. Let’s try to really understand where students are coming from. Let’s understand what the issues are and why students are struggling so we can work towards solutions and not temporary suspensions.” — Juan
“There are not sufficient pathways for us to share our voices with teachers and administrators, which contributes to our isolation and impacts motivation as many of us feel we are not represented.”
— Haverhill High School VIP Report
“In order to make connections with the students, in order for them to feel supported like I did, you first have to hear them. This means hearing students’ voices in the classroom, but it also means listening to their voices in the school as a whole.”
— Gabriela
“I now keep my IEP in my backpack and pull it out if I need to show a teacher who doesn’t understand or gets angry when for example, they see me taking a break in the hallways to address my anxiety.”
— Chris
“They don’t have anyone they feel like they can go to … it can be really hard to get through a school day, let alone a whole year. Those kids shouldn’t have to get lucky like me to feel like they have someone who cares about them at school.”— Anonymous
“Not being listened to cost me months of meaningful education, and I do not think it is fair that this happened when I tried to prevent it.”
— Michelle
Student Priorities — Students Speak Advocacy Project
This website is dedicated to the valuable lessons we can learn from students’ own experiences about how to create better schools. Decisions about schooling are often made without listening deeply to students themselves. But students are in the best position to understand what they need in order to do well in school.
A collaboration of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI), Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC). LEARN MORE