I have often listed student-voice amplifier as a way to describe me or when I am sharing my passions. As one of the adult mentors for the Global Student Chat, this means to me, helping kids share their own thoughts and ideas with the world. Meeting with a group of students on a monthly basis through the chat is very different than teaching them. There is no curriculum or grading. You really get to know them: what they care about , what makes them angry, what drives them. Through this initiative we have helped kids ask questions, decide on which questions they think would resonate with other students and then speak confidently and competently during a live stream where they share their opinions, build on each other’s ideas and respectfully disagree with one another.
Dana Mitra talks about student voice in terms of a hierarchy: listening, collaborating, and leadership. In her research, she found that schools could be transformed when we went beyond listening to kids, but when we truly gave them ownership of leadership and activities. I blogged about it here.
#GlobalStudentChat was co-founded by myself and Leigh Cassell in 2017 (it was first an Ontario wide chat and then went Global in 2018) Our mission was to connect K-12 students around the world to discuss topics and questions related to character education, social justice, and citizenship. The goal was to create opportunities for students to network with others, gain perspective, build relationships with their peers in a literacy-rich learning environment, as well as experience social media as a powerful platform for learning. Since then, we have been joined by other adult mentors like Brock Baker, Allison Fuisz, Kathy Lott, and the incredible Michael Drezek, who has been an integral adult mentor for many years. Michael and I co-presented several times (ISTE, Wakelet, DigCit Toronto) around the power of connecting students to each other and the world.
The chat is an example of what social media could be at the very heart of it; learning from other perspectives and connecting globally. Today as I write this, it is Mother’s Day, but India and Dubai celebrate it on a different day. I know this because two of our student leaders have shared this information, along with countless other differences. There is also no Black History Month recognized there. When we spoke of the impact of climate change on communities a few years ago, one of our student leaders shared, first hand, how the weather has impacted fishing in her community of Wrangell, Alaska. Every time I met with the student leaders over the years, I have learned something new.
It is with a heavy heart that I share that Tuesday, May 13th at 1 pm EST will be the final chat. We’d love it if you could join us. It will be streaming live on Youtube: youtube.com/Globalstudentchat
I feel like what we did in the chat can be easily replicated in your own context:
- Every month students brainstorm questions around a topic of their choosing on a google doc
- We talk about open and closed questions (although the kids have gotten so good at questioning that we don’t really need to remind them about this anymore)
- They select a highlight colour and vote on their top 5 questions by highlighting one work in the question
- These are the questions we decide to discuss via our YouTube live stream (this could easily be a class podcast)
- We post the questions and invite classes to join us in the conversation
- We leverage our connections to invite experts into the discussion; someone who can challenge or build on their ideas
- Students answer the questions and take turns building on each other’s ideas
- We use the hashtag #GlobalStudentChat to keep the conversation going
When I think of the incredible students, conversations, topics, experts, and co-facilitators who have joined us throughout the years, I am humbled and grateful. Leigh and I started a good thing and Michael, Laura and I may be guiding the stern, but it’s the students who have full control of the direction and have kept this initiative sailing smoothly throughout the years. One former student, Darcie, who can’t unfortunately join us for the last chat because she is now a summer student at a law firm (yay her!!) shared this with me via email:
Even though I can not be there, I wanted to express my gratitude to you, Michael, Leigh, and the Global Student Chat. It was truly one of my most memorable experiences of my educational journey so far, and the skills I gained from it are proving to be invaluable. You touched more people than you know! I hope you never stop sharing your love for learning with others. Thank you for everything.
I am a puddle!
This doesn’t mean that I will stop amplifying student voices whenever I can. In fact, when George Couros shared that he met a talented student writer who wanted to write a book about her educational experiences, I jumped at the chance to collaborate with her. Karen is wicked smart and excelled at school and yet her school experience was not one she enjoyed; quite the opposite. This really perplexed me. The resulting book began while Karen was still in high school and will be published on Thursday, May 15th by IMPress Books. Meeting with Karen regularly to work on this book has been such a rewarding experience and I am so proud of the way in which Hopes for School: A student’s experience and ideas for educational transformation has turned out. Look for it on Amazon on Thursday!
I am also so excited to share that we began a podcast where we chat with contributors from the book; I had forgotten how much I enjoy podcasting. You begin with a framework in mind, but the conversation often goes in a variety of directions and there is so much to learn! Look for the podcast beginning Thursday, May 15th on Spotify and Apple podcasts, as well as on YouTube with bi-weekly episodes. Karen isn’t in high school anymore; she is set to graduate from UC Irvine late this Spring so she will co-host whenever she can.
It’s a week of endings and beginnings with all of the feels. But this is growing and learning and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Have an amazing week ahead!
