Encouraging Student Voice

Getting students to feel comfortable to volunteer to participate in class discussions is essential to a safe learning environment. Often this is easier said than done, techniques to encourage willingness to share are vague or theoretical at best. I have a relatively simple and easy strategy to ensure that each students voice is heard in class which leads to richer, more involved class conversations.

A2: nurture each students voice by never repeating their answers back to the class. #sbgchat
— Jasper Fox Sr. (@jsprfox) December 12, 2013

I have a policy in my class that I never ever repeat what a student says during class. It just seems to me that the statement loses student ownership and becomes mine if I was to do that because it would ultimately be coming from me. I'll show you what I'm talking about by giving some fictional examples:

Teacher Taking ownership

Setting: classroom with large amounts of distracted, background conversations. Can also be quiet. 

Teacher: what does the ratio of the numerator to the denominator tell us about the density of the object?
Student 1: Raises hand and answers, if the numerator is less than the denominator, the object will float.
Class barely hears student #1's answer
Teacher: if the numerator is less than the denominator, the object will float.  Moves on having essentially answered the question themselves. 

In this example, the teacher and student #1 are having a private conversation which does not include the rest of the class. I've observed this in extreme cases develop into a serious situation where the teacher is having a continual conversation with themselves. Either way there is very little meaningful interaction within the class- the teacher repeats everything said so that the rest of the class can hear robbing the student whose answer it was of ownership.

Encouraging Student Voice.

Setting: classroom generally quiet, each student respectfully listening to their peers. 

Teacher: What does the ratio of the numerator to the denominator tell us about the density of the object?
Student #1: Raises hand and answers, if the numerator is less than the denominator, the object will float.
Teacher: Well done, student #1, Student #2 (sitting across room) did you hear what Student #1 said?
Student #2: "Yes, they said if the numerator is less than the denominator, the object will float."
clarification- is student #2 says no, they did not hear student #1, Student #1 is asked to repeat their answer until student #2 and others hear and can repeat or rephrase.

I've put a lot of effort into developing this strategy into an integral part of our classroom experience. I find that it is unusual and students often have difficulty initially getting used to it because they are often not expected to think for themselves and have a voice of their own. Asking for the student across the room to repeat is key because if they heard it, theoretically the students in between did too. I make a point of telling all the students that I am not picking on any students to repeat because I think they aren't paying attention- but to ensure they heard. Once my students get accustomed to this technique, everyone freely volunteers, knowing that they can own what they say and that others are expected to listen with the intent of hearing what they have to say.