Rethinking the inclusive and democratic school with the voices of the students. Two case studies

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Educational research shows that the democratization of educational contexts and the inclusion of all learners are related to school improvement and school improvement is related to learner voices. The main aim of this article is to understand and analyze how student voices as active agents can contribute to the development of more democratic and inclusive schools. METHOD. Two case studies are presented, one from primary education and the other from compulsory secondary education. In both cases, a collaborative methodological approach has been developed in order to promote contexts of reflection and change with the different educational agents involved, mainly students and teachers. Data were collected using different instruments: observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. An inductive qualitative analysis was carried out with ATLAS.ti. DISCUSSION. The results show that genuine student participation requires a rethinking of the unequal power relations between students and teachers. Furthermore, participatory methodologies such as cooperative learning are necessary to move towards a more democratic and inclusive education, but not sufficient without the recognition of the plurality of student voices.