How first-year undergraduate students’ voices are listened to in the class at University?
By Maggie Tsui
This paper attempts to identify how students’ voice is being listened to through their experience of being in university. Data were gathered from observations and semi-structured interviews with four first-year undergraduate students. The aim was to investigate how students express their voice in class at university. The report concludes the students’ standpoint on their right to voice in university and also provides an illustration of the importance of empowerment.
Introduction 400
This paper discusses key factors on students’ voices and on the academic support they received in class at a University in the North of England. The research focuses on whether the students feel the support they receive is easily accessible and off benefit. The topic is worth studying as it is crucial for the University to listen to students’ voice (Bovill, Bulley et al., 2011, cited in Brooman, Darwent and Pimor, 2014, pg2-3) Students often have their own strategies on how they work, and some may not be aware of the support that are available, it is important for the students to express their voice and act upon it. Under Article 12 of the UNCRC, it introduced that children should have the rights to voice and to be heard, which means they have the choice to choose whether or not to speak up in class (UNCRC, 1989, pg5).
The purpose of this study is to find out what undergraduate students think about the academic support on offer from university and how their voice can be heard and take action (Harvey, 2011 and Shah and Nair, 2006, cited in Seale, 2009). The reason I want to do this study because I think students should have the opportunity to have their voices are listened to and have the right to participate in decision making. It is interesting to find out how students think their voices are being heard and actually take action to it, and also do different cultures affect the thoughts of rights of being heard. The goal of this research study is to find out if the voice of the students about the support the University provides if useful and look at how students think about participating in decision making. The research provides information for further study into students’ voice in university. This research study will help me to gain insight on how young people’s voice are heard when they need help from university and what they think of the support they can get at university.
Literature review 400
Voice is defined as the right to be heard and the right to participate under Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UNCRC, 1989, cited in Lundy, 2007,pg5), which implies that child has the right to express their views and children’s voices should not be manipulated or influenced by others (UNICEF, 2011, p.22). However, UNICEF argued that Article 12 does not imply any obligation on children to express their views, children should have the right to choose whether or not to express. Lundy also argued that Article 12 is sometimes misunderstood by individuals that they tend to apply Article 12 in education.
Lundy proposed that children’s voices are sometimes listened to, but no actions are responded to, which leads to tokenism (Lundy, 2007). Lundy has proposed a new model based on Article 12 attempt to cover more on the decision-making process; Space, Voice, Audience and Influence (Welty and Lundy, 2013). Lundy creates this model to improve the UNCRC to become more effective in practice. This links to the UNCRC Article 12 where it says ‘children have the right to express their own views and also the right to receive guidance from adults’ (UNCRC, 1989, pg5). Morgan (2005) found out that young people wish to be treated ‘as individuals, not an age group’ (Morgan, 2005, cited in James, 2007, pg262). Consequently, it has been argued that there may be a misunderstanding on Article 12 in which the age and maturity level of the child can interpret the ability to form a view (Lundy, 2007). A study shows that children are not always listened by their teachers where they often think the teachers have too much authority and rarely encourage them to express their opinions (Kilkelly et al., 2004, pg186). Moreover, Kilkelly et al. (2005) research emphasises that the majority children did not have the opportunity to have their views to be listened at school (Kilkelly et al., 2005 cited in Lundy, 2007, pg929), this associates with Lundy’s model Audience and Influence where it indicated that children have the right to have their views to be listened to and adults should take account of what they said seriously. Wyse (2001) proposed that school council is a good example of student’s views should be listened to when deliberating decisions (Wyse, 2011, cited in Lundy, 2007, pg937). Sometimes there may be children in silence who fear to speak up because of fear of offending or get shout at by their teachers (Mazzei, 2003; Lundy, 2007).
Lansdown (2011) introduced the mechanism for voice where the different forms of participatory approaches can be used when working with children and young people (UNICEF, 2011, pg147). These approaches enable adults and children to share decision-making processes and encourage children to be active in participate at any stage of decision. Hart’s participation model implies children’s right in choosing to participate at different levels (Hart, 1992, pg8), the eight levels of children’s participation allow adults to think more when working with children that require children to be involved in participating in sharing decisions. For instance, Mayall (2000) proposed that children and adults can communicate to an agreement where children can decide and be actively engaged in the process of research (Mayall, 2000, cited in James, 2007, pg268-269). The Mosaic approach is a participatory learning strategy that empowers children to express their voice (Clark and Moss, 2011, pg11). MacNaughton (2003) proposed that internal listening is a crucial area of the Mosaic approach where it gives the opportunity to children to reflect on their own lived experiences (MacNaughton, 2003, cited in Clark, 2005, pg17).
It is crucial for adults to listen and observe children’s silences. In Mazzei study (2003, 2007), she argues that adults often disregard silences in research in which treating utterances silent as non-data (Mazzei, 2003;2007, cited in Spyrou, 2015). Exploring and listening to the silences is significant, by doing so, adults can provoke a captivating conversation unintentionally that surprise us (Mazzei, 2004). The UNCRC agreement applies the same to everyone regardless of race, sex, religion etc. It implies that all human beings have rights in having basic needs that we require in order to develop our potential, for instance, food, health care, right to express ourselves (UNCRC, 1989). This is supported by Maslow hierarchy of needs (1943) where it established that there are five stages of need where individuals seek to accomplish (Bates, 2016, pg68). Adults have the responsibility to ensure children and young people have their rights in all situation as they are more vulnerable than adults (UNCRC, 1989).
Methodology 300
These findings were collected by a set of semi-structured interviews and observations to obtain qualitative data. I used thematic approach for this research where I approached 4 first year undergraduate students from the University of Huddersfield from the School of Education and the School of Architecture to do semi-structured interviews with them. Using thematic approaches allows me to explore more qualitative data with an unbiased viewpoint (Bell and Waters, 2018 pg38-39). Before I start the interview with the participants, I ask them for their consent before I start the interview and made sure they understand the purpose I was doing the interviewing and where I will use the information for. I also consent to them that their name will not be shown in my research study because of confidentiality. I also mentioned that they have the right to withdraw at any point of the interview when they feel uncomfortable with the questions. I have prepared the interview questions before the interview, so the participants had time to think the questions thoroughly and prepared longer answers which allow me to gain in-depth answers that I can understand their perceptions of the world. During the interviews, I had followed up questions where I can gain insight views of their perspectives on voice. It was a peer to peer conversation interview, so participants can feel less pressure in answering the interview questions. My positionality changed through the research process where I was being reflexive, so there are no assumptions.
I also observed a first-year undergraduate seminar where I can understand better how students’ voice is heard in class. I asked the group for consent and also made sure they understand why I was doing the observations. The data was collected by note-taking during the observation. I also interviewed a student course rep who attend to a student conference that was hosted by the School of Education to listen to the voice of the students. I recorded the interview during the interview and also collect the data by email.
Findings and discussion 600&900
The interview discovered a collection of data relating to the students’ viewpoints on how the university listen to their voice. The themes that emerged from the data were: the students’ perspectives on academic support in class, student’s experience on their voices being heard in class and student’s viewpoints on the support options that the university offers.
The students’ perspectives on academic support in class
University students are usually seen as independent and responsible adults who have the ability to cope with the stress and workload in University. Some participants referred they worry about the support that the university offers, however, sometimes students assume the amount of support they receive would be similar to high school. Participant 3 illustrated the point:
‘There are definitely more support in sixth form and teachers comes to you with the questions but in uni it’s more independent like you have to go to them with the questions…’
However, university expect Higher Education students to be self-governing and responsible enough for themselves to work independently. For instance, Reeve, Ryan, Deci and Jang (2007) proposed that individuals become autonomous when they are interested in the subjects and worth learning (Schunk and Zimmerman, 2008). Participant 2 said:
‘I like it when the teacher comes up to the table and ask everyone if we have any question cuz then I can see if I’m on the same pace as everyone or if I have the same problem as other people.’
Participant 2 shows that their tutors listen and allow them to express the views in class and let them have space and time to do so. In additional to Lundy’s model, it explains that it is significant for adults to aware of how they react to students’ voices and how they act upon it (Lundy, 2007). Moreover, students mentioned at the student conference that they like the amount of support they get for academic skills and the resources that the university offered. They also mentioned how helpful the staff and tutors are which gave them support through the year. Conversely, the student course rep points out that:
‘a lot of people complained about the same thing every time and I was like … we not we can’t fix it lets not talk about it but it’s coming up … so it comes up every year in every single one in log and every single course, why are we not doing anything about it … there’s a problem needs to be fixed so it can’t keep coming up and not doing anything about it.’
This shows that the university is somehow being tokenism at a certain level with some of the points that the student brought up. This links to the Hart participation model (1992) indicating that level 6 where adults introduced their decisions with children (Hart, 1992, pg8). However, the student rep mentioned that she did not ask the students for the feedback of how the conference went which she said she will improve next time. This shows that she is trying to engage and listen to the students’ voice. She also mentioned that they used memo notes engage students at the conference, this links to Mosaic approach where the university tried to empower students by giving them opportunities to participate in the process (Clark and Moss, 2011).
Students’ experience of their voices being heard in class
Majority participants mentioned that they get the support when they ask questions during seminars. However, some of them claim themselves as silent students and prefer to have one to one session with tutors, so they can ask questions immediately when they are unsure with anything.
Most participants say their voice is heard in class when they needed the help with academic work. However, a few participants implied that their voices are not always being actively listened to. Participant 4 stated:
‘I feel like the teachers don’t always come up to our tables and they just teach at the front but er … I … er prefer they come up to us, so I can ask them questions.’
Participant 1 said:
‘there are some teachers that do come up in class erm because I don’t like speaking up in front of everyone.’
The voice of young people is important because students’ viewpoints are crucial for the university to reflect on, having feedback from students can assist teachers to improve their teaching methods and develop new skills (Seale, 2009, pg996). Participant 4 voice might be tokenistic as her voice is not being heard in class. Lundy’s (2007) study on tokenism implies that sometimes adults hear the voices of the child and young people but not actively listened to and understand students’ perspectives. However, Participant 1 contradicts with Lundy’s study (2007) as it showed that students voice is not always tokenistic and that they have the opportunity to express their voice in class. The Child Act 1989 introduces the basic rights children should be provided, linking to Maslow Hierarchy theory and the UNCRC right to voice (GOV. UK, 1989).
Student’s viewpoints on the support options that the university offers
Participant 2 said:
‘I like the academic skills support we have at uni and I think all the resources are quite useful … erm … there’re also a lot of leaflets in student union where we can go find the right support for ourselves so yea … and I’m not used to asking or voicing my opinion.’
Participant 1 pointed out:
‘I think it depends on the person like if they are motivated or just being lazy really…like uni does offer a lot of support it’s just whether the student go find it themselves.’
Participant 3 also pointed out that:
‘I normally read my notes and search on google before the lecture and if I still don’t understand then I’ll go to my tutors or look for support.’
This suggested that it is important for students to have self-motivation and self-determining when they are in university. A study indicated that over-relying on the support that university offers can have an impact on their self-esteem, which the study refers to ‘diminished self’ (Atkins, 2009, pg43). Majority participants suggested that having extra support that is offered by the university benefits them, and it motivates them. The university offers an advance centre where students can go talk about problems that are more personal, as it is confidential, so students may feel more comfortable to use this resource.
Some participants mentioned that they are scared to express their voice and felt that their voice would not be heard, so they never express their opinions.
Participant 4 stated:
‘The language class is not very useful coz they only teach about the basic grammar, but even if I speak up, they won’t listen anyway so…’
This might be related to the international policy of how they listen to children’s voices compared with how the UK does. Participant 2 and 4 outlined that this cause may be aligned with the norm of their culture where they have been told to respect teachers and elderly since young. A study shows that teachers in China have the highest level of respect, Prof Dolton stated ‘Teachers are revered’ (BBC, 2013). This reveals the culture difference where young people may sometimes think they do not have the right to voice due to their cultural background where children’s right is not seen as important. Article 4 of the UNCRC states ‘each country has their own culture and societal factors that influence how rights are being viewed and applied’ (Wild and Street, 2013, pg29). Wild and Street (2003) also concurred that the concept of voice can be varied between cultures where they underpin the meanings of the children’s rights agenda (Wild and Street, 2013, pg26). Universities websites also provide an online handbook for students to read and to understand the regulations of the University. However, participant 3 stated:
‘I prefer to have the hard copy for the handbook cuz otherwise I don’t really look at it.’
Participant 3 recognised that she has the right to express her voice. Department for the Economy introduced policies for higher education that aims to ensure all student have their needs meet (GOV.UK, 2018). Bergan (2003) established that students tend to engage more when they can participate in decision making (Bergan, 2003, cited in Seale,2009, pg996). This is supported by Alderson and Goodwin (1993) and De Winter (1997) research where it illustrates the idea that children are more capable than adults in decision-making (Lundy, 2007, pg938). However, Osler (2008) determined that students’ voice may challenge mechanisms of power as learner and teachers do not have the same authority (Seale, 2009, pg997).
Conclusions 300
This paper was written with the ethical policy and UNCRC document where it talked about the students’ perspectives on the support they received that the university offers them and how their voice is being heard in class. The research adopted a methodology that focuses on students’ voice by including students in interviews allowing them to express their viewpoints. Findings show that students who I interviewed recognised they have the opportunity to express their voice at any time. This contradicts Lundy’s theory where she stated that students’ voice can be tokenistic in practice (Lundy, 2007). As discussed in the findings, student’s viewpoint on the right to voice can be varied between cultures, this was shown in the research outcomes where it adds insight into cultural factors (BBC, 2013; Wild and Street, 2013).
I recognise that the findings are limited to students from other university and not generalised. However, I have used several previous research and models to support my findings. Additionally, the data presented involving students’ voice in decision making can motivate students in the study. In conclusion, through semi-structured interviews enables myself to observe participants’ tone of voice and their facial expressions which can provide information even if I have silent data (Bell and Waters, 2018). In future research, I will use different methods for data collection as this time it was a little difficult to gather all participants’ opinions extended viewpoints. I may use focus group next time perhaps can help me to gain more in-depth answers as participants can be influenced and discuss the questions with each other, by doing so it may benefit myself in the data I collect.