Reeling in Reasearch

            I feel that the article I chose and my focus on the “Writing Assignment: Rule of Three” relate in a very simple way. The name of the article I chose is calledGiving Students Voice As a Strategy For Improving Teacher Practice by Dianne L. Ferguson,  Amy Hanreddy, and Shawna Draxton. I am arguing the fact of a student’s voice not being heard in schools, which is very important because the students are the ones who create the schools and make it what it is to this day. It is an educational environment where teachers learn from students as students learn from teachers. The article explains how students are interviewed on their thoughts about participation in classrooms and how to create a conversation with their teachers that will then lead into more participation. “Students […] were asked to comment on their participation in their classroom and their perception of the classroom climate in order to begin a dialogue with their teachers that would lead to more participation in decision-making,” (1). I am sure the students interviewed for this study had a lot to say about a teachers work. Just the fact of even asking a student what they think shows that you care and it makes a student believe for change. It makes a student feel like they’re being heard. It also discusses how the teachers then take that feedback and incorporates it into their classrooms as well as their teaching practices to improve the classroom’s environment and help students participate more. I would like to think that this article represents a solution to my argument in the writing assignment we did in class. I value and believe that all students have something different to say as well as a student’s voice being important. Also that if we students are not being heard then we lose interest in learning. This article can very well explain how listening to a student and their thoughts on participation, can very well help improve the way a teacher works and how students learn from being heard. “They used the Information from their students to make changes in the classroom climate, in their own teaching practices, and in the content of what they were teaching,” (1). Clearly a students voice had an impact in a teacher and in general the whole classroom, because thanks to the students’ voice, a teacher can better the climate of a classroom to help mold the students in their education. I think its beautiful how a teacher takes the advice and puts it to use instead of ignoring it.

Ferguson, Dianne L., Amy Hanreddy, and Shawna Draxton. "Giving Students Voice As a Strategy For Improving Teacher Practice." London Review Of Education 9.1 (2011): 55-70. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Sept. 2013.