As a leader, I have always placed children’s wellbeing at the centre of each of my schools. The development of authentic children’s voices has been an essential part of this. This culture has enabled my schools to accelerate the rate of progress in many aspects of practice. The fact that our children already played a key role in driving and implementing change ensured that they could play their part in this change too; the strong student voices enabled many of the new aspects of research and training to be implemented quickly. So how has this culture for the development of children’s voices developed and what difference does it make?
As educators, we understand that, as we journey through life, our lived experiences shape the way we ‘weather the storms’ we encounter. With the current pressures faced by schools, it can be easy to overlook a child’s perspective on their own life and their view of the world. However, by listening to their view and enabling them to develop the skills and ability to voice it, we enable them to become an emotionally strong and resilient citizen of the future.
Our children's voices help them to defend themselves and fight for the rights of others. Their voices enable them to speak up when they see injustice, to seek help when they need it and to share their ideas in the hope of helping others around them.
How do we balance the growing needs of our children alongside the pressure to achieve high academic standards? How do we cope with the rise in mental health issues and the increasingly volatile behaviour we witness? We educators need to be able to see the world through the eyes of the child. We have a responsibility to help our children to learn how to deal with their big feelings and emotions, to be able to express their views and to learn how to use these to make a difference to themselves and the wider world.
In order to achieve this, wellbeing needs to be central to a school’s ethos. Fundamentally, schools need to develop a culture and climate where children feel emotionally safe to express themselves. The development of this culture will also promote the growth of empathy and respect for the opinions and feelings of others.