How far can student voice enable teachers to adapt teaching in classrooms and support improved teaching and learning?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that was ratified by the UK in 1991 states that every child is entitled to education (Article 28), which must be provided in a way that enables them to express their views in accordance with Article 12 (1) and to participate in school life. Children should not lose their human rights simply as a result of passing through the school gates. The focus of this chapter is the extent to which paying careful attention to students’ views in a small-scale action research project in a mainstream secondary school was able to contribute to teachers’ expertise in adaptation of pedagogy in classrooms and, hence, increase the students’ participation in learning activities and potentially enhance educational outcomes and future life chances. An audit of school practices had identified adaptation and differentiation of teaching in classrooms as an area requiring enhancement. In response to this, the project was designed as a pilot to trial ways in which students who experienced barriers to learning might be enabled to discuss the difficulties they faced with those who taught them in an environment where they felt safe to do so and might provide insights that would enable their teachers to differentiate and adapt their pedagogy for them and thus improve the students’ access to learning activities in their classrooms. The project was designed and carried out by the first author of this chapter; hence, it is written in the first person. She was the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo) in the school at the time, with a responsibility for ensuring effective inclusion of those students with special educational needs and disabilities.