Students are largely ignored as contributors or collaborators in educational research or change within their school. Mac an Ghaill ( 1 996) argued that the only way to get access to the 'real knowledge' in schools is through the active participation of students. He believed getting access to the official knowledge of the school is relatively easy, but getting access to the private knowledge of students, which he deems is the 'real knowledge' is more difficult. Student perspective is missing from the large majority of educational research but the use of students-as-researchers could overcome this and see students being considered as valuable sources within the school. Oldfather ( 1 995, p. 3 ) stated, "in the midst of expanding the boundaries of knowledge, authority and scholarly research, we are generally leaving out the primary stakeholders of education, the students."
Students-as-Researchers is a collaborative methodology, which uses students as active participants in research either within their school or community. Teachers either guide and facilitate the research, or act as partners within the research. Students-as Researchers is Step 3 on The Ladder of Pupil Participation.
Students as Researchers promote 'partnerships' in which students work alongside teachers to mobilize their knowledge of school and become 'change agents' of its culture and norms. It seeks to develop amongst students and teachers a sense of shared responsibility for the quality and conditions of teaching and learning, both within particular classrooms and more generally within the school as a learning community
(Fielding & Bragg, 2003; p. 4).
The Students-as-Researchers approach seeks to involve students rather than just use students. Students are viewed "not just as recipients or targets, but as resources and producers of knowledge" (Fielding & Bragg, 2003, p. 4).
Kirby ( 1 999), cited in Fielding and Bragg (2003, p. 3), identified a number of ways that adult educational researchers could benefit from use of student researchers. Firstly, student researchers could use more appropriate language or questions to reach students and gather better quality and in-depth data from students. Secondly, the use of Students as-Researchers may give improved access to the views of students who are difficult to reach. Finally, a distinctive student perspective may be obtained that may differ from the adults viewpoint. Involving students in the research process can provide students with a real opportunity to be engaged) ) in a purposeful, relevant educational experience that motivates them to communicate, to question and to seek answers.
Students-as-Researchers is based on a number of assumptions. Fielding and Braggs (2003, p. 5) identified three:
• Students can undertake serious and significant research.
• They have skills and knowledge about teaching and learning based on
their schooling experiences.
• They can be trusted.
Flutter and Rudduck (2004), Nieto ( 1 993), Soo Hoo ( 1 993), and others have discovered that students who have assumed roles as student researchers have acted with maturity, awareness and integrity. As Egan-Robertson & BIoome ( 1 998, p. xii) stated, "to invite students to be researchers is to invite them into a new relationship with the teacher and a new relationship with academic knowledge." It takes great courage by the teacher and the student, but the result, as Neito ( 1 994) described it, can be a transformation to the learning environment.
J J Engagement is defined "as the student's psychological investment in and effort directed toward
learning, understanding, or mastering the knowledge, skills, or crafts that academic work is intended to promote". ( Newmann, 1 992, p. 1 2)
3.7 Improving Schools
The students' traditional school role has been one of passive compliance. In the new business model of education where schools have mission statements and strategic plans, staffs are accountable for student outputs. Pupils are considered as products that must reach certain set criteria; little has c hanged for the pupil. Neito ( 1994) gives a warning
that more than school structures have to change.
Educating students today is a far different and more complex proposition than it has been in the past . . . Reforming school structures alone will not lead to differences in school achievement. . . if such changes are not accompanied by profound changes in how we as educators think about our students. One way to begin the process of changing school policies is to listen to students' views about them; however, research that focuses on student voice is relatively recent and scarce (pp. 395-396)
Simmons and Blyth ( 1 987) claimed the key to an individual ' s optimum development and happiness in school is a 'good fit' between the activities within the school and the needs, values and beliefs of each student. The challenge for educators is to achieve the pupil-school 'good fit' . This is where educators need to turn to the students and together create the school environment that allows for optimum development for individual students.
The rights and responsibilities of students in school contrast greatly with student rights and responsibilities beyond the school boundary. The business model of education has seen along with accountability, a changed and ever increasing curriculum. According to Fielding and Bragg (2003), students have come under increasing pressure at school in that they are subject to increasing workloads and assessments, with their performance under scrutiny by parents, school managers, Boards of Trustees, Ministries and media. However, beyond the school boundary students have greater freedom and responsibility. In today' s world students have greater economic power, social maturity, instant communications, knowledge access and freedom.
In New Zealand, as elsewhere, the greatest concern in education is standards; raising educational pupil performance. Schools are doing this without consultation or collaboration with the very people they are making change for - their student. Soo Hoo ( 1 993, p. 392) claimed that: "traditionally, students have been overlooked as valuable
resources III the restructuring of schools." Phelan et al. ( 1 992), after interviewing
numerous students who had completed two years of secondary school believed that students could contribute greatly to their school and learning. "Students have a great deal to say about school and classroom conditions that educators should hear; about how students feel about themselves as learners and members of the school community, and their perceptions of the school as an educational and social setting" (p. 696). However as Smyth et al. (2000, p. 5) discovered, "schools are power structures in which the clear unfettered voice of students is rarely heard." Student voice is not in the equation of school leaders when it comes to school change and improvement. Schools lose their most valuable resource when they do not involve their students in school improvement.
Trent and Slade (200 1 ), in their research of 1 800 adolescent males' perceptions of school achievement and retention in South Australia discovered that the boys :
Believe that adults don't ask young people what they think and that they certainly don't ask in a way that establishes trust and mutual respect; they don't listen, and they don't really want to know, particularly if it requires or necessitates substantial changes on their part (p. 2).
The same would apply to most New Zealand schools, which would place these schools on the bottom of the Ladder of Pupil Participation.