Improving Learning through Consulting Pupils

Jean Rudduck and Donald McIntyre were both Professors of Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK. Both of them retired in 2004, but continued to work. Sadly, Jean Rudduck died on 28 March 2007, shortly after completing this book, and Donald McIntyre died on 16 October 2007, just before it was published.

‘Having heard Professor Rudduck speak about the findings from the project and reviewed an article written for an academic journal, I cannot think of another book that covers the same ground with such a robust evidence base … The detail of what pupils actually tell us will change with the policy context … This is an important book. What pupils can tell us about how to improve opportunities for learning and how teachers can act constructively on what pupils say, avoiding the defensive reactions exhibited by some of the teachers in Rudduck’s study is very important. Do publish it.’ Professor Pat Mahoney, Roehampton Institute of Education, University of Surrey.‘… I can attest to the growing interest in pupil voice and pupil participation (consultation) among educators in both academic and professional communities in many parts of the world. Amidst the rising and "bottom-line" demands to enhance pupil performance (outcome-based modes of accountability), many educators remain committed to the importance of more inclusive and authentic forms of pupil engagement (voice and participation) in classrooms and schools. The long-term program of research by Jean Rudduck and her colleagues has not only enhanced our understanding of why pupil engagement is so significant to pupils’ experience of schools but also documented how the improvement of learning is inextricably linked to increased and varied forms of pupil engagement. The proposed book by Rudduck and McIntyre respond to the need for a resource that provides both an articulate rationale for and explanation of engagement (in the form of pupil consultation) and a clear set of guidelines and examples of how this form of engagement will redefine and improve learning […] The field of study in pupil voice, pupil participation, and pupil consultation emerged in the late 1980’s and has steadily progressed with a noticeable "leap" in both research and application from 2000 onwards. The proposed book will become a seminal reference and, as such, will both remain current for the next decade and continue to be a standard reference in research on/with pupils for the foreseeable future.’ Professor Denis Thiessen, OISE, University of Toronto, Canada

• Part 1: What is Consultation and Why is it Important? 1.1. The Growth of the ‘Pupil Voice Movement’ and What it Endorses 1.2. The Project’s Aims and Design 1.3. Elements of the Project 1.4. The Project’s Difficulty in Resisting the Temptation to Move Outside the Classroom and Away from Teaching and Learning Part 2: What Does the Project Tell Us? 2.1. Strategies for Consultation 2.2. What Pupils Say About Teaching and Learning 2.3. Teachers’ Responses to What Pupils Say 2.4. The Impact on Pupils, Teachers and Schools 2.5. The Impact on Teacher-Pupil Relationships 2.6. Developing the Work in Schools and Classroom 2.7. Constraints Part 3: The Implications: Towards a Theory of Learning Appendix: How the Research was Carried Out