Option 1: A simple, informal conversation

Students have a lot to say about their schools. You can engage students at any age in talking about their experiences at school. How can you listen to them without going to a great deal of trouble? This section describes possible activities for listening informally to students of all ages.

Check your own expectations.

• Expect students to want to talk about nonacademic subjects: physical conditions of the school, extracurricular activities, disciplinary policies and enforcement of those policies, ways the school helps or hinders friendships. If you want students' advice and ideas on topics related to teaching and learning, be patient with their first interests, and persist with your questions.

• Expect both positive and negative responses. Let students know you value each response - and mean it. Expect to be surprised.

Talk with students where you find them.

• Ask individual students a question about school as you see them outside the classroom: in the hall, at lunch, just before or after school, as they wait for their bus, or at a school event. With younger students, touch on your questions lightly, often, and for a short time only.

• Ask students in a class to talk about a question or a set of questions related to school. Find ways to weave the questions into the subject being taught.

• Invite a group of students to meet informally at lunchtime or just after school. Provide refreshments as a reward for their participation.

• Ask an existing student group or club to consider something important to the school for a few minutes. Either visit their regular meeting or set up a special time for the conversation.

Yes, these are very ordinary ways to relate to students. Yet very few educators take the time to carry out these simple forms of engagement. Simple doesn't mean weak. Even these small steps, repeated frequently, can result in a powerful increase in adult understanding of what students are experiencing and can make students feel more like valued members of the school community.

Use ground rules to help students understand your expectations.

When you are working with students, give them some ground rules for the conversation. See examples of ground rules.

Develop good questions in advance.

Even though you plan to conduct conversations in a very informal way, you will get more out of your time with students if you have a good question or two to open the conversation. What makes a question good?

• Students should know the answers. Don't ask about things outside the students' life experience.

• Some aspect of the question should be interesting and important to students and to you.

• The words used in the question should be clear and familiar to students.

• Questions should be focused, short, and open-ended.

• Humor never hurts.

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Appropriate Questions

Workable question: What could we do to help the new freshmen get off to a good start in their classes?

Question without enough structure or focus: What should we do about the freshmen?

Question that's too closed-ended for a good first conversation: Should we bring the 8th graders over here to the high school for an orientation session to get them ready for next year?

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Here are a few examples of questions you could use or modify as you begin developing your own questions:
• [For younger students] What makes you want to come to school in the morning?

• [For older students] What are your really good days at school like? How many of your school days are like that? What would it take for you to have more really good days at school?

• What change would you most like to see in this school, or in this class?

• Our school test scores show we need to work more on writing. What would make writing more interesting and fun for you?

• What do you want to be able to tell other people about our school?

Be creative. You don't have to limit yourself to oral questions. You could show students pictures, objects, snippets of a video, or an excerpt from a book, and ask for their reactions. See other suggestions on alternatives to simple verbal-response interview questions.

One final note: Your questions should inquire into something important at your school at this time. Students know how they think and feel about every aspect of school. What do you want and need for them to share with you?

Make a record of what students say.

Anonymous student quotes will go a long way toward boosting the authenticity of your results. Take careful notes during your conversations with students, capturing as much of their own words and language as possible. Good note-taking will help students realize you value their ideas and will help you remember what they say. You might also use a handheld tape recorder during the conversations, provided the students agree to it.

Remember the central role of respect.

The Partnership for Kentucky Schools has done research with students for several years and has learned that respect matters a great deal even to the youngest students. Asking students for their thoughts can be one way to show students the respect they so deeply want.

Thank students warmly for their time and for their comments. Even if you do not get profound answers, if you make a habit of listening to students, over time they are likely to have more ideas and take themselves more seriously as respected members of your school's learning community.

Students will also feel valued if they see a direct (or even indirect) connection between their input and new policies or changes at school. When you can, follow your conversations with students with action. Acknowledge the student conversations as the source of the changes.

Enjoy talking with students. They have energy and insights that will make a big difference in how significantly and how quickly your school improves.

Next: Option 2: A series of semi-structured conversations with different groups of students