My Other Me: Cultivating Student Voice in the Classroom

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to understand the conditions that allow for student voice pedagogies, including Youth Participatory Action Research, Critical Civic Inquiry, and Transformative Student Voice, to take root in public school classrooms. My research questions and findings focus on teacher contributions, classroom activities, and ways students claimed voice and agency in the classroom. Using a narrative case study and humanistic theoretical framework, I examine a youth leadership class at a public urban high school during one school year. The hope is these findings will fill gaps around how teachers and students can work together to center student voice in the classroom.