Harnessing student voices to improve ALL practices

An action research project

Abstract

Across a range of educational contexts, including academic language and learning (ALL) practice in the higher education sector, there is growing interest in harnessing student voices to improve classroom experiences. In this paper, we discuss our action research (AR) focusing on students’ reflective activities in a 5-day academic language intensive programme designed to encourage students to share their learning experiences with their tutor, and to empower tutors to design and deliver a bespoke programme informed by student voices. The paper will also highlight the impact that adopting an AR approach can have on educational and research practices. Our AR suggests the inclusion of the reflective activities enabled teachers to adapt their teaching practices, foster teacher-student and student-student rapport, and create more empathetic classrooms better tailored to their students’ specific learning needs. This paper may be of significance for any educators interested in implementing similar activities to encourage student voices in their classrooms to enhance teaching practices and students’ learning experience, particularly ALL practitioners in comparable contexts or for programmes delivered in intensive and/or block mode. It would also be of interest to educators considering adopting an AR approach to investigate a specific issue in their educational context.