Situation

In 2022, I was approached by my school’s Associate Principal for Teaching and Learning to assist in developing a staff-facing video that would catalyse a whole-school conversation about Student Voice. Our school was navigating significant leadership change and reimagining itself as a learning community grounded in student partnership and authentic engagement.

While the school’s 2020–2024 Business Plan referenced student voice through wellbeing surveys, the current executive team sought a more active, embedded approach—one that placed students at the centre of teaching and learning.

This work was aligned with Teaching for Impact principles that view students not as passive recipients but as co-agents in their learning journey. As Gonski et al. (2018) argue, partnering with students promotes agency, engagement, and wellbeing. Hattie (2009) reinforces this by showing that student achievement accelerates when learners take responsibility for their own learning, and teachers become learners of their own impact.

Our goal was to shift from consultation to collaboration, allowing student perspectives to shape pedagogy and drive school improvement—ultimately fostering classroom environments where all learners feel heard, respected, and empowered.

Action

The initial film project became a springboard for deeper school-wide initiatives. My contribution unfolded in three phases:

1. Film Production
   I planned, filmed, and edited a 10-minute documentary-style video featuring student interviews that explored questions such as:

   • How do you currently participate in your learning?

   • What makes learning engaging and meaningful?

   • What does good teaching look like to you?

   The planning and filming took one week of pre-production, three days of shooting, and three days of post-production. This was done in collaboration with my associate principal, modelling the collaborative professionalism promoted by AITSL.

2. Professional Learning Facilitation
   At two separate professional development days, I led staff workshops (40 minutes each) involving approx. 15 colleagues. In these sessions, I shared the film, facilitated structured reflections, and posed design-thinking prompts for co-creating student-teacher learning partnerships.

   I used the Double Diamond model to guide teachers through divergent thinking (gathering student ideas) and convergent thinking (developing classroom applications). This linked directly with Teaching for Impact’s goal to improve teaching effectiveness by better understanding learners.

3. Ongoing Leadership in Student Voice
   Since then, I’ve become involved in further initiatives including:

   • Contributing to additional films commissioned by the Quality Teaching Services unit.

   • Supporting staff inquiry projects around student voice implementation.

   • Embedding student voice frameworks in my own classroom (see Evidence Set 002).

These actions demonstrate sustained engagement in leading change, improving practice, and contributing to a culture of evidence-informed reflection.

Outcome

This work deeply transformed my professional identity. It confirmed for me that teaching is most powerful when we operate in partnership with our students. Key insights from the student interviews included:

• Learner diversity must be met with pedagogical diversity.

• Autonomy, trust, and scaffolding are not mutually exclusive.

• Students want teachers who guide, not dictate—coaches rather than commanders.

• Relationships are the foundation of learning.

I brought these principles into my own teaching, intentionally designing co-constructed learning experiences that honour student agency and voice. This contributed to a shift in classroom culture, where students are more self-directed, motivated, and reflective.

At the whole-school level, the initial film is now used during induction for new staff and featured in leadership planning documents—evidence of its sustained impact. Through this project, I have helped shape a more inclusive, dynamic learning culture that aligns with AITSL’s vision for high-impact, learner-centred teaching.