Centering Student Voice: Students as Leaders and Partners

Emily Shu • Cahn Fellow 2023

What happens when we center students in our professional learning? How do we create opportunities for collaboration between teachers and students?

At Bronx Envision Academy, a small New York City public high school, we are working to fulfill our vision of an equitable student-centered school. During the 2023-2024 school year, school leaders and teacher leaders moved from talking about student voice and started purposefully learning from and with our student leaders. Through this project, we began four distinct initiatives to partner with students in our professional learning. In our first year of this initiative, with the support of the Cahn Distinguished Principals Fellowship, we have identified promising key strategies to support collaboration between students and teachers, resulting in increased engagement and student leadership in our school community.