ERIC Number: EJ1488157
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0311-6999
EISSN: EISSN-2210-5328
Available Date: 2024-08-28
Student Wellbeing in Vertical Schools: A Multilayered Student Voice Approach for Inclusion and Influence
Australian Educational Researcher, v52 n2 p1345-1366 2025
Vertical schools are a new type of school in Australia, with little research available to guide designers and school leaders how to address the physical and social challenges that density and interiority add to the students' schooling experience. As students capably communicate their experiences and perspectives about school spaces for wellbeing, pioneering students in three new vertical schools demonstrated the power of student voice in the "Thriving in Vertical Schools" project, a 3-year mixed-methods Australian Research Council Linkage project. Young people showed adults how their school spaces enable them to be, feel, and do activities where they feel capable, and how the vertical school environment contributes to wellbeing. Students communicated their voice through multiple layers: the student voice processes (methods), stories with sensory atmospheres (experience), and participating in impactful discussions with adults (action/influence). Adult designers and education leaders were interviewed several weeks after listening to students, identifying how student perspectives had influenced their work. This paper demonstrates how the combination of participatory voice-inclusive methods enabled students to communicate immersive experiences that brought light to interactions for school wellbeing at a level of granularity that adults had not had access to before to influence future designs. This paper argues for the value of attending to student voice and sensitivity in providing choice and options when doing so, so that students are supported to express themselves and their rich experiences in ways of their choosing and ways comfortable to them.
Descriptors: Well Being, Inclusion, Foreign Countries, Student Attitudes, School Buildings, Educational Facilities Design, Interior Design, Educational Environment, Sensory Experience, Student Participation
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Queensland University of Technology, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education, and Social Justice, Brisbane, Australia

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