The Students Speak Up

In our class, a Nations Argument We learned a lot about valid and invalid arguments and how to strengthen our points in discussion when an argument is taking place. Throughout this unit, we had the opportunity to get a library card and check out a book from a list of interesting authors and also got to speak with alderman Andre Vasquez of the 40th ward of Chicago to talk about what he values in his position as alderman and how he goes about his usual days trying to make the community of the 40th ward the best it can be. This project called upon us to take a look at the agreement we all had to sign to enter GCE Lab School s one of its students, The GCE Family Handbook. The assignment detailed that we had to pick a portion of the Handbook we thought could use some revisions and make a case for it. My topic was on student rights and the importance of a comfortable learning environment.

Many things fought my attention while going through the Social Contract, but something that caught my eye was the lack of student rights detailed in the text. Of course, there are sections dedicated to rules on what and what not to do but nothing stating what the most crucial rights held by the students are. This would in reality be an extensive document of obligations had by the students but for now, I am focusing on what I view to be the most important and pivotal right; the right to speak one´s mind. The beliefs held as I see them have been charted in a syllogism for a better understanding of the thought process behind why this amendment is needed.

P1: Student rights are very crucial in a school environment; first and foremost the right to a good classroom experience.

P2: While speaking your mind is important, guidelines should be enacted to make sure nothing that is being said is to hurt someone else.

C: A section in the Social Contract detailing student rights and responsibilities would benefit the school community greatly both for knowing what and what not the students can do.



After taking a deeper dive looking at the benefits of encouraging a student's right to speak for themselves I found some rather compelling research done on the topic. It is said that engaging more in the classroom such as asking more questions and speaking up when you think you have the answer (which is what I'm hoping to achieve) not only helps a students confidence but the more they take part in class and outside of class the more successful that student will be. Usually, in class, you see maybe one or two students talking over answers or asking questions and those students as the research shows, rise way above their peers grade-wise. The outcome of not only raising the students confidence but overall performance as well is something I would very much wish for at GCE. All other sources I found called out freedom of speech as the first and most important right in a school setting. With this new information I made a new syllogism with improved statements relating to what I´d found.

P1: The making of a student rights section in the handbook would bring out the best in the students of GCE.

P2: With the clarity for a right to speak out, students will feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts and be encouraged to speak out in and out of class.

C: A section for students rights in the family handbook would be important to include for the sake of progress for the students.

comic:

Discussion De-railed (DN) 2022

This comic I named ¨Discussion De-railed¨ while a bit disproportionate to what might actually happen gives a simple image of a situation carried out of hand without these changes to our social contract. A metaphor that I came up with to represent my argument was ¨If we speak up in an empty cave and all we get back is an echo, why speak up at all.¨ Meaning if the teachers use their own voices to educate the students what about the student's rights to use their voices to educate the community on concerns or feelings they might have? 

I know that it is a more well-known right but I think the freedom of speech is very pressing in the situation of my amendment because it's concerning a student's right to speak their preferences and for them to be acknowledged and accommodated by their community. This new amendment is a demonstration of a student's rights in the classroom. Before anything else I find that it is most important that students are first comfortable with their situation in class and feel free to voice any concerns, they might have. To be a part of the GCE community is to be understood by the GCE community. Citizenship, as I see it is being a team player, and a key part of that is to get on someone's level and make sure they know you recognize where they´re coming from.
On the other hand, the right to speak up should not apply when the requests of a student/family are too great to where the school cannot comply, our community here is supportive and it is open but not to such an extent where the main ideals of the school such as an open learning environment and teachings of important lessons in the curriculum have to be tampered with to achieve satisfaction. As a result, not much at school would change. There would be some things that would be seen more often such as a slight positive change in behavior I suspect but all that I am asking is for each student to be understood. I got to hear from one of my fellow students on the topic and see what they thought on adding a section for student rights onto the Social Contract.

¨ I agree a student should be able to speak their mind because that's what school´s supposed to be. A safe space.¨ -Kate Elstrom

This project I of course really connected with as a student of GCE but also looking at whats needed to improv the school lifestyle was very interesting to look at. I´ve barely had a chance to look at the handbook before so this was very refreshing to read over the schools main ideals again and see the technical details they put in for the handbook to correlate to a whole number of different situations. There is still much work to be done on the one we have but as a start I do think its a pretty solid one. I just wish I could've had a bit more time to flesh my ideas out so that they really melded together. Other than that this action project was a really enjoyable one.

All sites Used:

“Research Says / Get All Students to Speak Up.” ASCD, https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/get-all-students-to-speak-up.

Network, The Learning. “What Students Are Saying about: Freedom of Speech, Teacher Diversity and the Soul of America.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-freedom-of-speech-teacher-diversity-and-the-soul-of-america.html.

Tashman, Brian. “Student Rights at School: Six Things You Need to Know.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, 12 Nov. 2020, https://www.aclu.org/blog/juvenile-justice/student-rights-school-six-things-you-need-know.