Student participation in decision-making : a review of student participation in decision-making and its validity in terms of learning outcomes and social values

TL;DRAbstract

Student participation in decision-making in secondary education has gained a great deal of respectability over the last two decades. Historically it is supported by contributions from both political and educational theorists. Recent growth in the acceptance of the approach is attributed to the influence of social values and government sponsorship. There are concerns that the approach is primarily a product of social values and that it has a limited potential to determine educational outcomes. The discussion focuses on these concerns and develops the proposition that student participation serves to fulfil a number of fundemental educational purposes. It is recognised that there is a limitation in the availability of empirical evidence to substantiate the case for student participation. In many cases participatory approaches are responses to new problems that are the result of rapid and recent social change. As such they can only be plausible and not proven at this stage. It is suggested

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