Increasing Student Voice in High School Reform

While we often write about adolescents as full of turmoil and angst, focusing on `student voice' instead highlights ways in which young people can learn democratic principles by sharing their opinions and working to improve school conditions for themselves and others. This article examines the connection between the types of student voice initiatives desired and the contexts in which student voice is pursued. Drawing upon cases from the USA and Australia, we suggest that turbulence theory can influence the way that student voice is received at a school and its ability to achieve desired goals. Student voice can help to increase the tension and focus on pressing issues when needed; it also can help to calm turbulence occurring within individual adolescents and also in school contexts that need resolution.