Voices into Action (VIA) Toolkit

A digital resource supporting learner and family participation in educational decision-making

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Finland

An innovative learner consultation process

About:

The national initiative ‘Pupil consultation in the Right to Learn programme’ contributed to the preparation of a legislative proposal which aimed to consolidate the use of positive discrimination funding in early childhood education and care and comprehensive school education in Finland. Learners were asked for their opinions on the need for positive discrimination financing in schools and on the desired outcomes and purposes of funded activities. This process aimed to:

  • provide views from learners in grades 4–9 on how equality and educational equity are realised in schools, and how to support an equal educational path for children and young people;
  • experiment and develop methods to help children and young people to be heard in classrooms and learner bodies;
  • arrange hearings to enable as versatile a group of children and young people as possible to participate.

There were 23 classroom workshops and a national-level workshop for about 120 learners from 12 schools (representing over 20 different languages). In the workshops, learners considered equality in their own schools, composed ideas of a perfectly equal school, and developed solutions to barriers to equity in schools.

The hearings were organised as remote-facilitated workshops due to COVID-19. This made geographical participation and scheduling more flexible. The workshop contents were differentiated for younger and older learners, and several language options were available. The workshops were accessible and easy to adapt to different learner needs.

Outcomes:

The Ministry plans to use the results from the hearings in further programmes supporting school work. The goal is to test and use the methods in additional situations to develop processes for hearing the voices of children and young people.

Key element(s) of the VIA Framework:

This example especially reflects the framework elements of SPACE and VOICE. The organisers put significant effort into setting up an accessible and welcoming online environment, enabling a diverse range of learners to express their voices. Learners were equipped with differentiated versions of workshop materials depending on their needs, which is important for ensuring meaningful participation.