STUDENT AGENCY IN CULTURE CHANGE
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the story of what they observed and how they felt as they did this exercise. This was so that student observations wouldn’ t easily be dismissed if they were supported by a narrative of the personal impact such an exercise had on them. Moreover, they were urged that their observations include specific recommendations for things that need to be addressed by the school.
The next step was for all the groups to come together and discuss their various experiences, observations, and recommendations. Then, they combined all the group drafts into one document, with pictures included where appropriate. Finally, the DEI director set up a meeting between the committee members and the administrators of the school, where students presented their findings( both big and small), and administrators listened and asked questions.
“ There was other impact too, particularly for the students who did the audit. They reported feeling seen and heard and valued, that their work felt important not just for themselves but for the school writ large.”
What happened next was as impressive as it was unexpected. The head of school was so taken by the recommendations that he asked the students to present their report in-person at the next meeting of the Board of Trustees. And soon thereafter, the board approved a renovation project that, among other things, finally made the nurse’ s office accessible to wheelchairs. The 6th graders also presented their findings to the whole student body, and one of the biggest and most immediate results was the far greater care students employed as to where they put their backpacks.
Impact
There was other impact too, particularly for the students who did the audit. They reported feeling seen and heard and valued, that their work felt important not just for themselves but for the school writ large. And most notably, they felt they were helping disabled students and adults who might be a part of the school in the future, and that the audit allowed them to create real and lasting change.
I’ ve shared the audit with other schools in the years since that first group did their remarkable work, and when schools report back, I hear similar themes.“ Our kindergartners took this so seriously and saw things we have never before noticed.” Or“ Some of our seniors did this for a senior project, and you could see their empathy muscles develop in ways they did not expect.” That’ s
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