DECISION-MAKING BY STUDENTS

an a l t e r n a t i v e t o always t e l l i n g the c h i l d r e n what to do and when t o do i t . From the research under- taken f o r the Committee i t appears t h a t students are seeking such o p p o r t u n i t i e s :

* More than t w o - t h i r d s of those surveyed said they should have the o p p o r t u n i t y i n Year 10 of working on a t o p i c or p r o j e c t of t h e i r own choice. Most said t h i s should be given o f t e n . (66)

* More than h a l f o f t h e students surveyed f e l t they should have some p a r t i n d e c i d - ing when i n the week to study basic

s u b j e c t s . (67)

Most f e l t t h a t , when they had f i n i s h e d set work, they should be able t o go on w i t h other work (of any s o r t ) w i t h o u t asking. (68)

With respect t o d e c i s i o n s t h a t a f f e c t the f u t u r e school career and f u t u r e l i f e - c h a n c e s o f the student the Committee b e l i e v e s t h a t i t would be q u i t e i r r e s - p o n s i b l e t o imply t h a t such d e c i s i o n s should be l e f t s o l e l y t o students. Indeed the Committee i s concerned t h a t students do n o t r e c e i v e s u f f i c i e n t a s s i s t a n c e from t h e i r parents and t h e school i n r e l a t i o n t o these major d e c i s i o n s . I n t h i s view the Committee r e c e i v e d

strong support from the survey o f student d e c i s i o n - making. For example, students wanted t o be i n v o l v e d

i n the choice of l e v e l s i n a s u b j e c t b u t wanted g r e a t e r support and advice from teachers and parents i n

choices o f both s u b j e c t s and l e v e l s . (69)

The Committee considers t h a t i t i s necessary f o r teachers to d e f i n e c l e a r l y the areas i n which students are able to exercise a c h o i c e . Whether t o work or

not t o work a t school i s not a choice t h a t students should have, nor do they expect i t . They depend on the teacher t o provide them w i t h g u i d e l i n e s as t o t h e i r e x e r c i s e of choice. Having made a d e c i s i o n about how or where they w i l l work, i t i s necessary f o r students t o accept r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h i s

d e c i s i o n and t o f o l l o w through the consequences of t h a t choice. I t i s also necessary t h a t teachers do n o t expect too much immediate success. I f , i n t h e i n i t i a l stages, d e c i s i o n s made by students are not "good and wise" teachers must n o t o v e r - r e a c t and withdraw decision-making o p p o r t u n i t i e s .

The Committee considers the development of the c a p a c i t y t o make s e n s i b l e choices t o be very import- ant. C h i l d r e n should be given confidence to make d e c i s i o n s and t o t r u s t t h e i r own judgement because i t w i l l be necessary f o r them to do t h i s a f t e r they have l e f t school. . To develop such a c a p a c i t y i n

students i s a v e r y s k i l f u l process and a very important one. I t assumes t h a t a t r u s t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p e x i s t s between teacher and student. The respect and respon- s i b i l i t y o f f e r e d , b y the teacher w i l l be valued by students b u t the teacher should n o t expect too much success too soon. Schools, then, should accept t h a t one o f t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i s t o g i v e students more decision-making s k i l l s . The i m p l i c a t i o n , o f course, i s t h a t young people w i l l be r e q u i r e d to make d e c i s i o n s f o r themselves a f t e r l e a v i n g school. This would seem t o be r e q u i r e d by modern l i f e b u t i t must be recog- nized t h a t some students enter work s i t u a t i o n s t h a t discourage decision-making.and the acceptance of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y by young workers.

Student p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the school o r g a n i z a t i o n In r e p o r t i n g t o the Committee a c o n s u l t a n t from another education system made the f o l l o w i n g important o b s e r v a t i o n :

One of the important aspects of student govern- ment t h a t i s perhaps not recognized s u f f i c i e n t l y

i s t h a t i t provides an o p p o r t u n i t y f o r students to develop l e a d e r s h i p q u a l i t i e s w i t h i n the

school environment. I t i s p a r t i c u l a r l y import- ant t h a t t h i s r o l e be given t o as many students as i s p r a c t i c a b l e , and i n p a r t i c u l a r to students who have t h e p o t e n t i a l but not t h e o p p o r t u n i t y

to p a r t i c i p a t e i n a l e a d e r s h i p s i t u a t i o n o u t s i d e the school. (70)

From t h e Survey o f Secondary Education , i t i s a p p a r e n t

t h a t n e a r l y a l l Tasmanian high schools and about h a l f of the d i s t r i c t schools have a student c o u n c i l , w i t h a f u r t h e r t h r e e h i g h schools having special-purpose committees. (71) I t appears t h a t smaller d i s t r i c t schools have o f t e n t r i e d to e s t a b l i s h a school c o u n c i l but have not p e r s i s t e d because of the small number of senior p u p i l s a v a i l a b l e . In almost h a l f of the schools students have been given f u l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r a r r a n g i n g s o c i a l f u n c t i o n s and a s i m i l a r number are i n v o l v e d i n c h a r i t y and community work. Other

important areas of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y are the use of school f a c i l i t i e s and c o n s u l t a t i o n about uniforms and f u n d - r a i s i n g . I n most schools student bodies have been given r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r some aspects o f school f a c i l i t i e s or f o r both f a c i l i t i e s and some aspects of student behaviour.

When asked to comment about the e f f e c t i v e n e s s of student government most schools i n d i c a t e d t h a t they saw i t as being v a l u a b l e f o r the development of l e a d e r s h i p and r e s p o n s i b i l i t y and f o r improving communication between students and s t a f f . (7 2)

Some concern was expressed t h a t student c o u n c i l s tend to be i n v o l v e d only w i t h t r i v i a l matters and,

i n some places, lack the respect of s t a f f and s t u d e n t s . A f u r t h e r concern i s t h a t a student c o u n c i l may tend

to concentrate involvement i n a few hands, w i t h the m a j o r i t y of students d i s i n t e r e s t e d and c o n t e n t t h a t

others have accepted r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .

In the research study commissioned by the Committee, Year 10 students g e n e r a l l y agreed t h a t

there should be a student c o u n c i l and they attached a degree of importance t o i t : 44 per cent s a i d i t played an important or very important p a r t i n the running o f the school, 43 per cent said i t played a f a i r l y important p a r t and 13 per cent said i t was not i m p o r t a n t . (73) Two-thirds o f the students surveyed considered t h a t the c o u n c i l should have an important p a r t i n the school. Most (88 per c e n t ) said t h e i r experience was t h a t suggestions were l i k e l y to be accepted by the P r i n c i p a l and s t a f f . Such a

response needs to be i n t e r p r e t e d , of course, i n r e l a t i o n t o the importance of matters about which student c o u n c i l s can o f f e r advice.

The Committee considers t h a t some aspects o f

the r o l e of student c o u n c i l s , as t r a d i t i o n a l l y conceived i n secondary schools, are open to serious q u e s t i o n .

A c o u n c i l w i t h vaguely-defined r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s ,

t r e k k i n g t o the p r i n c i p a l w i t h a l i s t of requests seems l i k e l y to be c o u n t e r - p r o d u c t i v e and worse than having no c o u n c i l a t a l l . With such a c o u n c i l , i t i s inev-

i t a b l e t h a t some proposals w i l l have to be refused or m o d i f i e d , w i t h consequent disappointment and d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t .

The Committee b e l i e v e s t h a t student c o u n c i l s must be p u r p o s e f u l and f u n c t i o n a l , concerned w i t h s h o r t - term p r o j e c t s where r e s u l t s can be seen c l e a r l y and immediately. Part o f the development of student c o u n c i l s should be the d e f i n i t i o n of areas i n which the c o u n c i l can be given r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . Of e x i s t i n g f u n c t i o n s being exercised by student c o u n c i l s , the f o l l o w i n g can be instanced i n t h i s regard:

community s e r v i c e p r o j e c t s ;

o r g a n i z a t i o n of s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s f o r s t u d e n t s ; f u n d - r a i s i n g f o r c h a r i t i e s , i n c l u d i n g the

d i s p o s a l of funds r a i s e d f o r t h i s purpose;

expenditure o f a sum of money a l l o c a t e d to the c o u n c i l by the school;

s e l e c t i o n of a p r o p o r t i o n of books f o r the school l i b r a r y .

I n the l i g h t of these remarks, the Committee sees as v a l u a b l e other aspects o f student government t h a t are being developed i n some schools. For example, one s u c c e s s f u l model seems t o be f o r the student c o u n c i l t o form ad hoc committees f o r p a r t i c u l a r p r o j e c t s . This seems t o be one way o f meeting the need t o be

p u r p o s e f u l and f u n c t i o n a l , and of i n c l u d i n g more students than would n o r m a l l y be i n v o l v e d and of c a t e r i n g f o r a wider range o f i n t e r e s t than i s the case w i t h a formal c o u n c i l . Other s i t u a t i o n s , such as school camps, seem p a r t i c u l a r l y a p p r o p r i a t e f o r decision-making by students because, i n t h i s k i n d of s i t u a t i o n , the students can more r e a d i l y see the consequence of t h e i r e x e r c i s e of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .

I n any d i s c u s s i o n on student government, i t i s i m p o r t a n t t o be c l e a r about i t s purposes. The sent- iments of Frank Musgrove are accepted:

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y i s p r o p e r l y l i n k e d w i t h power.

P u p i l s are members of a school i n a d i f f e r e n t sense and on d i f f e r e n t terms from t h e i r teachers.

To be r e s p o n s i b l e i s t o be l i a b l e t o punishment i f t h i n g s go wrong; p u p i l s cannot be punished l i k e t h e i r teachers f o r the f a i l u r e of school p o l i c i e s , even i f they had a hand i n shaping them. Their c l a i m to a share i n power i s weak. (74)

The e x t e n t to which students can p a r t i c i p a t e i n school decision-making i s l i m i t e d and any pretence t o a school c o u n c i l t h a t t h i s i s not the case w i l l lead to f r u s t r a t i o n and c y n i c i s m .

While major school p o l i c y i s not i n the p r o v i n c e of student government, o p p o r t u n i t i e s should be taken, when p r o j e c t s are being planned i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h

the community, t o i n v o l v e students f u l l y i n the p l a n n i n g so t h a t they can have the experience of working purp- o s e f u l l y w i t h a d u l t s .

i n of

The Committee would see the value of experiments student government as l y i n g p r i m a r i l y i n the area the personal and s o c i a l development of p u p i l s .

Through t h i s involvement, students can l e a r n t o a c t i n s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n s , to communicate w i t h each other and w i t h teachers and to l e a r n what i s r e q u i r e d i f r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r a p r o j e c t i s accepted. But these ends are more l i k e l y to be achieved i f the organs o f student government are seen as "doing bodies" r a t h e r than "demanding bodies". The model proposed here seems much more l i k e l y to be successful than one based on p r e t e n d i n g to share power w i t h s t u d e n t s .

4.9 SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, DECISION-MAKING AND ORGANIZ-