To be seen and heard: teacher action to amplify student polyvocality

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Around the world, youth expressing their voices and interests are often unfairly dismissed, portrayed by settler-colonial systems as divergent from White-patriarchal standards. With space and opportunity, however, young people have proven effective in utilising their polyvocality—the multiplicity of their voices and interests—to agitate dominant systems and advocate for change. Amplification of student polyvocality by teachers in classrooms has the potential to challenge White-patriarchy embedded within existing educational practice. Synthesising qualitative data from the Weaving Stories of Strength (WSS) project, we foreground the insights of 16 Indigenous experts in Indigenous Education from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, and the USA, who advocate for teacher-led actions towards reframing classrooms and amplifying student polyvocality.