Using student voice in Social Studies/Humanities to personalise learning

Promoting student voice in school learning is now broadly advocated to enhance the quality and personalised nature of this learning (Beattie, 2012; Elias, 2010; Mitra & Gross, 2009). In this chapter we report on a program where Year 8 low SES students participated in peer formative assessment in a humanities inquiry-based project, where they chose both the type and context of learning activities, and were taught by three teachers in an open-plan setting. The students assessed their peers’ presentations and also self-assessed their work, with some co-regulated support through the use of teacher-provided rubrics. The teachers believed it was a valuable learning opportunity, in that students had a heightened sense of owning their learning and, as we will argue, had a personalised learning experience that developed their capacities as independent self-aware learners.