Seeing Education Through the Eyes of Students.(Brief Article)

Those who trust us educate us. -- George Eliot

As educational professionals, we often pride ourselves in our ability to clearly articulate the latest knowledge gleaned from academic research. We especially pride ourselves on our ability to make our findings "practical." In educational psychology one of the main goals of research is to apply findings to classroom practice, to interpret results in terms of assisting teachers and students to learn and/or teach more productively, for maximum success. This is a lofty goal ...

And while we struggle with issues of reliability and validity, we sometimes, inadvertently, minimize one of the most important "variables" in educational research--the student. Although this problem is less conspicuous now than it was twenty years ago, I am amazed at how often we struggle to design research that "gets at" issues involving teaching and learning without considering the student's perspective. I recall something that was said to me many years ago by a feminist colleague. To paraphrase her--we try and try to design research in convoluted ways to find out what students are thinking. Why don't we just ask them? I never forgot those words as I conducted, critiqued, or planned research.

Students' perspectives, an examination of their beliefs or attitudes, are meaningful not only in the interpretation of our findings, but in the very design of our research, in the questions we pose, in the issues we address. To see education through the eyes of students is a daunting task, one that challenges us to think beyond our own perspectives and our personal preferences for research style--it also requires much more time and patience, particularly when we focus our energies on younger students. And like anyone who takes exception to the hegemonic rules of the academy, we must defend ourselves against other professionals who have taken pride in being "keepers of the knowledge," who would not dare ask children what they think, or empower and respect the student's own view.

Ultimately, these are the issues--empowerment and respect. When we reach out to ...