PROMOTING STUDENT VOICE
Central to all of this work is the promotion of student voice. This initiative invites students to speak out within the environment of a structured dialogue that creates a safe haven for dissenting voices. As mentors to this process, you can not only support the safe haven of dialogues but also help students see that dialogues are only a starting point for greater student voice.
As advocates for student voice, there are some things that you can do to support this work:
• Suggest that politics often begin at the local level - Help others on campus understand the role of dialogues and the idea that civic engagement often starts at home. People are most likely to speak out about issues that really matter to them. While homeowners are more likely to care more about local property tax than about NAFTA, students are more likely to have opinions about parking rates than about worldwide hunger. We cannot expect them to be more idealistic than any other age range (although they probably are).
• Encourage students to try out their voices - The positions of students may sometimes lack sophistication. As educators, our task is to help them to develop their understanding while encouraging them to use the voice they have.
• Advocate for student voice - Work with faculty members and others who meet with students and student groups. Suggest they lecture less and listen more. Civic voice is an acquired habit and can only be attained through activities that contribute to the acquisition of deliberative skills and increase self-confidence.
• Encourage student leaders to use dialogues as opportunities to bring divergent groups together in a search for common ground - All too often, students get into a comfort zone with like-minded individuals who reinforce thinking that often lacks a critical perspective. As Paul Loeb states, “Sometimes those who oppose us have the most to teach us.”
