Having a say at school

What the project will do

Phase 1: Development

Take advice from children, young people and adults
Throughout the project, we will consult with an adult advisory group and with young advisors from primary and secondary schools. This will ensure that our work is informed by the knowledge and experience of those with an interest in pupil councils.

Undertake key informant interviews and negotiate access to schools/councils
We will carry out interviews with people from key organisations relevant to pupil councils. These will help us to design our surveys.

Phase 2: Mapping pupil councils in Scotland

Surveys of local authorities & analysis of local authority policies on pupil councils
We will carry out a survey of every local authority in Scotland to find out:

if it has policy on pupil councils
if it provides training or other support for pupil councils
whether pupil councils have been involved in local authority education planning
whether any monitoring or evaluation has been undertaken of pupil councils locally

Surveys of a sample of schools, in all sectors
We will survey a representative sample of approximately 1200 schools, in order to find out whether each school has a pupil council and the reasons for this. We will ask the schools who do have pupil councils:

how the pupil council works
whether any training is provided for pupils or staff
whether the pupil council has a budget
what remit the pupil council has
to what extent the pupil council's activities have resulted in significant changes
what links the pupil council has, if any, with other forms of pupil participation in decision-making and with the management structure of the school
Whether there has been any evaluation of the pupil council

Phase 3: Case studies of pupil councils

We will carry out case studies of six pupil councils, representing a cross-section of different kinds of school. In two of the six schools, the case studies will be carried out in greater depth, over a period of eight months. In all schools we will carry out:

1. A short, anonymous survey of pupils involved in the pupil council, followed by a group discussion, to find out about their experiences

2. Interviews with two key adult decision makers who have been nominated by the pupils involved in the pupil council

In the two in-depth case study schools, we will also:

Carry out a survey of children and young people who are not involved in the pupil council, to find out:

how they perceive the council
how they interact with it
why they are not involved

Track the work of the pupil council over an 8 month period - this will involve:

collecting written documents and minutes
observation at key meetings and activities during the time period
two further group discussions with pupils involved in the pupil council to find out their views on the process and the impact of the pupil council
two further interviews with the key adult decision makers to find out their views on the above

Arrange visits to other schools by pupils involved in the pupil council, plus a member of staff, to observe other pupil councils at work

Offer a small group of pupils in each school the opportunity to plan, shoot and edit 5 to 10 minute video about their school's participatory initiatives. These short films will be screened and the researchers will facilitate a group discussion after the screening.