At Pleasant Valley High School, AP Language and Composition teachers have been recognized for challenging their students to engage in rhetoric and real-world conversations. In the spring, they have incorporated a unique assignment into the curriculum: the education symposium.
Completely student-led, the education symposium is a showcase consisting of the culmination of research projects conducted by each student. Throughout the second semester, AP students are required to research a problem in the education field and then present it to PVHS administrators. The goal is to teach students about vital research and rhetorical skills, while also inspiring them to advocate for themselves.
AP Language and Composition teacher, Dr. Lundberg, founded the symposium to encourage students to advocate for policies that drive the future of education. “Students usually like this assignment because they have been involved in the educational system for years. Students know that this is a topic that matters to everybody,” said Lundberg. “I hope that they get a sense that they can become knowledgeable people who have something to say about important topics.”
Students are oftentimes left out of conversations regarding their education, even though they are the ones directly affected by shifting policies and educational mindsets. By giving students the platform to advocate to school administrators, the district can continue to foster positive relationships between students and learning.
For students like Natalie Brown, the symposium is an opportunity to research problems within the education system and find solutions to address them. “The education symposium helped me broaden my knowledge on different issues in education. Listening to other students talk about their research was really interesting and helped me see different problems in education that I never considered,” said Brown. “It definitely helped me analyze real world issues because of the research aspect and finding different viewpoints on my topic.”
The benefits of the symposium also manifest into real-world educational settings.
In the previous school year, symposium students were invited to present their findings at a school board meeting. A simple research project culminated in students advocating for effective education based on what they have learned from their findings.
Involving students in educational policy making for school districts holds numerous benefits. Students are the ones who are impacted by the decisions school policy makers make. Pleasant Valley, unlike other school districts, does not have a student school board representative, making the symposium all the more important as it is a direct pathway for administrators to learn from students.
Advocating for educational issues helps to contextualize student sentiments towards educational matters. “I picked my topic on the presence of student voice in schools because in PV I have, on multiple occasions, struggled with the administration and trying to change rules that hinder student life at PV. I hoped that attendees would realize the importance of student opinion in decision-making in schools and that students should have a say in their educational experience.”
Educational advocacy is incredibly relevant in order to strengthen the quality of education for schools and the education symposium is a step to bridging the gap between students and administrators.
