Principal’s Advisory Council: Develop Structures that Elevate Student Voice in Equitable Ways
When we listen, we hear the stories people share that show their deeply held beliefs and the way they see the world.
– Margaret Wheatley
INTRO
During a Crowdsource Webinar on December 15, 2022, Carmen Gelman, Director of Professional Development, Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA), discussed the importance of student voice and how to create equitable structures to maximize its use in decision-making. Carmen shared how she set up structures and student advisory committees that truly represent all student groups, and how she used these structures to make leadership decisions.
OBJECTIVES
- Review the guidance and information about establishing a Principal’s Advisory Council
- Start planning and developing a Principal’s Advisory Council for your school
RESOURCES
REFLECTION
- Do students feel empowered to influence decision-making at your school?
- If so, do those voices represent all students at your school or just a small group?
STEPS & GUIDANCE
- Use protocols, systems, and structures for convening
- Establish group norms
- Start by giving students clear examples
- Have students add any norms or take away ones
- How do we as a group address if these norms aren’t being followed?
- Practice conversation and listening
- Use pronouns as a voluntary practice while establishing allyship
- Establish/re-establish relationships
- Ask how do we come together as a community to learners
- Give students opportunities to learn more about each others’ stories outside of their groups so they can be better advocates
- Stay curious about one another
- Conversations is the natural way for humans to think together
- It can be messy at times
- End with a closing prompt
Responses