The Student Experience Collection

The impact of Covid-19 and recent societal focus on social justice presents an opportunity for educators and communities to reimagine how learning and school spaces can be experienced in the wake of major events. While school buildings and what is viewed as ‘effective teaching and learning’ are continually assailed by politicians, inane laws, and corporate interests, Covid-19 provided a year long disruption to the narrative of what school ‘must be’. This forced disruption to American societies’ traditional methods and beliefs surrounding education can, and should, be a catalyst for change. However, the change cannot be put solely in the hands of school boards, politicians, or even tax paying parents, but rather it is the students who should be tapped for changes they identify as necessary and helpful in creating a safe and equitable school experience.

This research project provides a framework for educators to gather student data and turn it into a visual representation of student ideas and experiences to create a powerful and accessible map of what students need to feel respected and safe in their respective school spaces and relationships.

The Student Experience Collection: Heather Larson, Kayla Espinal, Andrew Beers, Jocelyn Lewis

The final form of this project is a website created to center student voices and experiences of learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. The site encourages other educators to find commonalities and disparities between the wants and needs of various student populations across the United States. This group designed a series of creative prompts that encouraged students to use visual representation about their experiences of schooling during the pandemic and changes they wish to see for the upcoming school year. The questionnaire was accessible to students in various grades.

This project used artistic and creative strategies as a way to decenter traditional research designed by adults for students, and to ensure that it was engaging and motivating for students to participate. The goal of the project is to create an ongoing portal for educators to learn from students and design their classrooms and teaching strategies with the wants and needs of students in mind.