Teacher action research and student voice: Making sense of learning in secondary school

The Making Sense of Learning project began with the premise that for teachers to understand the ways in which their practice influences student learning, they need to invite and listen to students’ accounts of their learning experiences. Initiated by classroom teachers, supported by a university researcher, and informed by student voice, this teacher action research involved the empirical-reflective (self-) study by teachers of their practice as interpreted and critiqued by their students and themselves. This article explores how researchers challenge teachers to move beyond taken for granted conceptions of teaching, learning, and roles of students, to engage in learning-centered dialog with their students and through this, transform classroom practice. Supported by the researchers, teachers and students gain a sense of empowerment as they deepen their relationships and negotiate new roles as partners and coresearchers making sense of learning in their classrooms. Teachers and students come to situated understandings of the complexity of teaching and learning that reveal transformative and emancipatory outcomes.