Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore teacher practices that encourage student voice in middle school governance. Designing relevant educational experiences for students and providing them with opportunities to engage in co-learning and shared leadership places the cultivation of student voice at the forefront of "Third Space Thinking" (Wilson, 2016, para. 4). This study identified teacher practices that encourage student voice and the extent to which said practices align with the five disciplines of learning organizations (Senge, 2006). Methodology. A review of the literature produced a significant number of authors supporting Senge's (2006) learning organization theory and the corresponding five disciplines of the learning organization. This study utilized a qualitative research design, through Hyatt's (2017a) case story method to explore teacher practices encouraging student voice in middle school governance. Findings. This study identified 21 teacher practices encouraging student voice in middle school governance that aligned with Senge's (2006) five disciplines of learning organizations: personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking. Conclusions. This study builds on the body of knowledge from which pedagogy and governance may authentically evolve to ensure ongoing relevance in the system of education by identifying teacher practices that encourage student voice in middle school governance, providing students, educators, administrators, and policymakers with a starting point from which to build individual capacities and organizational structures for colearning and shared leadership in education. The results of this study also add to the existing body of literature specific to student voice. Recommendations. Future research could take place with multiple schools and a variety of demographics. Additionally, the study could be replicated with charter schools. Moreover, future research highlighting site- and district-level administrators' practices encouraging student voice in middle school grades would likely provide additional relevant data. This was a qualitative study, and therefore a quantitative study may yield additional data.