Imagine districtwide professional learning that is led by students who have experienced new pedagogies that teachers are studying. At the 2024 Sunnyside Unified School District (Arizona) Lesson Planning Summer Institute, I had the privilege of watching six inspiring high school students as they engaged and shared insights with over 100 educators and school leaders. They worked together to enhance the use of evidence in teaching, aiming for a transformative student learning experience grounded in innovative instructional models. 

Educators and building leaders across the district shared the value of learning from students.  

As a result of this Institute, my thinking regarding the student role has changed. I now see students as active participants in their own learning rather than passive recipients of information. I recognize the importance of fostering a collaborative learning environment where students are encouraged to ask questions, explore ideas, and take ownership of their learning. I’ve learned to value student input and to design lessons that are more interactive and student-centered. This shift in perspective has helped me to create a more engaging and supportive lesson where students are empowered to be curious, critical thinkers.

– Summer Institute Participant, Sunnyside Educator 

As this quote suggests, involving students who have experienced, and significantly benefited from, the pedagogies their teachers were learning was a way of modeling student-centered learning and was something that teachers valued. Teachers reported being poised to engage students to be part of the evidence–gathering process during lessons. What led to this rich reflection was that students were involved in every aspect of the Lesson Planning Summer Institute. Students led workshops, they provided feedback to teachers on key pedagogical practices, and they offered strategies (when asked) for how to teach students the use of key metacognitive strategies during lessons. Students met with individual teachers and with site-based teams, participated in dialogue with district leaders, and prepared daily summary comments to reflect on teachers’ key learnings and next steps. These experiences highlighted how having students with clear roles to support teachers can rewrite the traditional script of professional learning. This approach puts students at the center and allows them to play a key role in teacher learning. 

From Vision to Action: Learning by Example 

Starting in 2014, the district introduced new instructional models with a goal of promoting student identity, purpose, and agency, which required everyone’s involvement. That included students. How did the district create this transformative and meaningful experience for their educators and leaders? The district’s vision for this was clear: District leaders wanted to create a learning space where all were learners and could share their knowledge and perspectives with one another. 

By 2020, a group of students at one of the high schools in the district formed a school club focused on exploring the concept of student agency and the ways their educators created the conditions of learning through formative assessment practice. Students in this club have presented at national conferences such as the Aurora Institute Symposium and the Assessment for Learning Project convenings where they have talked about the learning experiences they have had in some of their classes.  

As the students’ knowledge grew and they made connections about the ways instruction impacted their learning experiences, they moved from just sharing with people from outside the district who were eager to learn their stories to sharing with those within their district who were eager to learn how to apply the same practices to benefit more students in the district. The students shifted from sharing about what they were doing and learning to creating ways to share their knowledge and experiences with their own teachers and leaders. They shared stories about what it means to develop agency as learners and helped other students develop ways to be metacognitive through peer feedback and self-assessment practices. Between 2023 and 2024, these students shared their experiences widely within their school system. The 2024 Summer Institute involved taking a next step in modeling the districtwide vision for the student role.  

Enacting the Student Role to Inform Instructional Change 

Students prepared for their leadership role at the 2024 Lesson Planning Summer Institute in several ways. They engaged with a WestEd curriculum to ensure a shared understanding of the instructional moves that strengthen how students engage in learning. Those instructional moves include providing opportunities for peer feedback, self-assessment, and discourse and using success criteria in learning. Students also had the opportunity to explore and practice asking questions and being responsive to where teachers are in their learning, to bring the focus on exploring teacher ideas rather than solutions. The WestEd team also provided resources for students to practice essential facilitation skills, such as listening and paraphrasing, to deepen their thinking and analysis and to prepare them when reflecting content back to teachers at the Summer Institute. Students developed workshop content and conducted peer critiques, and their teacher advisors provided feedback on their emerging use of key learning norms. WestEd’s Formative Insights team staff met with students to model and practice the skills they would use—effective workshop facilitation, reflective listening and responding, and the use of inquiry to support teacher learning.  

I witnessed the effectiveness of the students’ preparation as they engaged with and actively led teacher learning at the Summer Institute. The students’ public reflections and sharing of evidence they had observed meaningfully supported the teachers’ learning, practice, and lesson planning. Students engaged in several ways at the Summer Institute.  

• Workshops. Students led workshops for teachers on how student agency is developed during daily instructional routines to strengthen feedback and move learning forward. Through their roles as facilitators, students explored these topics with educators and created conditions for teachers to learn and to think of ways to apply their knowledge to their lesson planning practice. 

• Peer Review. As teachers engaged in a peer review protocol, students were prepared to meet with pairs of teachers during the lesson plan review session. Students used probing questions and paraphrasing and engaged in inquiry to support adult learning. 

• Small Group Learning. Throughout the 3-day Summer Institute, students met with school-based teams to support their collective thinking as they grappled with ideas. Students served as thought partners to explore ways the student role shows up in lesson planning and instruction. 

• Whole Group Learning. Students led whole–group daily summary reflections. Students posed questions and, with adults ready to learn alongside students, the students collaboratively created learning environments to both share ideas and explore new learning. 

• Students and WestEd. Students and WestEd staff engaged in daily debrief sessions to reflect on learning goals and what they were observing each day regarding the emerging learning of teachers and leaders. 

The Impact of Activating the Student Role in Professional Learning  

Students not only created learning experiences for educators and leaders but also shared an example of what it means to intentionally set a vision for the student role in these kinds of professional learning spaces that bring everyone together to shape instruction. As a result of their role at the Summer Institute, students reflected on the importance of mirroring classroom experiences in teacher professional learning spaces. One student shared the following:  

This institute really was a mirror of the classroom environment that we [all] want to create for students. A lot of times what we did here is what we wanted to give the students an opportunity to do, whether it be review with some of your peers, ask questions, listen, these are all important aspects of what needs to happen inside of the classrooms, to be successful for students and for you.

– Summer Institute Participant, Sunnyside High School Student 

Educators who participated in the Summer Institute also shared the power of involving students in conversations regarding their thinking about the student role during the Institute. It created an environment that allowed teachers to learn from and with students as thought partners.  

The role of the student has changed greatly as a result of this Institute; I am going into this next school year determined to utilize asset-based pedagogy, student centered instruction, and flattened hierarchy to support my students’ developing agentic practices and culture.

– Summer Institute Participant, Sunnyside Educator 

The district’s vision for involving students enables authentic learning across roles and allows everyone in the school district community, no matter their role, to share their experiences as learners. It has created a powerful culture of learning for the entire district.  

Take a moment to reflect on your own school or district. Consider the role that students take in shaping adult learning experiences. Envision an environment in which students, educators, and building leaders not only are in the same space but are truly learning from one another. What does this environment look like in your context? What vision could it set for learning?  

To learn more about this partnership and the work of WestEd’s Formative Insights team, go to: https://www.wested.org/support/formative-assessment-our-professional-learning-offerings/ or contact the blog author directly at [email protected].