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Welcome to Student Voice

What is it?

Student Voice is about you – Ontario's students – having a voice in your learning. It's about connecting what's happening in the classroom to real-life experiences outside school and giving you ways to help achieve your goals. Student Voice is a way for you to shape your learning environment while building your skills and abilities. It helps you be a more active citizen and supports student democracy and empowerment.

We want all students to be successful, and we need your energy and ideas to make this happen.

Check out this video to get an idea of what's changing for Ontario students!

It all starts with you

Speak up! You have a voice, and we want to hear what you have to say about your education. Your ideas and actions are key in helping Ontario's publicly funded education system reach the goals set out in its new Achieving Excellence vision for education. We want to help you make your school a place where everyone feels welcome and where you are empowered to speak your mind, get involved and become active citizens and leaders.

You have said you want to...

• share your ideas with government on how to strengthen student engagement and make Ontario's publicly funded education system even better.
• have a school culture where all students feel that they belong.
• work as partners with your teachers, and participate in school decisions that will shape your lives and the lives of your peers.

How can you get involved?

There are three main ways for you to get involved:

1. Minister's Student Advisory Council
   Approximately sixty students in grades 7 to 12 from across the province will meet with the Minister of Education to share their ideas and perspectives.
   
   Find out more about the council.
   
   
2. Student Forums
   Student forums are being held in Ontario so that you have an opportunity to share your ideas on topics that matter to you. In the fall of 2014-15, Students as Researchers Forums taught students about the collaborative inquiry research method.
   
   Students work together to identify and research an issue impacting equity, student engagement, well-being or achievement. For example, teams could conduct research on questions such as: "What experiences engage students in math class?" or "What conditions help students learn?".
   
   Talk to your Student Success teacher or school principal if you are interested in participating next year. If you cannot attend a regional forum, you can run a forum at your school and share your conclusions with us directly using SpeakUp in a Box.
   
   Check out what we're doing to give students a voice.
   
   
3. SpeakUp Projects
   Across Ontario, SpeakUp projects are helping students like you engage both academically and socially by leading projects that they design and implement with the support of their learning community. To date, thousands of students in grades 7-12 have actively led or participated in more than 7,000 projects in hundreds of schools.
   
   Learn how you can start putting your ideas into action.

This is your education. Speak up and get involved! Let's all work together to ensure Ontario's publicly funded education system remains among the best in the world.

Send your comments and ideas to studentengagement@ontario.ca.

See what students like you are saying and doing on Facebook to raise the student voice. Share your student engagement thoughts and activities by liking SpeakUp Ontario on Facebook and posting there.