Giving voice to the voiceless: a mixed-methods study exploring diverse fifth-grade student leadership opportunities through an elementary program
dc.contributor.author | Ray, Jennifer | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-10T19:43:46Z | |
dc.date.available | 2025-04-10T19:43:46Z | |
dc.date.graduationmonth | May | |
dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
dc.description.abstract | The study of student leadership through voice is a topic that is growing in popularity as educators and researchers learn more about its value in the educational setting. This study aims to explore a program for fifth-grade students in a rural elementary school, developed to provide a participatory voice experience, offering diverse leadership opportunities in an educational setting. Many leadership programs situated in a school setting are organized in such a way that select students represent their whole community and their voice represents the voices of their peers. This program explores an alternative in which any interested fifth-grader is offered the experience to participate in a leadership role. A mixed-methods case study was conducted to explore the actual experiences of fifth-grade students participating in a job contribution program during the 2022-2023 school year in a rural elementary school. Questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, and field observations were completed to identify if a correlation existed between this lived experience and the students’ perceived self-efficacy and their connectedness to school. Findings indicate some connection between student experiences and efficacy and suggest areas for continued research in student voice. | |
dc.description.advisor | Cynthia Shuman | |
dc.description.advisor | Thomas Vontz | |
dc.description.degree | Doctor of Education | |
dc.description.department | Curriculum and Instruction Programs | |
dc.description.level | Doctoral | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/2097/44863 | |
dc.language.iso | en_US | |
dc.subject | Efficacy | |
dc.subject | Leadership | |
dc.subject | Student voice | |
dc.subject | Elementary program | |
dc.subject | Agency | |
dc.subject | Student autonomy | |
dc.title | Giving voice to the voiceless: a mixed-methods study exploring diverse fifth-grade student leadership opportunities through an elementary program | |
dc.type | Dissertation |