Every Student Is a Leader & Here's the Research to Prove It

Is your student council accidentally silencing the students who need a voice most?
In Part 1 of this two-part S5E38 @schoolutionspodcast conversation, Rachael Thrash, Senior Director of Education and Innovation at Big Bad Boo Studios and author of Let the Learners Lead: Empowering Student Voice to Co-Create School Culture, breaks down why traditional student leadership models are quietly reinforcing the status quo, and what co-creation actually looks and feels like in schools.
Rachael walks us through David Yeager's research and the student voice continuum, unpacks why a student survey is NOT the same as student voice, and shares two unforgettable stories about what happens when teachers trust kids enough to let things get messy. This is instructional leadership and school culture work at its most human.
Some episode mentions:

• Rachael Thrash's website
• 10 to 25 by David Yeager, PhD
• Designing Group Work by Cohen and Lawton
• Student Voice Continuum — Teschales and Nykula, University of Pennsylvania
• International School of Helsinki
• Tricia Friedman

🎧 Part 2 drops Friday, where Rachael walks us through a school case study, whose voices get overlooked most, and the one move you can make on Monday morning to get this work started.
CHAPTERS
0:00 — Hook: Is Your Student Council Doing More Harm Than Good?
1:00 — Welcome & Introduction: Who Is Rachael Thrash?
2:00 — Research Spotlight: David Yeager & Designing Group Work
3:30 — What Traditional Student Leadership Gets Wrong
5:00 — The Student Council Constitution That Excludes Most Kids
6:00 — The Moment Rachael Knew We Had to Do This Differently
7:30 — Student Voice vs. Student Survey: There's a Huge Difference
9:00 — The Student Voice Continuum Explained
10:30 — Co-Creation: What It Actually Means for Students & Adults
11:30 — What Happens When Teachers Let Go of Control
12:30 — The Resistance Art Gallery Story
14:30 — The Helsinki Interview That Changed Everything
16:00 — Life Is Messy — and That's the Point
16:45 — Lightning Round With Rachael Thrash
19:00 — Key Takeaways & Call to Action
19:45 — Come Back for Part 2 — Preview
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🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl
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