Participation in Decision-making in Class: Opportunities and Student Attitudes in Austria and Slovenia

Abstract

This article focuses on the issue of student involvement in the education process. The study comprised pupils aged 10-11, 13-14 and 16-17; 322 students were attending school in Austria, and 458 students were in Slovenia. The data were collected through a questionnaire and processed on the level of descriptive and inferential statistics. The right to participation is among the four main principles set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child from 1989. However, a study that aimed to identify the areas in which students already have the opportunity to participate in decision-making and areas in which they want more participation showed that they remain insufficiently aware of the right to participation in school. In addition, the study showed that students from Austrian schools have more decision-making opportunities than their peers in Slovenia do. The results also indicate that, despite its proven advantages, legal basis, and the repeated demands for its implementation, participation in the class environment has yet to become common practice.

Keywords

• effect of student participation
• student ability for participation
• student desire for participation
• student participation in decision-making