Now, I like to think I’m fairly well informed when it comes to pupil voice, but as part of my current project I came across something I’d never heard of before: a Baraza. Any ideas what it is? Well, unless you speak Swahili, it’s unlikely. This concept has come over to us from Kenya, via Norfolk, Hamond’s High School in Swaffham to be precise.
‘Baraza’ is Swahili for ‘meeting’, and in Kenya it’s used to refer particularly to political meetings or councils. This is just what Hamond’s High’s Baraza is, it’s a meeting for all the student and staff leaders in the school. They can raise and discuss anything (except individuals) and expect an answer.
The meeting is run by the Head, Deputy Head and the Student Executives. Up to 100 other students attend: the whole school council, all form reps, peer mentors, sports leaders, eco committee members, community reps, prefects, etc. They run a structured meeting that allows everyone to have a say and ensures that there is positive feedback as well as raising of problems. When I spoke to students at Hamond’s and asked them whether they would recommend this to ther schools they were most enthusiastic. They were clear that it:
lets more people know about what’s going on in the school and what students are doing
and
shows that the school takes students’ views seriously.
The Baraza meets once a term with the School Council continuing and furthering its work in between (there’s a School Council meeting and Surgery every week, with feedback to all form groups). It seems to me like a great way to raise the profile of student voice and get more people directly involved in representing others and taking part in formal meetings.
But, why are they calling it a Baraza and not a Parliament or something like that? Well, it’s because they got the idea from a Kenyan school that came to visit them, Starahe Boys’ Centre & School. I must say when I was told that an idea for improving democracy in schools came from Kenya I was surprised. My mother and step-father lived for a while in Kenya and I visited them there. It seemed to me that Kenyans took their education very seriously, but democratic it most definitely was not. Strict discipline was enforced and learning by rote is the norm.
Hamond’s had told me that at Starahe almost everything in the school is run by the students, through the Baraza. This fascinated me (yes, I’m a democratic education geek) so I had a look into Starahe to see how this actually works in practice. And when I say ‘look into’ I mean ‘put into Google’ of course. Luckily there’s a fair bit of information about Starahe on Wikipedia, including a link to the school’s own website that explains in more detail about the Baraza and the hierarchy of student leadership at the school.
I use the the word hierarchy advisedly as this is a very regimented system. Whilst the Baraza itself appears to be as democratic as you can get – anyone can speak, and can say whatever they like (as long as they use the correct protocol), all vote on decisions and these are binding – the rest of the student leadership runs in a military, almost gang-like fashion. You are drawn into the ranks of the student leaders by those above you. I’d love to go to this school and see this in action and talk to some of the students who are not part of the “Prefectorial Force” (yes, they call it a ‘force’ – it’s as much about discipline and enforcement as it is about leadership) and see whether they feel well represented and that the Baraza protects their interests well enough.
So one great visit has lead to me finding out about two schools on different continents putting a ral emphasis on student leadership. Both have a Baraza and one is inspired by the other, but their systems are very different, influenced heavily by the cultures of the countries in which they appear.