In my initial practicum experience, the administration had asked teachers to conduct student-led conferences. I had never heard of this practice, and thought it was an interesting concept that was in line with my belief in the importance of empowering students with ownership over their own learning. The subject was brought up again at an end of year meeting during my second practicum, where several teachers were advocating for a change towards student-led conferences, and away from teacher-led conferences.
I began searching for resources on the value of student led conferences, and how to conduct them. According to Bailey and Guskey (2001), student-led conferences promote and enhance three important elements that improve student performance. Student-led conferences increase student responsibility, relevance of learning, and effectiveness of reporting. They argue that when students are aware that they must report to their parents on their progress, students see the importance of completing their assignments, focussing on learning outcomes, keeping track of work, completing tasks to a high standard, and monitoring their improvements and struggles through reflection. Furthermore, Hebert (1998) noted that the child-centered qualitative approach of student-selected work enhances student involvement, sense of connectedness with learning, and self-discovery.
I found a great article from edutopia that provides a detailed account of how to set students up for successful student-led conferences. A key take away being that both students and parents must be aware of the process well in advance. Active and deliberate instruction about the value of student portfolios and how to effectively participate in student led conferences is crucial (Hebert, 1998). In my future classroom, I would like to introduce the idea of student self-reporting during the initial few weeks when focusing on personalizing student learning. As we discuss the various ways in which students learn, we can begin to discuss how they can monitor their progress over time, and lead the discussion with their parents. Specifically, helping students identify where they came from, where they are now, and where they want to be with their learning. The preparation for student-led conferences will tie in nicely to instruction on goal setting and metacognition. During this time, I will also include parents on the dialogue about the benefits of this process for improved student learning, and what to expect from their child during these conferences.
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