Fostering Student Participation in Policy Making: Cases From the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• In Event: Curriculum and Policy Reform From a Worldwide Perspective

Abstract

Developments in learning technologies have accelerated over the past year due to our dependence on online learning resulting from the coronavirus global pandemic. However, decisions about educational technology provisions and uses continue to be made by institutional leaders. This paper discusses rationales for student involvement in policymaking about learning with technology from two perspectives, the UK and Saudi Arabia (KSA). It presents the methodological approach of student-led projects in both regions aimed to devise technology policy recommendations. Data about their involvement are collected through interviews with the student researchers, some of whom are co-authors of this paper. Their conversations provide a worldwide perspective on why a student-led approach to policymaking cultivates equitable 21st-century education systems.

Authors

• Patricia Marybelle Davies, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University

• Thamer M. Alkhamis, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University

• Hayat Khalid A Alabdulwahed, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University