Conference Program

The importance of incorporating student participation in school life as a fundamental pillar of education for democratic citizenship has been emphasised in academic literature and political agendas in recent decades. Authors such as Bauman (2008) and Brown (2015) argue that social atomisation, neoliberal logics and intersectional inequalities are eroding the foundations of democracy. However, although policy frameworks increasingly recognise student participation as central to democratic citizenship, research shows a gap between official discourse and school practice (e.g. Farstad, 2015; Martínez et al., 2023; Tursunović 2005). Moreover, qualitative studies exploring students’ lived experiences of democracy remain limited (Haraldstad et al., 2021).

The study we present addresses this gap by analysing the discourses of students, teachers and management teams in five secondary schools in Spain. Drawing on Feu et al. (2016) four-dimensional model of school democracy—governance, coexistence, alterity and ethos—it examines how student participation is understood and enacted, identifying elements that either approach or diverge from a fully democratic school model.

To this end, a multiple case study was designed, incorporating the perspectives of 15- to 16-year-old students (n = 32), teachers (n = 21) and management teams (n = 8) from five secondary schools in Spain. This includes schools in high-need areas with high dropout rates. Throughout the thematic analysis process, the results are presented according to their theoretical and conceptual relevance. This enables the identification of facilitators and barriers to student participation in schools in relation to the concept of school democracy, including structural, relational, cultural, ethical, and pedagogical aspects.

The analysis focuses on practices aimed at enhancing students’ participation in secondary schools and strengthening their engagement with education and society as a strategy to prevent early school leaving. Indeed, according to the participants, the main challenge of school democracy in terms of participation is making students feel like co-participants in the educational community and fostering a shared identity. This aspect occupies a central position in the participants' narratives. In this regard, the key factors identified in the study are: 1) fostering social relationships between peers and between students (and their families) and teachers; 2) respecting and valuing differences; 3) implementing activities and methodologies that encourage students to play an active role; and 4) promoting activities, subjects and/or projects that encourage students to engage with their local community. Additionally, the study reaffirms the need to move toward a conception of participation as a structural dimension of the educational project of secondary schools, one that goes beyond the classic representative model and incorporates everyday practices of deliberation, co-responsibility, and collective action (Cook-Sather, 2020; Lozano-Estivalis et al., 2023), while also opening the debate on the meaning, forms, and limits of school democracy in broader terms.