The students’ council is a body of representatives constituting elected and voluntary members.
It’s designed to represent students in specific areas of school leadership. Like the House of representatives, a students’ council is the designated organization for communicating students’ needs. It’s also responsible for connecting learners with administration and faculty.
Although student councils are essentially present at all levels of primary and secondary education, they are more prominent in high school.
Learners begin their engagement and participation in leadership as early as elementary school. However, their participation starts to make significant impacts at the high school level. How do you unlock new and useful knowledge for the student?
Representation: Communicating students’ interests
Representation is a primary role of a students’ council. The earliest form of a student body is also essentially the youngest embodiment of democracy. The council evokes the principles of representation through election.
Why is this an important position? Well, the student council instills the spirit of democracy in young learners. The participants start experiencing the concept of an election at a young age. As a result, as they grow, they understand the significance of representation.
The council selection mirrors the national elections, where people with varying backgrounds elect a representative. The elected person is responsible for voicing the group’s interests at a more significant gathering.
In this case, the student council is responsible for highlighting learners’ needs at the school’s leadership meetings. The representatives help the administration understand the students’ feelings and wishes. The council influences the school’s decision-making directly and indirectly.
The student council is also a real-life representation of democracy. The organization, structure, and operations of the body resemble a democratic country. Note that students hold little power individually within the school. Working as a group through the student council gives them a voice. Electing a student body teaches students the principles of democracy. They gain a better understanding of the general democratic structure of our nation. Notably, students can conceptualize the following principles at the school level:
- Citizen participation: In the general public, the principle of participation implies that all citizens have a right to participate in elections. In the school setting, every student has the right to elect or become a student council representative. Learners have a chance to conceptualize the need for participation. Interesting article about: Student Debt.
- Equality: There should be no discrimination in student council elections and representation. This principle also applies at the community, state, and federal levels. The law protects citizens from discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
- Accountability: The students elect representatives to voice their interest and can equally remove them. In this case, accountability implies the elected members are accountable to other learners. The students must understand their representatives’ duties to evaluate performance. This promotes the learners’ understanding of accountability.
- Transparency: The learners have the information needed to make correct choices. At the community, state, and federal levels, citizens evaluate their governments’ performance and decision-making based on available information. Hence, a working democracy includes avenues for accessing such details.
- Political tolerance: The election protects the rights of the many and the few. Political tolerance implies the ability to accommodate people of divergent opinions. Given the levels of diversity and political differences in our society, students should learn to tolerate different views. The student council creates room for students to experience such concepts at an early age. How to properly and quickly place a student sticker on your car.
- Multiparty system: All students can participate in the election without coercion. In real-life, citizens have several candidate options. A country with only one party is likely to influence the outcomes of elections. Multiparty democracy eliminates such influence. By allowing various students to vie for positions, the student council mimics a working democracy.
- Control over the abuse of power: The representatives must play by the rules and accept their responsibilities. The election should be free and fair, with no undue influence from the representatives. This happens in school, where the administration prevents any form of rigging or council’s power over the students.
- Freedom of economy: The lack of control over the election process also translates to limits over the use of resources. The council has no power over the students’ actions and behavior. Hence, the school must have independent institutions for managing resources and reporting performance. In real life, a democratic country has an independent media.
- Bill of Rights: The council is a symbol of the students’ freedoms and ability to participate in school governance. The Bill of Rights is a critical component of the constitution. It represents the natural or God-given rights and freedoms that nobody, not even the government, can limit. Learning about the Bill of Rights at an early age helps create an informed public later in life.
- Human rights: The council protects the students’ interests beyond the school’s regulations. The concept of human rights extends beyond democracy. However, a democratic nation acknowledges and respects these rights and freedoms. The student’s council representation helps students’ conceptualize the importance of human rights.
- Rule of law: The school, district, community, and students must observe the laws and regulations governing behavior and decision-making. Your school, like any other institution, should have specific rules and regulations governing people’s actions. Like the law protects you at society level, school rules dictate the limits of rights and freedoms within the institution’s setting. Your student council should help you understand and cope with the law at the school level. As a result, the students learn to live harmoniously with others. Want to learn about active learning and its secrets for students?
Leadership: Promoting students’ autonomy
The students’ council assumes the managerial roles in a student body. The representatives make essential decisions regarding the organization’s current and future positions. Most importantly, the student council is responsible for the body’s functioning.
Organizing
What does a student council representative do? The council member is the voice of the students in various meetings. At the lowest level, the person represents the learners at the school. However, these individuals can also participate in school-related meetings at the district and community levels. Hence, they are involved directly in the allocation of authority and responsibility at all levels of school governance. They play the role of organizers, determining students’ roles in defining educational objectives. How To Get A Social Security Number
Planning
Planning entails defining strategic objectives and strategizing. Planning is the basic response to the question, “What does a student council do? In other words, they are responsible for developing goals and the means to achieve them. Students’ representatives communicate the learners’ desired future positions. Through the council, the school, district, and community planners understand the students’ interests and incorporate them in planning. At the school level, the student council is responsible for strategic management of basic targets. They decide when, where, how, and why the student body can respond to an issue.
The planning role extends to the daily operations of the council. These responsibilities fall under the mandate of the president of the council. What is the main goal in his work? The person is responsible for developing the vision of the student body. But what does the student council vice president do? The vice president acts as the strategic assistant to the council, helping the secretariat, including the treasurer and other staff members, in setting objectives. This team is responsible for budgeting and planning the meetings and related agenda.
Directing
The question “What does student council do?” indirectly questions the mandate of the council as an organization. However, the student body is a system with several subsystems that operate independently to perform specific tasks. If you were wondering what does the president of student council do? then directing is the short answer to your question. The president of the council captains the boat. The individual presides over meetings and coordinates the subsystems’ work. This role entails providing guidance and facilitating the proper functioning of the organization as a unit. The president is the glue that connects the council members.
Since the student body is responsible for communicating learners’ interests, the president stays in touch with the administration and other school governing bodies. This is the person responsible for airing the views of the council to the relevant authorities. Hence, they must have some level of emotional maturity and a capacity to communicate effectively. They must understand the protocols involved in every office, meeting, or communication line. Understanding the school’s hierarchy and leaders’ responsibilities is key to effective advocacy. The duties of the student council secretary extend to mentoring and guiding other members working in their roles, including those beginning new tenures.
Controlling
Controlling a basic function of management that entails structuring and restructuring resources based on the objectives set in planning. The student leader is responsible for managing the student body and guiding the organization toward its mission. They must compare current position against the objectives and design strategies to maintain or change the course of council. However, the student council works as a complete system in developing the standards of operations and basic principles guiding every member’s action.
Other members of the leadership team also play a role in the controlling function. For instance, the historian documents the organization’s progress regularly. They are responsible for updating the pictorial representation of the body’s actions. The treasurer, on the other hand, documents the financial position of the student council. They are responsible for maintaining a given level of objectivity and managing resources based on the overall objectives.
The treasurer oversees the budget implementation, ensuring that expenses fall within the budgeted limits. Similarly, the secretary participates in the controlling function by documenting meetings and maintaining records of the discussion. They also maintain contact with other stakeholders, including the school administration.
Advocacy: Protecting students’ rights
One of the primary roles of a student council is to communicate students’ interests to the schools governing body. When someone asks you, “What does middle school student council do?” advocacy is the simplest answer you can provide. Though this answer may not be sufficient, it covers a significant portion of the council’s responsibilities. The representatives act as students’ advocates at different levels of representation. Your ordinary council member should understand prevailing problems affecting the school. As a result, they can better articulate these issues to the administration.
Being a students’ advocate implies caring and supporting students holistically within an education system. It involves empowering learners to take up leadership positions while improving their school-life experience. The objective of advocacy is to protect students from discrimination by highlighting their plights and needs. Your student council should demonstrate an understanding of your preferences through their mission and communication. You can monitor the representatives’ ability to represent you by participating in meetings and reviewing their inputs.
Students engagement
While student councils exist in all academic levels, they are more prominent in high school. What does student council do in high school? Well! A student council seems more important in high school due to the learners’ developmental progress. Most students in high school are at the peak of their cognitive and physical development. They start understanding their rights and freedoms. As a result, they are more likely to associate with others to improve their school experience. Picture an adolescent and their growing need for independence working for the betterment of their life.
A new strategy to scholarship
A student council creates an extra platform for scholarship. The learners gain knowledge of their rights and freedoms. They also get a chance to practice the principles of democracy and actualize their desires to participate. The council challenges teenagers to enforce their need for independence by engaging in real-life activities.
Promote leadership participation
Most importantly, the student council creates a platform for students to harness their leadership skills. Since anybody can become a representative, teenagers can take advantage of the elections to join their school’s leadership. This way, the council molds leaders from an early age. Besides, being a representative gives you a chance to participate in meetings with adults and other leaders. It exposes you to a first-hand experience of leadership processes and managerial duties.
The council is also an interaction platform for most learners. For instance, the election evokes different discussions about leadership and candidate qualifications. Students gain insights on important factors to consider when electing a representative. Similarly, the council members have a chance to engage and discuss critical matters. They gain insights on different perspectives of representation. They can share and collaborate in decision-making, planning, and organizing. They can also develop partnerships and other means of problem-solving.
Encourage diversity
Most importantly, the engagements in student councils and their elections take place in a diverse environment. Students with different religious, social, and cultural backgrounds interact and exchange ideas. The growing diversity within the school setting represents the general public and society in general. As a result, your ability to interact with people from diverse backgrounds at school hints at your coping abilities in later life.
Acceptance
Exposure to diversity at an early age trains students to accept and interact with others regardless of their backgrounds. This level of engagement, especially during elections, teaches learners to accommodate divergent views and overlook existing prejudices. Besides, learning about cultural, religious, and gender differences at school helps learners develop tolerance and comfort needed to succeed later in life. The engagements boost confidence and promote human rights.
Eliminate discrimination
Diversity in education creates a better environment for equality and non-discrimination. Student councils help improve students’ performance through harmony and acceptance. As a result, learners become more creative and willing to learn new ideas and information. Students seek better approaches to solve existing problems, acknowledging the differences in strategies. Diverse student councils illustrate the possibility of a better and harmonious society.
Besides, engagements about diversity highlight notable differences and eliminate falsehood. Students discuss diversity beyond the student council, helping them conceptualize the concept in a bigger scope. For instance, experiencing diversity at student council also reveals similar representation in the administration and faculty. The learners start challenging fallacies and misconceptions about social groups at school and social settings.
Taking part in decision-making
The student council helps students develop their decision-making skills. On the one hand, electing representatives promotes participation. The learners learn involvement in decision-making at an early age. This process creates a sense of responsibility, showing the learners that they play a role in decision-making through representation. On the other hand, the elected student leaders participate in meetings at the school, district, and state levels. Their roles in initiating and implementing projects also signifies decision-making. Hence, the student council is a workshop for future leaders.
The power of a students’ council
In conclusion, the student council is a powerful entity in the school setting. The representatives participate in important meetings with the faculty, administration, and the board, sharing learners’ plight and needs. They help the school and community leadership improve service delivery. The student council highlights the gaps in leadership, promoting inclusiveness and diversity. Most importantly, the council is a platform for learners to exercise leadership and engage with peers.
The body and council elections allow students to practice real-life behaviors. They learn to respect laws and respect others. Students get an opportunity to interact with diversity without undue influence.
They challenge existing prejudices and misconceptions through real-life engagements with culturally diverse peers. As a result, the student council is a platform for exercising power structure and human relations openly. They learn to make informed decisions and become active citizens.
Questions and answers
What are the roles in the student council?
Attending meetings and certain meetings. Acting as a supervisory board and assisting other members
What does student council do in different countries of the world
Depending on the country, it is a council of elected students who make important decisions for the community or for a range of activities and events in student life