Children are the primary customers of the largest service system in the universe. They consume products and services that we have designed for them because we genuinely believe that this is a necessary preparation for their entire life ahead.
We live in a world, and at a time, in which consumer and citizen satisfaction with products and services is gaining ever-increasing attention and respect. More and more political regimes and parties, businesses, and civil society organizations are aware of the critical value of catering to customer needs and are adopting credible effective tools to measure satisfaction. The findings are often used to enhance their products and services and to inform their marketing strategy.
Why is education an exception? How can we go about designing, delivering, and evaluating our services without taking into consideration the perspectives of students about services they receive for twelve long years of their life.
We believe that listening to children with interest and respect and understanding their perspectives, needs, views, and feelings regarding what they learn, how they learn, why they learn, and from whom they learn, in addition to building effective channels of communication with them, is a natural right for them and a social/pedagogical responsibility on us.
Developing effective, systematic, approaches and procedures for listening to students, integrating their perspectives as critical input in our educational policy reform agenda, and engaging them as partners in enhancing their own learning environment should become an integral component of our educational development strategy.
The participation of children [the young citizens] and their effective and meaningful engagement in the life of their school [their small society] is fundamental to their well-being and the development of their personalities. It helps children expand their awareness, boost their self-confidence, deepen their sense of belonging to their school and society, increase their love for and desire in learning, and further their ability to live in harmony with others.
