Engaging students in school participatory practice through Facebook: The story of a failure

In recent years, there has been increasing emphasis on the benefits of social media and social network sites to foster young people’s participation in digital public spaces and their civic engagement. Using the principles of the Student Voice approach, this study investigated the use of a Facebook group to support secondary school students’ voices and viewpoints on school quality and policy. The results showed that students were reluctant to be active in the group for several reasons, such as mistrust of school policies and resistance to combining Facebook use with school-related issues. The low participation provided clues to reflect on the design of Student Voice projects to support civic engagement at school and to evaluate the use of digital sites to support Student Voice. Some considerations on the reasons for project failure and how to successfully reach student participation in a technology-enhanced environment at school that addresses power relations, authenticity and inclusion are provided.