Co-Designing Learning: Inviting Students to the Planning Table
by Dan Dempsey, Director (Professional Learning), Future Anything
In today’s blog, Dan explores how co-designing learning with students can transform engagement, deepen authenticity, and make every voice count.
“One of the emerging findings is that the co-design of learning by teachers and students that builds on student needs and interests and links to authentic learning significantly impacts engagement.” Fullan, Quinn & McEachen, Deep Learning: Engage the World, Change the World (2018)
When was the last time you asked students for feedback on a unit…before it even began?
In most schools, this is how student voice often occurs – at the end of a unit: a survey, a reflection sheet, or a quick “what worked, what didn’t.”
It’s a bit like repainting a room, living in it for a year, and then saying, “So…do you like the colour?”
The decision has been made, and change is unlikely.
Co-design flips this approach.
Bringing students into the planning process before the unit begins ensures their voice shapes content, assessments, and experiences when it matters most.
Why does student voice matter?
Research consistently shows that when students have genuine influence over their learning, motivation and engagement rise.
- John Hattie’s Visible Learning (2009) found that feedback (0.70 effect size) and student self-assessment (0.75) are among the most powerful influences on achievement.
- Michael Fullan, Joanne Quinn, and Joanne McEachen (2018) argue that engagement deepens when students “see themselves in the learning” and when it connects to authentic, real-world challenges.
- Jean Rudduck and Michael Fielding (2006) remind us that “consulting pupils is not enough.” Genuine student voice reshapes teaching and learning in partnership, not just in response.
- Dana Mitra (2008) shows how co-design builds belonging and agency, noting that students who help shape decisions develop a stronger sense of connection and purpose in school.
And it’s not just research – policy echoes it too. Both the AITSL Standards and the Australian Student Wellbeing Framework (2018) emphasise that students should be active participants in shaping their learning and contributing to school decisions.
In short, student voice isn’t decoration. It’s the foundation.
So, how can you bring co-design to life and move student voice from theory into practice?
At Future Anything, we leverage student co-design as a signature approach within our (four-day) Engaging Curriculum PD.
Throughout the course of the first two days, teachers move through a bespoke approach to curriculum and learning design that fuses design thinking, project-based learning and entrepreneurial pedagogy, building a unit to around 70-80%.
Then, as part of Day 3, we invite students to join the workshop to engage in 7-10 min feedback rounds; a structured, carousel-style process where teachers present their unit to small groups of students.
This particular part of the workshop is always incredibly well received by both teachers and students, enhancing the excitement, impact and momentum for the rest of the design and implementation.
Comments from teachers include:
- “We had an incredibly authentic opportunity to ask students about what they’d like to learn, and to design with them.”
- “Having the students come in and provide feedback on our units of work that had been planned is transformational.”
- “The feedback from students was my highlight. It affirmed that I had made some good judgments with the direction of the unit. And the questions they asked made me consider what tweaks I might need to make as I continued the writing process for the unit.”
How does it work?
Step 1: Before feedback rounds begin, it’s important to create the right culture by setting the process up for success.
Young people should always outnumber teachers within each table group. This is important for helping students feel safe, and build confidence to speak candidly; rather than just acquiescing.
Step 2: Before beginning, teachers should create a physical ‘Feedback Bucket’ — a single collection point for all student input.
Teachers are provided with an A3 image of a bucket and asked to record student comments using colour-coded sticky notes:
- 🟩 I Like — on green post it notes, teachers write down the positive feedback of what what the students like.
- 🟨 I Wonder — Things that feel unclear or could be refined are written on yellow post it notes.
- 🟥 I Wish — Any suggestions for improvement or new directions are written on a third coloured post it note.
Keeping this analogue and visual shows students that what they’re saying is being taken seriously. When teachers take notes behind a laptop, the student can’t see what the teacher is recording (if at all) to know that their perspective is being captured.
Step 3: Use timers to guide how each round will run.
Teachers have the first 2-3 minutes to present their unit to the student group. At the end of this time, students have a minute to ask clarifying questions.
Then, the roles reverse. Teachers become scribes, and students take the wheel; driving the feedback conversation by offering things they like, and suggestions of what could change.
During this time, teachers write down all the feedback – irrespective of whether they may have heard it before, or even if they may not use it; this is a critical signpost to students that all of their feedback matters.
Teachers can ask clarifying questions to dig deeper into the feedback, but cannot ‘bat back’ or justify a position. All feedback is good feedback.
Step 4: Typically, four to six ‘feedback rounds’ (7-10 mins each) are conducted, with students rotating to new teacher groups for each round. We often start with a ten minute timer for the first round, and then reduce to seven minute timers for subsequent rounds as confidence in the process builds.
If you pitch the same unit over and over, you’ll likely get the same feedback. Teachers should remain responsive to the student feedback, adapting their pitch from round to round; testing different parts of their unit and any assumptions.
Step 5: Afterwards comes another key step: reflection. Teachers process the feedback using the lenses of:
- What is the echo? Ignore the echo at your peril. Feedback that repeats often points to a critical fail point that needs to be addressed.
- What are quick wins? Take time to identify the small changes that can be made to the straight away.
- What is a big win? Identify 1-2 bigger wins; larger or more complex adjustments that have greater transformative potential, but may require additional layers of permission, or budget.
Through reflection, teachers seek to understand the challenges, explore possible solutions, and then decide on deliberate actions to take forward.
What to watch out for?
- It is always good to remember that there can be a few traps to avoid when seeking feedback and input.
- Giving students too much background can sometimes blur or weaken their fresh perspective.
- Explaining or justifying decisions can shut down insights before they land and hamper students’ motivation.
- And perhaps the biggest risk: gathering feedback but never acting on it.
- Students will quickly disengage in future opportunities if they don’t see their input shaping change. Why bother if nothing is going to change.
Co-design doesn’t mean taking on every idea. It means taking feedback seriously, then understanding, exploring, and deciding on the changes that matter most.
What are some other ways to implement, scale and sustain co-design?
Feedback rounds are one powerful entry point, but other strategies can include:
- Establishing advisory panels where students contribute to decisions about curriculum, assessment, and culture.
- Reshaping Inquiry projects to give students choice over their questions, audiences, or showcase formats.
- Piloting assessment tasks with a small group before scaling, or run design-thinking workshops to uncover what matters most to learners.
- Sharing feedback outcomes at staff meetings can strengthen collective efficacy,
- Reporting can be reimagined through student-led conferences, where young people co-design and lead conversations about their own progress.
Each of these practices communicates the same message: your experience matters, and it belongs at the planning table.
Final Thought
At its heart, co-design is an invitation.
It signals to students: you’re not just passengers – you’re part of the crew.
When schools embed co-design, engagement grows, relevance sharpens, and teachers plan with more clarity. As Mitra reminds us, student voice isn’t just about being heard – it’s about having influence.
Pair that with Hattie’s insights on feedback and Fullan’s call for deeper, more relevant learning, and the message is clear: when students co-design learning, everybody wins.
Want to dig deeper?
- Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning.
- Mitra, D. (2008). Student Voice in School Reform.
- Fullan, M. (2021). Deep Learning.
- AITSL (2017). Australian Professional Standard for Teachers – Standard 5.
- Australian Student Wellbeing Framework (2018). Emphasises student voice and agency.
About the author: Dan Dempsey
Dan Dempsey is a highly experienced educator, forging a successful 20-year career in education and school leadership in both Australia and the United Kingdom, notably through a range of Principal and Deputy Principal roles across varied primary school contexts
With a passion for building the capacity of schools, teams and systems to embed effective and innovative teaching, learning and assessment, Dan has developed significant experience providing professional learning, coaching and mentoring to teachers and leaders. Dan has a deep understanding of curriculum and pedagogy, with experience implementing and leading STEM initiatives, Project-Based Learning, inquiry and design thinking.
At Future Anything, Dan uses his extensive experience to provide targeted and bespoke support to empower schools, as well as facilitate the suite of teacher professional development programs, with the aim of providing educators the knowledge and skills to embed future-focussed learning experiences.
Future Anything’s Activate in-curriculum program and student workshops build confident communicators of all ages, by empowering young people to develop, and then persuasively pitch, innovative social enterprise solutions to the problems they care about.
Find out more about our programs here.
