A group representative is a pupil who, during an academic year, represents the rest of the educational group of which he or she is a member.
At the beginning of the course and in each group, the election of the representative or delegate of that group takes place. This act is included in the Internal Regulations or Coexistence Regulations of the educational centres. There the pupils decide by means of a simple electoral process who will be their representative, and although in the stage of primary education, due to their young age they do not take decisions, their participation is important with regard to the action in the school council in later stages and with regard to a future of democratic participation in the elections of a country. For this reason, it is an almost symbolic act in which they acquire commitment, experience regarding the duty of responsibility, the representation of a group, and the exercise of rights and duties as pupils.
At that time the pupils in the classroom and supervised by the teacher present their applications and programs to be developed. Then they participate in the voting, the counting of votes and the chosen candidate is defined. Later the pupils can make proposals to their elected representative for the improvement of aspects of the classroom.
The regulations in the region of Asturias follow the Decree 249/2007 that regulates the rights and duties of the pupils and rules of coexistence, and in its article 9 it exposes the rights that pupils have regarding participation, meeting and association. Although primary school pupils have some of these rights restricted due to their young age, it will be the regulations of each school that set the guidelines for this participation in the organisational sphere. It is also the teacher who decides their possibilities and limits according to the methodology to be used as established in the Curriculum Project. The personality and teaching style adopted by each teacher will have an important influence on the levels of participation in the classroom.
The rules stipulate that the methods will encourage, among other things, “the active participation of pupils in the construction of learning and interaction with adults and peers to enhance their self-esteem and social integration”.
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The video shows us one of the children’s responsibilities which they go through while studying.
Hi Adam, I remember we had to do it during a lesson, in 5th and 6th year. Some children presented their candidature to be the representant of the students in “Consejo Escolar”, and then we voted who we wanted for it.