ABSTRACT
In this section and the next one, some background issues will be explored. The main thrust of what follows is that there are important social and political reasons why pupils should be involved in the governance of schools. It will be argued that the exclusion of pupils from school governance means that pupils are deprived of important experiences that are of immediate educational benefit as well as being inconsistent with society’s need for a population of school leavers who have a sense of the importance of community and their role in helping the community to develop.
