While students are commonly engaged in course evaluations and in departmental committees, it is becoming more common for institutions to go beyond these opportunities to engage with the student voice and recruit students as partners in projects to enhance the design, practice and experience of education. The term 'students as partners' conjures up different assumptions and practices for different people, but as an umbrella term it is employed to capture the nature of working directly with students in an approach that recognises and appreciates their own experience and expertise (Cook-Sather et al. 2018). Other phrasing to describe such activities include co-creation, co-producers, student change agents.
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Guiding Principle 6: Work with students as partners Students’ education should encourage and facilitate their active engagement in learning. Staff-student partnerships and student-led activities can make valuable contributions to course enhancement and inclusion, and these activities may be purposefully integrated into programmes as well as extra-curricular. |
Example of practice:
"During the project, I think the fact that throughout the whole process we were really given the chance to take control of the project whilst still receiving so much help and support really worked in creating a project that I was really proud of. This meant that throughout the project, there was a feeling of accomplishment and hope for better change. Especially because of the fact that we were then given the opportunity to actually present it ourselves to members of the University was a really amazing opportunity."
- Student co-researcher, APP Participatory Action Research Project
Strategies used:
- Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching
- Ensuring diverse perspectives
- Gaining insight into student experiences
- Empowering students
Suggesting readings
- CCTL, Working with students as partners: Guidance and resources
- Cook-Sather A, Bovill C & Felton P (2014) Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
- Healy M, Flint A & Harrington K (2014) Engagement through partnership, Advance HE
- Piper R & Emmanuel T (2021) Co-producing mental health strategies with students: A guide for the higher education sector, Student Minds and Office for Students