This document discusses student partnership in higher education. It defines partnership as a specific form of student engagement that focuses on learning relationships and working arrangements between staff and students. The document presents a conceptual model of partnership that can occur through learning, teaching and assessment; subject-based research and inquiry; scholarship of teaching and learning; and curriculum design. It also discusses some tensions in partnership, such as issues of inclusivity, power relationships, and defining roles and responsibilities. The document concludes by recommending areas for further exploration of student partnership and providing references for additional resources.

1. Engagement through partnership: students as
partners in learning and teaching in
higher education
Dr Abbi Flint
Higher Education Academy 6 January 2015

2. 1. What does
‘Partnership with
students’ mean to you?
2. Why are you
interested in partnership
in learning and teaching?
2
Defining partnership
Image used under creative commons license: Peter Patau http://bit.ly/11yaYAN

3. • to empower students to take responsibility for their learning
• as a way of developing a sense of belonging, and making HE more
accessible and inclusive
• as an ethical responsibility to students and staff
• to align with personal teaching philosophy
• to challenge and resist consumerist models of higher education, and
offer a constructive alternative
• to re-invent the university
• to align with the purpose and values of higher education
• as a meaningful way of engaging with the measurement agenda
• to align with policy directives
3
Rationales

4. 4
Defining student engagement
Behavioural
perspective
•Student
behaviour
•institutional
practices
Psychological
perspective
•Cognitive
•Affective
•Relational
Socio-
cultural
perspective
• Social context
• Power
• Culture
• Discourse

5. • Partnership as a specific form
of student engagement:
process not product.
• Pedagogic rationale
• Focus on learning
relationships as well as
working arrangements
• Partnerships between staff
and students and amongst
students
• The exact form of
partnership is contextual 5
Engagement through partnership
From NUS/HEA (2010) Student Engagement Toolkit

6. Authenticity – all parties have a meaningful rationale for investing in partnership, and are honest
about what they can contribute and the parameters of partnership.
Inclusivity – partnership embraces the different talents, opinions and experiences that all parties
bring, and there are no barriers (structural or cultural) that prevent potential partners getting
involved.
Reciprocity – all parties have in interest in, and stand to benefit from working and/or learning in
partnership.
Empowerment – power is distributed appropriately and all parties are encouraged to
constructively challenge ways of working and learning that may reinforce existing inequalities.
Trust – all parties take time to get to know one-another, engage in open and honest dialogue and
are confident they will be treated with respect and fairness.
Challenge – all parties are encouraged to constructively critique and challenge practices,
structures and approaches that undermine partnership, and are enabled to take risks to develop
new ways of working and learning.
Community – all parties feel a sense of belonging and are valued fully for the unique contribution
they make.
Responsibility – all parties share collective responsibility for the aims of the partnership, and
individual responsibility for the contribution they make. 6
Partnership values

7. 7
Conceptual model (Healey, Flint and Harrington 2014)
© 2014. The Higher
Education Academy.
All Rights Reserved

8. Learning teaching and
assessment
• Active and collaborative
learning
• Flipping the classroom
• Personalised learning
• Professional/practical
experiences
• Peer education
• Example – Broad Vision
(University of Westminster)
Subject-based research and
inquiry
• Embedding research and
inquiry based learning (e.g. PBL)
• Example – Student as Producer –
University of Lincoln
• ‘Boutique’ UG research
schemes
• Example – Think Ahead: SURE
(University of Sheffield)
8
Learning, teaching and research

9. Scholarship of teaching and
learning
• Exploration of how students
learn within their discipline.
• Institutional examples
• University of Exeter – Students
as Change Agents
• Birmingham City University –
Student Academic Partners
• National example
• http://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/project
s/change-agents-network
Curriculum design and
pedagogic consultancy
• Different understandings of
‘curriculum’
• Sheffield Hallam University –
Course Design Consultancy
• University of Huddersfield –
students as learning and
teaching consultants
9
Quality enhancement of learning
and teaching

10. 10
Conceptual model (Healey, Flint and Harrington 2014)
© 2014. The Higher
Education Academy.
All Rights Reserved

11. 1. Inclusivity and scale
• Boutique vs mainstream
• Who actually participates?
2. Power relationships
• Different kinds of power
• Dominance of hierarchical
relationships
• Access to resources
3. Blurring identities
• Problematic labels
• Shifting roles
4. Terms of engagement
• Induction and outduction
• Peripheral/full community
membership
• Reward and recognition
11
Tensions and opportunities

12. Pedagogies of partnership
Learning from ‘failures’
Impact
Ethical implications
12
Areas for further exploration

13. Healey, M., Flint, A. and Harrington, K
(2014) Engagement through partnership:
students as partners in learning and
teaching in higher education. York, Higher
Education Academy
HEA (2014) Framework for partnership in
learning and teaching. York, Higher
Education Academy.
Both available from
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/students-as-
partners
13
Publications

14. Website: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/students-as-partners
E-mail: StudentsasPartners@heacademy.ac.uk
abbi.flint@heacademy.ac.uk
Twitter: @HEA_SaP
14
Keep in touch
Image used under Creative Commons License: Stefan http://bit.ly/1bElMAK