In the context of HE, Advance HE regards partnership as a relationship in which all involved are actively engaged in and stand to gain from the process of learning and working together. It is distinct from listening to, or consulting with, students. A partnership between students and staff, among students, or between Higher Education Provider (HEPs) and students’ unions is student engagement, but not all student engagement is partnership; hence the approach here is engagement through partnership.
Partnership is a process for developing engaged student learning and effective learning and teaching enhancement. At its heart, partnership is about applying well-evidenced and effective approaches to learning, teaching and assessment with a commitment to open, constructive and continuous dialogue. Partnership involves treating all partners as intelligent and capable members of the academic community.
Framework for Student Engagement through Partnership
Student engagement describes the extent to which students are motivated, passionate and curious about their programme of study, their higher education community and their immediate surroundings. Student engagement through partnership prioritises the active involvement of students in shaping the curriculum, community and environment, recognising them as key stakeholders in the learning process.
The framework is designed to be of value to a broad audience and can be particularly beneficial in supporting stakeholders seeking to establish partnership approaches across areas of activity that affect the student experience.
Do you want to develop student partnerships at your institution?
A culture of partnership across an institution can not only help students develop their sense of belonging to an institution, it also shows students that their views, opinions and experiences matter to the institution. We can work with you, through our four-stage approach, to develop your policies and practices to promote collaboration with students, helping to form vibrant and diverse learning experiences that enhance student and institutional success.
Key Advance HE research
- Student Success Framework Series Review and Redesign: Student Engagement through Partnership
- Engagement through partnership: students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education
- Engaged student learning: high-impact strategies to enhance student achievement
- Students as researchers: Supporting undergraduate research in the disciplines in higher education
- Pedagogies of partnership: What works
- The impact of pedagogies of partnership on the student learning experience in UK higher education
- Purposeful partnerships and practices
- Ask, answer, assess
- Mapping student-led peer learning in the UK
- Developing undergraduate research and inquiry
- Engagement for enhancement
- Using PRES to enhance the experience of postgraduate researchers
Guidance and teaching resources
- Appreciate: Cards to support appreciative partnership learning
- A guide to ethics and student engagement through partnership
- Partnership Learning Communities
- Students as partners in the curriculum
- Student and Staff Partnership Awards
- HEA & NUS Students' Union and Institution Partnership Awards
- Student engagement: paradigm change or political expediency?