Toward redressing inequities through partnership: A critical assessment of an equity-focused partnership initiative

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v6i1.4895

Keywords:

Student-faculty partnership, equity, access, justice, partnership scheme design

Abstract

There is growing recognition of the potential for student-faculty/staff partnerships to attend to and redress inequities within postsecondary education. As a result, there are an increasing number of partnership initiatives and programs that foreground principles of equity and justice in their design and delivery. This article reports findings from research that assessed an equity-focused partnership initiative, piloted in 2019, at a research-intensive Canadian institution. We describe the distinctive features of the pilot, including our efforts to enhance equity in and through recruitment and support for student and faculty participants during the pilot, and report findings pertaining to outcomes, process indicators, and positionality and social location. The findings suggest tentatively positive outcomes for participants and contribute to existing scholarship by raising important complexities and limitations relating to issues of access, support, and scale of equity-focused partnerships.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Duke University Press.

Ameyaa, R. A., Cook-Sather, A., Ramo, K., & Tohfa, H. (2021). Undergraduate students partnering with staff to develop trauma-informed, anti-racist pedagogical approaches: Intersecting experiences of three student partners. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 7(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/1020

Anthony-Okeke, A., Baddoo, N., Boardman, H., Fynn-Famodun, R. A., George, R., Irorere, O. A., Osoba, R., Oweh, K., Paul, G. & Vanderpuye, V. (2021). Reforming a United Kingdom school of pharmacy to promote racial inclusion via a student-staff partnership project. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 7(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/1029

Bell, A. (2016). Students as co-inquirers in Australian higher education: Opportunities and challenges”. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.4.2.8

Bindra, G., Easwaran, K., Firasta, L., Hirsch, M., Kapoor, A., Sosnowski, A., Stec-Marksman, T., & Vatansever, G. (2018). Increasing representation and equity in students as partners initiatives. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(2), 10–15. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i2.3536

Brown, K., de Bie, A., Aggarwal, A., Joslin, R., Williams-Habibi, S., & Sivanesanathan, V. (2020). Students with disabilities as partners: A case study on user testing an accessibility website. International Journal for Students as Partners, 4(2), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i2.4051

Bryson, C., & Callaghan, L. (2021). A whole cohort approach to working in partnership between students and staff: Problematising the issues and evaluating the outcomes. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 3(2) 176–196. https://sehej.raise-network.com/raise/article/view/1023

Burns, T., Sinfield, S., & Abegglen, S. (2019). Third space partnerships with students: Becoming educational together. International Journal for Students as Partners, 3(1), 60–68. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3742

Colón García, A. (2017). Building a sense of belonging through pedagogical partnership. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 1(22). http://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss22/2

Cook-Sather, A. (2018). Developing ‘Students as Learners and Teachers’: Lessons from ten years of pedagogical partnership that strives to foster inclusive and responsive practice. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 4(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/746

Cook-Sather, A, Bahti, M. & Ntem, A. (2019). Pedagogical partnerships: A how-to guide for faculty, students, and academic developers in higher education. Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa1

Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014). Engaging students as partners in learning & teaching: A guide for faculty. Jossey-Bass.

Cook-Sather, A., & Des-Ogugua, C. (2019). Lessons we still need to learn on creating more inclusive and responsive classrooms: Recommendations from one student-faculty partnership program. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 23(6), 594–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1441912

Cook-Sather, A., & Seay, K. (2021). “I was involved as an equal member of the community”: How pedagogical partnership can foster a sense of belonging in Black, female students. Cambridge Journal of Education, 51(6), 733-750. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2021.1926926

Davis, L., Sahir, M., O’Conner-Smith, M., Sajowa, V. S., Abraha, S., Rebbapragada, N., Soda, I., Sembi, M., Morar, A., Abusheba, L., & Miller, J-A. (2021). The case for change: A student-staff partnership to decolonise a medical school’s case-based learning curriculum. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 7(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/1022

de Bie, A., (2020). Respectfully distrusting “students as partners” practice in higher education: Applying a Mad politics of partnership. Teaching in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1736023

de Bie, A., Marquis, E., Cook-Sather, A., & Luqueño, L. (2019). Valuing knowledge(s) and cultivating confidence: Contributing to epistemic justice via student-faculty pedagogical partnerships. In J. Hoffman, P. Blessinger, & M. Makhanya (Eds.), International perspectives in higher education: Strategies for fostering inclusive classrooms (pp. 35–48). Emerald.

de Bie, A., Marquis, E., Cook-Sather, A., & Luqueño, L. P. (2021). Promoting equity and justice through pedagogical partnership. Stylus/Elon University Center for Engaged Learning.

Diaz, A., Hill, J., Jenkins, R., Kay, A., Pye, A., Morley, D., & Tejedor Garavito, N. (2015). A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) evaluation of university student-staff partnerships in co-creating educational resources, peer support and research within STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) subjects. Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, 5(2), 161–170. https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/841676

Felten, P., Bagg, J., Bumbry, M., Hill, J., Hornsby, K., Pratt, M., & Weller, S. (2013). A call for expanding inclusive student engagement in SoTL. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 1(2), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.1.2.63

Flint, A. (2016). Moving from the fringe to the mainstream: Opportunities for embedding student engagement through partnership. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 1(1). https://sehej.raise-network.com/raise/article/view/382

Fraser, J., & Usman, M. (2021). Dreaming to learn together: Lessons in decolonial and anti-racist partnership practices. Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 7(1). https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/1051

Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2016). Students as partners: Reflections on a conceptual model. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 4(2), 8–20. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.4.2.3

Henry, F., Dua, E., James, C.E., Kobayashi, A., Li, P., Ramos, H., & Smith, M. S. (2017). The equity myth: Racialization and indigeneity at Canadian universities. UBC Press.

Islam, M., Burnett, T-L., & Collins, S-L. (2021). Trilateral partnership: An institution and students’ union collaborative partnership project to support underrepresented student groups. International Journal for Students as Partners, 5(1), 76–85. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v5i1.4455

Kupatadze, K. (2019). Opportunities presented by the forced occupation of liminal space: Underrepresented faculty experiences and perspectives. International Journal for Students as Partners, 3(1), 22–33. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v3i1.3744

Leota, A., & Sutherland, K. (2020). “With your basket of knowledge and my basket of knowledge, the people will prosper”: Learning and leading in a student-staff partnership program. In A. Cook-Sather & C. Wilson (Eds.), Building courage, confidence, and capacity in learning and teaching through student-faculty partnership: Stories from across contexts and arenas of practice (pp. 93–102). Lexington Books.

Linder, C., Quaye, S. J., Lange, A. C., Roberts, R. E., Lacy, M. C., Okello, W. K. (2019). “A student should have the privilege of just being a student”: Student activism as labor. The Review of Higher Education, 42, 37–62. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0044

Marquis, E., de Bie, A., Cook-Sather, A., Krishna Prasad, S., Luqueño, L., & Ntem, A. (2021). “I saw a change”: Enhancing classroom equity through pedagogical partnership. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2021.1.10814

Marquis, E., Guitman, R., Nguyen, E., & Woolmer, C. (2021). “It’s a little complicated for me”: Faculty social location and experiences of pedagogical partnership. Higher Education Research and Development, 40(6), 1191-1204. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1806789

Marquis, E., Jayaratnam, A., Lei, T., & Mishra, A. (2019). Motivators, barriers, and understandings: How students at four universities perceive student-faculty partnership programs. Higher Education Research and Development, 38(6), 1240–1254. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1638349

Marquis, E., Jayaratnam, A., Mishra, A., & Rybkina, K. (2018). “I feel like some students are better connected”: Students’ perspectives on applying for extracurricular partnership opportunities. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), 64–81. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3300

Matthews, K. E. (2016). Students as partners as the future of student engagement. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 1(1). https://sehej.raise-network.com/raise/article/view/380

Matthews, K. E., Mercer-Mapstone, L., Dvorakova, S. L., Acai, A., Cook-Sather, A., Felten, P., Healey, M., Healey, R. L., & Marquis, E. (2019). Enhancing outcomes and reducing inhibitors to the engagement of students and staff in learning and teaching partnerships: Implications for academic development. International Journal for Academic Development, 24(3), 246–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2018.1545233

Mercer-Mapstone, L., & Bovill, C. (2020). Equity and diversity in institutional approaches to student-staff partnership schemes in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 45(12), 2541–2557. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1620721

Mercer-Mapstone, L., Dvorakova, S. L., Matthews, K. E., Abbot, S., Cheng, B., Felten, P., Knorr, K., Marquis, E., Shammas, R., & Swaim, K. (2017). A systematic literature review of students as partners in higher education. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119

Mercer-Mapstone, L., Islam, M., & Reid, T. (2021). Are we just engaging “the usual suspects”? Challenges in and practical strategies for supporting equity and diversity in student-staff partnership initiatives. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(2), 227–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2019.1655396

Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (3rd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Moore-Cherry, N., Healey, R., Nicholson, D. T., & Andrews, W. (2016). Inclusive partnership: Enhancing student engagement in geography. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 40(1), 84–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2015.1066316

Narayanan, D., & Abbot, S. (2020). Increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM classes through student-instructor partnerships. In L. Mercer-Mapstone & S. Abbot (Eds.), The power of partnership: Students, faculty, and staff revolutionizing higher education (pp. 181–195). Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa2

Ntem, A., & Cook-Sather, A. (2018). Resistances and resiliencies in pedagogical partnership: Student partners’ perspectives. International Journal for Students as Partners, 2(1), 82–96. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v2i1.3372

Perez, K. (2016). Striving toward a space for equity and inclusion in physics classrooms. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 1(18). http://repository.brynmawr.edu/tlthe/vol1/iss18/3

Pounder, J. S., Ho Hung-lam, E., & Groves, J. M. (2016). Faculty-student engagement in teaching observation and assessment: A Hong Kong initiative. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(8), 1193–1205. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1071779

Quaye, J., Harper, S.R., & Pendakur, S.L. (2020). Student engagement in higher education: Theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Downloads

Published

2022-05-10

How to Cite

Marquis, E., Carrasco-Acosta, E., de Bie, A., Krishna Prasad, S., Wadhwani, S., & Woolmer, C. (2022). Toward redressing inequities through partnership: A critical assessment of an equity-focused partnership initiative. International Journal for Students as Partners, 6(1), 10–29. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v6i1.4895

Issue

Section

Special Section: Partnership in fostering socially-just pedagogy