"It makes us feel important"
Student-staff projects to build a sense of belonging on an International Foundation Program
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v10i2.6740Keywords:
students as partners, international students, sense of belonging, partnership community, partnership valuesAbstract
This case study explores interview data from four students involved in students-as-partners (SaP) projects during an International Foundation Program (IFP) at a university in the UK. The projects included developing a week of study-support sessions, writing for the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committee, and writing for the university’s blog. The students worked with staff members in different ways and were interviewed about their motivations, challenges, benefits, and recommendations for future student-staff projects. The interview data suggest that the projects aligned well with the partnership values of reciprocity and trust (Higher Education Academy, 2015). As a result, the projects seemed to contribute to students’ sense of belonging to the IFP learning community as well as the wider institution. Future iterations of SaP projects on the IFP should endeavor to more closely align with the value of inclusivity (Higher Education Academy, 2015) by adopting more accessible recruitment processes.
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