Staff-student partnership: a catalyst for staff-student engagement Dr Roisín Curran Ulster University 11 April 2017

Why is this important? Student [Staff] engagement Project Lead of WWSRS Student [Staff] engagement What Works? Student Retention & Success (WWSRS) – to improve the strategic approach to Student Engagement, belonging, retention and success (HEA, 2013) Ulster’s vision and L&T strategy (SA2) – to promote meaningful staff and student partnership (Ulster, 2013) To address the paucity of research in relation to the understanding of the impact of partnership work

Conceptual framework of engagement, antecedents and consequences (Kahu, 2013, p766) Other conceptual frameworks considered: The Engagement Framework (Pittaway, 2012)

What Works? Model of student retention and success (Thomas, 2012, p16) Institutional management and co-ordination Staff capacity building Student capacity building Academic Service Social Early engagement extends into HE and beyond

Methodology Interpretivism Phenomenological approach Lived experience of individuals working in partnership One-to-one interviews Focus groups

Findings High level of consensus between staff and students in how they described their lived experience Data analysis of transcriptions produced two impact themes and perceived barriers Personal Development Enhancement of the Learning Climate Challenges

Personal Development: New ways of thinking Students Staff feel more comfortable talking with staff if there are issues. In the past I would have shirked away from that… I’ve developed more confidence from this ‘I had a sense of letting go – somebody has labelled me as an expert…but the students are the experts in their experience’ ‘I am more open to students, I’m probably not as judgmental; I’m more open to hearing what they have to say and taking on their suggestions and doing something if we can… having the students lead themselves…

Personal Development: New Skills Students Staff This has been a more holistic experience. I have gained research skills, IT skills and presentation skills. I would have thought that HE was just about stuffing students with knowledge but it’s much broader than that’ As a class rep and partner, I’m better at keeping a diary, I never did it at school but now I do and I’m better at being reflective. I wouldn’t have entertained the notion of being reflective but now I see the benefit of it. ‘The students were full of ideas, it didn’t really reflect what I wanted to do but I stood back and let them run with it and my role became – a facilitator’

Enhancement of the learning climate: Builds relationships Breaks down the them and us… Better working relationships Builds trust… Breaks down barriers Can lead to a blurring of roles…

Enhancement of the learning climate: Creates a ripple effect Students staff It rubs off on the other students – when they hear questions being asked, it gives them confidence to speak up? In the past there would only be 30 seconds of questions, now it could be up to 20 minutes and I think it’s down to the barriers being broken down. ‘We are very good at what we do educationally – it’s all there but if the students are lonely coming in and they have nowhere to sit or no one to talk to then this will impede learning. Social opportunities are the big thing. The social thing is not just between students – its students and staff as well [co-curricular activity across year groups].

Enhancement of the learning climate: Encourages active learning approaches students staff Our studio space has changed a lot from last year…There have been opportunities – for us partners to be able to experience it, what we produced on that day is now being used in other modules and it helps us make the connections’. ‘Yes, there has been a big change in my approach to my teaching. It has made me question a lot of how I deliver the work - the link between the content and the assessment has been strengthened. ‘We use a lot of group work now... Students meet socially in the learning environment – linked to the sense of belonging... This makes a difference, we noticed in the past that groups of students who commuted wouldn’t have mixed with the others but now they do’.

Implications Going forward - consider carefully how we encourage: Feelings of being engaged through effective relational-based partnership – part of holistic view of SE Dialogue and mutual respect between staff and students Challenge assumptions and develop confidence Skills development and capacity to engage in different learning environments Opportunities for all students to experience trust relationships Challenges which also need considered are: Location of partnership working Resistance Sustainability Language of partnership and how to…

It is the human side of higher education that comes first – finding friends, feeling confident and above all, feeling a part of your course of study and the institution – that is the necessary starting point for academic success. (Thomas et al. 2017)

Outputs and impact to date Staff and Student Guide to Engagement through Partnership PgCHEP, CD induction, new incoming students Ulster Learning Model Curriculum development Case Study for What Works? Building Capacity for Student Engagement through a Staff-Student Partnership Approach Selected for inclusion in What works final report (Thomas et al. 2017) IJAD Article A partnership approach to developing student capacity to engage and staff capacity to be engaging: opportunities for academic developers

References HEA (2013). What Works? student retention and success change programme: phase 2. York: HEA. Available from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/enhancement/themes/retention-and-success/what-works-student-retention-and-success-change-programme Kahu, E. (2013). Framing student engagement in higher education, Studies in Higher Education, 38 (5), 758-773. Pittaway, S.M. (2012). Student and staff engagement: developing an engagement framework in a faculty of education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 37(4), 37- 45. Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n4.8

References continued Thomas, L. (2012). Building student engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change: final report from the what works? student retention & success programme. Available from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/building-student-engagement-and-belonging-higher-education-time-change-final-report-what Thomas, L., Hill, M., O’ Mahony, J. and Yorke, M. (2017). What works? Student retention and success change programme phase 2 final report. Forthcoming Ulster University (2013). Learning and teaching strategy, 2013/14 -2017-18. Ulster University. Available from http://www.ulster.ac.uk/tls/