Engaging students through a partnership model Colin Bryson and Ruth Furlonger: Newcastle University

The nature of student engagement Holistic and socially constructed  Every student is an individual and different (Haggis, 2004)  Engagement is a concept which encompasses the perceptions, expectations and experience of being a student and the construction of being a student in HE (Bryson and Hand, 2007).  Engagement underpins learning and is the glue that binds it together – both located in being and becoming. (Fromm, 1977)  More than about doing and behaving!  SE is dynamic and fluid  SE is multidimensional, includes student’s whole lives and it is the interaction and pattern that matters Engagement and partnership

Useful models Understanding and developing Student Engagement, Routledge, 2014 Ways of being a student - (Dubet, in Jary and Leabeau, 2009) Personal project Integration into university Intellectual engagement with subject Relational engagement (Solomonides, Reid and Petocz, 2012) Being, Transormation, Professional formation, Discipline knowledge student engagement

Key influences on engagement 1. Student expectations and perceptions – match to the ‘personal project’ and interest in subject 2. Sufficient challenge and appropriate workload 3. Degrees of choice, autonomy, risk, and opportunities for growth and enjoyment 4. Trust relationships 5. Communication and discourse 6. A sense of belonging and community 7. Supportive social networks 8. Opportunities for, and participation in activities and roles – to enable ownership, self-assurance and self-efficacy Engagement and partnership

The flipside of SE Alienation, inertia/anomie and disengagement (Mann: Krause, Hockings)  Performativity  Being ‘other’  Disciplinary power  Inertia  Battle between cultures and values  Inclusiveness and recognising what students bring student engagement

Becoming what exactly? A critical being? (Barnett) Intellectually developed? (Baxter Magolda – self authorship) (Perry…ethical integral) Citizenship? Professionals (Reid & Solomonides) Engagement and partnership

The value of engagement after HE Integrated development of the whole person (and ‘disposition’)  Graduateness and graduate attributes (Barrie, 2007)  Graduate identity (Holmes, 2001) and USEM (Yorke and Knight, 2006) The whole HE experience – thus the extracurricular is vital – authentic experiences The engaged students tends to take up more opportunities AND is better able to join them up in their thinking student engagement

A revised definition of SE Student engagement is about what a student brings to Higher Education in terms of goals, aspirations, values and beliefs and how these are shaped and mediated by their experience whilst a student. SE is constructed and reconstructed through the lenses of the perceptions and identities held by students and the meaning and sense a student makes of their experiences and interactions. As players and shapers of the educational context, educators need to foster educational, purposeful SE to support and enable students to learn in constructive and powerful ways and realise their potential in education and society. Engagement and partnership

SE is not all rosy SE as compliance (Zyngier) Dissonance between staff and student views (Hand and Solomonides) Engagement and partnership

So what works? Kuh (2008) i. First year seminars (e.g. SI and PAL) ii. Learning communities – cross module iii. Service learning – experiential iv. Common intellectual experiences v. Writing intensive courses vi. Collaborative projects vii. Undergraduate research viii. Diversity learning ix. Internships x. Capstone courses Students engagement and partnership

Putting SE into practice Assessment for learning/peer assessment Choice within the module - Integrated projects Collaborative learning and building trust relationships Authenticity Taking risks Students taking responsibility/negotiation Engagement and partnership

Strategic level approaches Sally Kift at Queensland UT then JCU Report-Sep-09.pdf Sally_Kift_presentation.pdf Transition pedagogies Combined Honours at Newcastle Holistic model of SE Engagement and partnership

A holistic approach to a degree programme  Combined Honours at Newcastle  Diverse and complex  Individuals doing unique degree  Missing sense of identity/ belonging  But few resources and so difficult to influence the curriculum So how to address? Engagement and partnership

Enhancing engagement in Combined Honours Student representation and empowerment - SSC Peer mentoring and transition– social integration PASS scheme – academic integration Building community: Facilities and spaces and Social agenda – the CH S Engagement and partnership

Reflections on the CH strategy The Graduate Development modules Involving the hard to reach – other projects, internships etc Joining it all up – events and activities are shared and promoted by all parties Evolving and growing – had very good outcomes but needs constant refreshment and emergence/supply of student ‘champions ’ Has evolved into partnership…. Engagement and partnership

The student partnership approach – varying origins HEA and NUS based on HEFCE funded CHERI Report ( ) Student representation and collective representation “students as partners in a learning community” Liz Dunne at Exeter – Students as Change Agents Stuart Brand, Birmingham City University - Academic partners scheme CEEBL – interns at Manchester Students engagement and partnership

Students as partners 2013 A focus on the collective – student representation – involvement in decision making  As consumer (UK Government)  Empowerment (QAA, HEA)  As equals (Wenstone and the NUS) A focus on the individual  (Co?)Producer (Neary)  Module design (Bovill) Engagement and partnership

Working definition for partnership Staff and students working together – towards mutuality in sharing decision- making and developing and implementing policies and practices which enable and foster engagement, a sense of belonging and opportunities for transformational learning and enhancing graduateness Engagement and partnership

Issues for collective partnership Getting past pseudo-participation Are there limits/boundaries to student co-determination? The role of the student union (and levels where this works) How many students does this really engage? Participative vs representative Truly democratic? Staff as role model… Cooperative vs adverserial Partnership vs student led Engagement and partnership

Issues for individual partnership Opportunities for all… Favouring those most willing? And those most ‘capable’ Star performers/ champions - a necessity or a problem Incentivisation/Reward and recognition Academic credit and partnership – the problem of assessment power Raising false expectations… Obligatory participation? Whither the staff role – letting go… Engagement and partnership

To meet regularly to discuss SE. To involve and work with students in partnership An early goal was to develop a concept map and set of principles that underpin the promotion of SE To establish an annual conference drawing together leading edge work on SE - and to feed into publication through journals and books. (Next conference– Sept 2013, Nottingham) To gain funding to support these events and activities. To create a bank of useful resources for us to share. To facilitate communication between us (web, network etc) Engagement and partnership