Growing partnership communities: What experiences of an international institute suggest about developing student-staff partnership in higher education

Abstract

This article explores the perceptions of participants following the first International Summer Institute (SI) on students as partners in higher education, a four-day professional development experience designed to foster student-staff partnerships. Approximately 9 months after the Institute, 10 participants were interviewed to understand their perceptions of student-staff partnership, and what role the SI played in supporting partnership working. We discuss the key themes that emerged from our interviews, and analyse these participant responses in comparison to responses collected during the 2016 SI. In evaluating our data, we consider the general efficacy of the SI and offer ideas for academic developers interested in supporting partnership work more generally.

Keywords:

• Student-staff partnership
• students as partners
• international perspectives
• educational development
• institutional change

Acknowledgements

As indicated in the article, the authors are/were organizers and facilitators of the Summer Institute discussed.