Considerations for Seeking Equity and Justice through Pedagogical Partnership : Four Partners in Conversation

Student-faculty pedagogical partnership has recently been understood to have the potential to contribute to equity and justice in postsecondary education. Nevertheless, important equity-related concerns about partnership have also been raised. In a presentation at a previous Symposium on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, one of the co-authors of this article proposed a series of "tentative principles" for working toward equity in and through student-faculty partnership, which synthesized and foregrounded some of these possibilities and critiques. In this article, we share these "tentative principles," as well as a series of critical responses to them, offered by the three co-authors. In so doing, we aim to offer an expanded set of significant considerations for those interested in student-faculty partnership and equity, and to invite and encourage further discussion and critique rather than reify singular principles

Politicizing self-advocacy: Disabled students navigating ableist expectations in postsecondary education

The student self-advocacy literature commonly claims that although self-advocacy is a vital skill that disabled students require to succeed in postsecondary education, many of these students experience a significant ‘skills-deficit’ in this area. This paper seeks to intervene in this literature by proposing opportunities to ‘politicize’ self-advocacy and move away from its individual, deficit-focused approach. To do so, the paper reports findings from a qualitative study at a research-intensive Canadian university. Interviews with 11 disabled students revealed a perception that there is an institutionally endorsed ‘right way’ to self-advocate that included expectations to: (1) register for formal accommodations; (2) embody visible/physical disability; (3) perform less disabled; and (4) make others comfortable. Rooted in ableism, these harmful expectations adopt misconceptions of disability as predictable and visible, and burden students with demands that they make their self-advocacy convenient for those to whom they are self-advocating. As a form of resistance to these ableist expectations, students described their own ‘better way’ of negotiating self-advocacy and disability on campus. This ‘better way’ offers opportunities for ‘politicizing’ self-advocacy by recognizing ableism and the harms of the self-advocacy model, affirming disabled student knowledge and community, and enacting their visions for institutional change. Vital to this politicization is a move away from staff and nondisabled-led initiatives like self-advocacy training to address a perceived skills-deficit in individual students. Politicizing self-advocacy moves instead towards disabled students as full partners in conducting research and informing student services and staff training based on their collective lived expertise and strategic practices

Holding space and engaging with difference: navigating the personal theories we carry into our pedagogical partnership practices

Partnerships between students and faculty are increasingly established within higher education. Everyone’s unique life story or background influences how they understand partnership praxis. Acknowledging individual understandings of student-faculty partnership matters because personal stories can influence how such partnerships form, function, and evolve. We, as students and faculty, share our individual theories of partnership to illuminate differing ways people can make sense of partnership as praxis. Using a reflective, autoethnographic research approach, we unpack two interdependent threads from our narratives: (a) holding space for how personal histories shape the experience of partnership and (b) engaging the messiness of partnership. To understand and nurture inclusive practices, we contend, means engaging the unique standpoints and social positions that both students and faculty bring into partnerships. Instead of attempting to collapse and converge different perspectives of partnership, we take pause to consider how these differences can enrich partnerships and be honoured throughout a partnershi

« J’ai constaté un changement » : renforcer l’équité en classe grâce à un partenariat pédagogique entre étudiants/étudiantes et professeurs/professeures

Persistent inequities in access to and experiences of learning in postsecondary education have been well documented. In line with efforts to redress these inequities and develop more just institutions, this study explores the potential for pedagogical partnerships in which students and faculty collaborate on teaching and learning initiatives to contribute to classroom equity. We investigate this issue by drawing on qualitative interviews with students who have participated in extracurricular pedagogical partnership programs in institutions in Canada and the United States, and who identify as members of marginalized groups (e.g., racialized students, 2SLGBTQ+ students, students from religious minorities, disabled students). While much existing research on equity and student-faculty partnership primarily focuses on the outcomes of partnership for participating students, we instead investigate students’ perceptions of the extent to which their partnership efforts contributed to wider impacts—such as developments in faculty thinking and teaching practice and student experiences in the classroom. We also consider challenges students noted connected to power imbalances and faculty resistance, which influence partnership’s capacity to contribute to equity and raise important considerations for those interested in partnership practice.Les inégalités persistantes concernant l’accès et les expériences d’apprentissage dans l’enseignement supérieur ont déjà été bien documentées. Conformément aux efforts déployés pour redresser ces inégalités et créer des établissements plus équitables, cette étude explore le potentiel pour des partenariats pédagogiques dans lesquels les étudiants/les étudiantes et les professeurs/les professeures collaborent sur des initiatives d’enseignement et d’apprentissage afin de contribuer à l’équité en salle de classe. Nous enquêtons sur cette question grâce à des entrevues qualitatives auprès d’étudiants/d’étudiantes qui ont participé à des programmes de partenariat pédagogique extrascolaires dans des établissements du Canada et des États-Unis, et qui s’identifient en tant que membres de groupes marginalisés (par ex. racialisés, 2SLGNTQ+, minorités religieuses, personnes handicapées). Alors que la plupart de la recherche menée sur l’équité et les partenariats entre professeurs/professeures et étudiants/étudiantes se concentre principalement sur les résultats du partenariat pour les étudiants et les étudiantes qui y participent, de notre côté, nous enquêtons sur les perceptions des étudiants et des étudiantes concernant la portée dans laquelle leurs efforts de partenariat ont contribué à des impacts plus vastes – tels que l’évolution de la réflexion et des pratiques d’enseignement du corps enseignant et les expériences des étudiants et des étudiantes dans la salle de classe. Nous prenons également en considération les défis indiqués par les étudiants et les étudiantes liés aux déséquilibres du pouvoir et à la résistance des professeurs et des professeures, qui influencent la capacité du partenariat à contribuer à l’équité et soulèvent des considérations importantes pour les personnes intéressées à la pratique des partenariats

“I Saw a Change”: Enhancing Classroom Equity through Student-Faculty Pedagogical Partnership

Persistent inequities in access to and experiences of learning in postsecondary education have been well documented. In line with efforts to redress these inequities and develop more just institutions, this study explores the potential for pedagogical partnerships in which students and faculty collaborate on teaching and learning initiatives to contribute to classroom equity. We investigate this issue by drawing on qualitative interviews with students who have participated in extracurricular pedagogical partnership programs in institutions in Canada and the United States, and who identify as members of marginalized groups (e.g., racialized students, 2SLGBTQ+ students, students from religious minorities, disabled students). While much existing research on equity and student-faculty partnership primarily focuses on the outcomes of partnership for participating students, we instead investigate students’ perceptions of the extent to which their partnership efforts contributed to wider impacts—such as developments in faculty thinking and teaching practice and student experiences in the classroom. We also consider challenges students noted connected to power imbalances and faculty resistance, which influence partnership’s capacity to contribute to equity and raise important considerations for those interested in partnership practice