Learning through practice: Collaborative policing partnerships in teaching in higher education
| Author | Katie Strudwick |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X19882056 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
Article
Learning through practice:
Collaborative policing
partnerships in teaching
in higher education
Katie Strudwick
School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
Abstract
This article discusses the development and good practice of an undergraduate colla-
borative partnership module between police practitioners and academics meeting the
challenges for teaching partnerships within higher education. Through innovative cur-
riculum design and the application of the Student as Producer model, the article con-
siders aspects of student engagement, ownership of learning journeys and shared
dialogues. The case study was developed to strengthen existing productive links with
policing and offer real-life collaboration on contemporary police studies. The module has
impacted on student learning and has institutionally embraced professional practice in
teaching through designing ‘academic practice as learning’.
Keywords
Policing, student as producer, collaboration, curriculum design, higher education
Introduction
This article reflects on the development of collaborative partnerships within teaching and
learning in higher education, presenting a case study of a successful partnership between
police practitioners and academics in one institution. By applying processes of curricu-
lum design through Student as Producer (Neary and Winn, 2009; Neary et al., 2014), the
module examined in this article embraces commo n themes of shared dialogues, co-
production and transfers of knowledge, in its efforts to develop teaching partnerships
with industry.
Corresponding author:
Katie Strudwick, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS,
UK.
Email: kstrudwick@lincoln.ac.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2021, Vol. 94(1) 58–74
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X19882056
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In the context of higher education, the introduction of Knowledge Exchange Frame-
work by Research England (2017), working alongside the Office for Students, has
developed new metrics and benchmarks to share knowledge and provide comparisons
between higher education Institutions (HEIs), measuring their impact on commercialisa-
tion and knowledge exchange. With more recent developments with Civic Universities,
the shifts in higher education and partnerships can further be recognised, with the
author’s institution being one of the 30 universities to sign up to the Civic Agreements
with the University Partnerships Programme Foundation chaired by Lord Kerslake in
2019 (Brabner, 2019; https://upp-foundation.org/leading-universities-pledge-commit
ment-to-local-communities/). Such reforms demonstrate the commitments towards
wider collaborations with the community, through the sharing of knowledge and engage-
ment, and arguably have clear relevance to discussions of policing partnerships in this
article.
There have been significant wider drivers towards the professionalisation of policing
in England and Wales, from the College of Policing, shown through a number of dif-
ferent forms of police education. Profession alisation is defined by Green and Gates
(2014: 75) as ‘the transformation of an occupation into a profession’ and the fluid nature
of it is evident, as recognised by Hough and Stanko (2019) who evaluate the different
rationales for professionalision of policing in the United Kingdom, alongside the role of
professional knowledge under the leadership of the College of Policing.
The wider acknowledgment of police–academic collaboration/partnerships has been
documented by a number of authors in recent years (Fleming, 2010, 2012; Foster and
Bailey, 2010; Fyfe and Wilson, 2012; Innes, 2010; Marks et al., 2010; Steinheider et al.,
2012), where ‘academic inputs’ have, as noted by Murji, resulted in a change to both
sides through an emerging ‘sub field of police studies’ (Murji, 2010: 92). Henry and
MacKenzie (2012: 326) discuss their knowledge transfer fellowship between academia
and policing in Scotland (funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council). Being
developed through the brokering communities of practice model, the authors note the
unpredictability of it but reflect on the ‘great value’ and propose the perspective to be a
theoretical resource and framing tool for collaborations in policing. Such transforma-
tions have had a noticeable impact on teaching and research, as emphasised and docu-
mented, through the special editions of Police Practice and Research (2009 and 2012)
and Policing, Policy and Practice (2010).
With the rise of pracademics, policing practitioners who merge into academics (Huey
and Mitchell, 2016), there has also been a shift towards broader collaborative partner-
ships between police forces and HEIs in the United Kingdom. Goode and Lumsden
(2016: 76) provides examples of such developments observing East Midlands Policing
Academic Collaboration, Scottish Institute for Policing Research, N8 collaboration in
the North of England, the Universities’ Police Science Institute in Wales, Society of
Evidence-Based Policing, among others.
The emerging new routes between police forces and higher education for new police
recruits have further been evident, shown with the new Policing Education Qualification
Framework (PEQF) (applicable from January 2020) for Police Constable Recruits,
encompassing Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship, Degree Holder Entry Pro-
gramme or a pre-join Degree in Policing (College of Policing https://www.college.
Strudwick 59
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