Working with politics ‘students as partners’ to engender student community: Opportunities and challenges
| Published date | 01 February 2025 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02633957231173372 |
| Author | Donna Smith |
| Date | 01 February 2025 |
https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957231173372
Politics
2025, Vol. 45(1) 105 –122
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/02633957231173372
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Working with politics
‘students as partners’ to
engender student community:
Opportunities and challenges
Donna Smith
The Open University, UK
Abstract
Research suggests that creating communities of learning (academic and social) leads to a better
Higher Education (HE) experience for students, which, in turn, makes it more likely that they will
persist in their studies. The concept of ‘student community’ in HE has become more prominent
of late, partly due to the UK Government’s emphasis on retention. One way in which student
community can be engendered is by working with ‘students as partners’ in their learning: students
work with academics and each other to create and extend their learning, which, in turn, has a
positive impact on student community and retention. This article discusses the opportunities
and challenges of working with ‘students as partners’ within a Politics HE disciplinary context.
In particular, it summarises an Open University Politics student engagement project, part of the
University’s partnership with UK Parliament. In doing so, the article has implications for Politics
HE practice generally, and online Politics HE practice in particular, and makes recommendations
for working with Politics ‘students as partners’ within the current UK HE policy environment.
Keywords
belonging, politics, student community, student engagement, students as partners, teaching and
learning
Received: 27th January 2023; Revised version received: 27th February 2023; Accepted: 1st March 2023
Introduction
The concept and intrinsic value of ‘student community’ has long been the subject of aca-
demic discussion (see below discussion of key literature), but has risen in prominence in
recent years in Higher Education (HE). A driving factor in this is the idea that creating
communities of learning (academic and social) leads to a better HE experience, which, in
turn, makes it more likely that students will persist in their studies. With the UK
Corresponding author:
Donna Smith, Politics & International Studies, School of Social Sciences & Global Studies, Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK.
Email: donna.smith@open.ac.uk
1173372POL0010.1177/02633957231173372PoliticsSmith
research-article2023
Learning and Teaching in Politics
and International Studies
106 Politics 45(1)
Government’s increased focus on student retention, this is important. Indeed, Condition
B3 of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) states that ‘the provider must deliver
positive outcomes for students on its higher education courses’ (Office for Students
(OFS), 2022a: 1). B3 assesses the actual outcomes delivered by a university to its stu-
dents, with student continuation and completion (i.e. retention) key indicators (OFS,
2022a).
Seen by many as key to student continuation and completion (referred to as retention
from now on) is student community, which can be formal and informal, and academic or
more social (Tinto, 1993). Current TEF awards utilise student satisfaction data from the
National Student Survey (NSS), which include questions on student learning community.
In 2022, the questions were (1) ‘I feel part of a community of staff and students’ and (2)
‘I have had the right opportunities to work with other students as part of my course’
(National Student Survey (NSS), 2022). Getting student community right is thus impor-
tant for institutions in terms of TEF, but also in itself. Indeed, ‘belonging’ research clearly
indicates a positive relationship between students feeling they belong and academic suc-
cess and advancement (De Sisto et al., 2021). This has been known for years, with Tinto’s
(1993, but based on earlier research) ‘model of institutional departure’ recognising aca-
demic and social integration as a key variable impacting student achievement/lack of
achievement, with social engagement leading to a sense of fit with the university which
in turn impacts retention. Thus, according to Tinto to ‘persist’ with their studies, students
need to be socially integrated formally (extracurricular activities) and informally (peer-
to-peer integration). They need a sense of belonging.
One important aspect of student community that has risen in prominence in recent
years is the idea of ‘students as partners’, with student community engendered by stu-
dents working as partners in their learning. ‘Students as partners’ broadly refers to ‘a joint
endeavour to shape and influence university teaching and learning’ (Matthews, 2017: 1)
and generally refers to staff–student partnership but can also refer to student–student
partnerships. There is a reciprocity to the relationship, with all parties benefitting. A use-
ful way to conceptualise it is ‘pedagogic partnership’, ‘a collaborative, reciprocal process
through which all participants have the opportunity to contribute equally, although not
necessarily in the same ways, to curricular or pedagogical conceptualization, decision-
making, implementation, investigation, or analysis’ (Cook-Sather et al., 2014: 6–7).
Research has shown that ‘students as partners’ can have a positive impact on achieve-
ment, as well as things like confidence and motivation (Healey et al., 2014).
Within a Politics disciplinary context (which, for the purposes of this article, also
refers to International Studies/Relations), the importance of creating communities of
learning (academic and social) to improve students’ HE experience, which, in turn, makes
it more likely that students will persist in their studies, is clear. Politics, and the social
sciences more widely, has in recent years faced challenges in relation to the perceived
value of HE study. Indeed, the UK Government’s (Department for Education (DfE),
2021: 6) response to the ‘Post-18 review of education and funding: independent panel
report’ (commonly known as the Augar review) (DfE, 2019) stated that HE funding will
be focused on ‘supporting provision which aligns with the priorities of the nation, such as
healthcare, STEM and specific labour market needs’. Increasing the perceived monetary
value (to the taxpayer/government) of politics courses is thus important. One way this can
be done is by improving student retention. And as noted above, this can be facilitated by
enhancing student community through working with ‘students as partners’.
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