I’ve started a new project with Faith Green, an undergraduate student at the University of North Georgia. We are aiming to offer revisions to English 4880: the senior capstone course for the writing & publication concentration.
To do this work, we have some reading to do: we are starting with Students as Partners literature. This literature, really, this work, helps higher education reimagine the student / faculty hierarchy, helps us reimagine what is possible when students and faculty truly collaborate on a project for the advanced of engagement and learning.
Below is Faith’s read of Kelly E. Matthews’ piece Five Propositions for Genuine Students as Partners Practices. Matthews’ full piece is found via the open access journal International Journal for Students as Partners.
Faith writes,
This essay outlines five propositions wherein readers can learn how to best approach Students as Partners (SaP) relationships and programs. SaP is a metaphor that, “imagines and makes way for respectful, mutually beneficial learning partnerships where students where students and staff work together on all aspects of educational endeavors,” (Matthews 1). The five propositions for reaching SaP partnerships are to: foster inclusive partnerships, nurture power-sharing relationships through dialogue and reflection, accept partnership as a process with uncertain outcomes, engage in ethical partnerships, and enact partnership for transformation. I think that one of the most important aspects of this essay was in the “fostering inclusive partnerships” proposition. The importance of ensuring that students from every social class, country, background, religion, etc can work together on teaching and learning and therefore create a safe environment where every person’s work and opinion are equally as important as the next.
J. Michael Rifenburg 