Staff-student partnership: a catalyst for staff-student engagement

Drawing from interviews which aimed to capture rich descriptions of the lived experience of those involved in staff-student partnerships, the data revealed that whilst participants experienced partnership in nuanced ways, there was a striking degree of accord in the descriptions of the impact of partnership on the individual. Whilst participants’ thinking and behaviours had changed as a result of their involvement, quite often the catalyst for change was related to how the participants were feeling. These insights bring new understanding to stakeholders at Ulster in relation to how these findings can help us think more holistically about student engagement from three dimensions: emotional, behavioural and cognitive. Whilst specific to Ulster, there are valuable learning points, which may be extended to the HE sector more generally.