Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice

Student-teacher relationships matter in creating inclusive student engagement opportunities in higher education. Student engagement is a wide-ranging topic, and much of the existing literature discusses student course representation (where student leaders gather feedback and work with staff to enhan...

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Main Authors: Tanya Lubicz-Nawrocka, Xiuxiu Bao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/2/75
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author Tanya Lubicz-Nawrocka
Xiuxiu Bao
author_facet Tanya Lubicz-Nawrocka
Xiuxiu Bao
author_sort Tanya Lubicz-Nawrocka
collection DOAJ
description Student-teacher relationships matter in creating inclusive student engagement opportunities in higher education. Student engagement is a wide-ranging topic, and much of the existing literature discusses student course representation (where student leaders gather feedback and work with staff to enhance the quality of courses) and curriculum co-creation (where students and teachers partner in decision-making regarding aspects of a course) as two distinct approaches. However, there is a notable paucity of prior empirical research comparing the ways that student representation and curriculum co-creation can lead to different forms of relationship-building. Therefore, this qualitative study first examined student course representatives’ and co-creators’ perceptions of effective student-teacher relationships in courses, followed by an analysis of the differences in those relationships between teachers and (a) course representatives and (b) curriculum co-creators. We identified five elements of effective student-teacher relationships within the classroom context that help students feel included, connected, respected, valued, and inspired. We found that different communication structures inherent in course representation and curriculum co-creation yielded distinct contributions and risks in building inclusive student-teacher relationships. To deepen understanding of inclusive student engagement, we explore opportunities to enhance these relationships and work towards meaningful partnerships between students and teachers that can advance social justice.
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spelling doaj-art-d6bf48d9b6484a2b87aa7971d93779ad2025-08-20T02:59:16ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602025-01-011427510.3390/socsci14020075Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social JusticeTanya Lubicz-Nawrocka0Xiuxiu Bao1Learning and Teaching Enhancement, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UKMoray House School of Education and Sport, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UKStudent-teacher relationships matter in creating inclusive student engagement opportunities in higher education. Student engagement is a wide-ranging topic, and much of the existing literature discusses student course representation (where student leaders gather feedback and work with staff to enhance the quality of courses) and curriculum co-creation (where students and teachers partner in decision-making regarding aspects of a course) as two distinct approaches. However, there is a notable paucity of prior empirical research comparing the ways that student representation and curriculum co-creation can lead to different forms of relationship-building. Therefore, this qualitative study first examined student course representatives’ and co-creators’ perceptions of effective student-teacher relationships in courses, followed by an analysis of the differences in those relationships between teachers and (a) course representatives and (b) curriculum co-creators. We identified five elements of effective student-teacher relationships within the classroom context that help students feel included, connected, respected, valued, and inspired. We found that different communication structures inherent in course representation and curriculum co-creation yielded distinct contributions and risks in building inclusive student-teacher relationships. To deepen understanding of inclusive student engagement, we explore opportunities to enhance these relationships and work towards meaningful partnerships between students and teachers that can advance social justice.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/2/75inclusionstudent engagementstudent representationcurriculum co-creationstudent partnershipsocial justice
spellingShingle Tanya Lubicz-Nawrocka
Xiuxiu Bao
Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice
Social Sciences
inclusion
student engagement
student representation
curriculum co-creation
student partnership
social justice
title Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice
title_full Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice
title_fullStr Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice
title_full_unstemmed Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice
title_short Partnership in the Classroom: Engaging Students Through Inclusive Student-Teacher Relationships to Advance Social Justice
title_sort partnership in the classroom engaging students through inclusive student teacher relationships to advance social justice
topic inclusion
student engagement
student representation
curriculum co-creation
student partnership
social justice
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/2/75
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AT xiuxiubao partnershipintheclassroomengagingstudentsthroughinclusivestudentteacherrelationshipstoadvancesocialjustice