A view across UCL ChangeMakers: 8 years of student-staff partnership at UCL

Abstract

Through this reflective essay I, Abbie King, explore the development of UCL’s student-staff partnership initiatives: ChangeMakers and SQR. I show how the scheme developed from a ‘student-as-change agents’ model to a student-staff partnership approach that has fostered the development of partnership learning communities, as described by Healey, Flint and Harrington (2014). I also examine the tensions and benefits between the support and needs of the institution and the individuals involved who enact the values of partnership at a grassroots level and how this has impacted the decision we have made for the initiatives to drive and develop them.  I will also reflect on how having an established student-staff partnership scheme builds resilience for the institution, which is critical in the current climate to be able to respond effectively to emerging challenges and think through the implications of education as we emerge from a global pandemic.