Exploring intercultural student-staff partnerships: A collective autoethnography

Abstract

The role of culture in student-staff partnerships emerged as an important consideration in the SaP scholarship. Past literature linking culture and SaP practices focused on two areas: the implementation of student-staff partnerships in a non-Anglophone context (Liang and Matthews, 2021) and the topic of intercultural partnerships (Zhang, Matthews and Liu, 2023). Through the use of collaborative autoethnography, this paper aims to contribute to the exploration of intercultural partnership dynamics. The authors described aspects of their experience and shed light on potential practices which may aid students and staff in building authentic intercultural partnerships. The accounts emphasised the importance of equipping partners with critical thinking skills, helping them to develop an assertive communication style and making space for shared exploration of the meaning of ‘partnership’ in relation to their identity and cultural background. Suggestions outlined in this article are not prescriptive but aim to serve as points for further reflection on the development of intercultural SaP practices.