Enhancing Student Representation

Authors

  • Alexander Thomas George Bols GuildHE

Abstract

Student representation is an essential way for institutions to gather student feedback and is used to enhance the quality of the course. Too often, there is a perception that student representatives come from a particular background and are not representative enough of their whole cohort, especially those who are ‘hard to reach’.

 

This article looks at how student representation could be enhanced. It explores key themes such as the extent to which student representatives reflect the wider student body and are able to advocate on behalf of all students, and whether there should be a set of behaviours to support more effective representation. The article starts by suggesting that enhancing the effectiveness of student representation will only ever be part of the picture and that, in order to create the optimum environment for student representation, it is necessary to consider also staff engagement in representation activities and the wider effectiveness of the committee structure.

Author Biography

Alexander Thomas George Bols, GuildHE

Alex Bols is Deputy Chief Executive of GuildHE. He is also Chair of Governors at Vittoria Primary School, on the Board of the British School of Osteopathy and is doing his Doctor in Education at UCL’s Institute of Education.

Amongst other roles he has previously worked as Executive Director of the 1994 Group, Head of Higher Education and Assistant Director (Research) at NUS and Secretary General of the European Students’ Union.

References

Bols, A. (2015) Enhancing Student Representation systems. Available at: http://wonkhe.com/blogs/enhancing-studtation-systems/ (Accessed: 2 January 2017).

Fielding, M. (2001) ‘Students as radical agents of change.’ Journal of Educational Change, 2, 123-41.

Flint, A. and O'Hara, M. (2013) ‘Communities of practice and ‘student voice’: engaging with student representatives at the faculty level.’ Student Engagement and Experience Journal, 2(1).

Fraser, N. (1999) Social justice in the age of identity politics: Redistribution, recognition, and participation. In: Ray, L. and Sayer, A. (eds.) Culture and economy after the cultural turn. Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage, 25-52.

Lizzio, A. and Wilson, K. (2009) ‘Student participation in university governance: the role conceptions and sense of efficacy of student representatives on departmental committees.’ Studies in Higher Education, 34(1), 69-84.

Robinson, C. (2012) ‘Student engagement: What does this mean in practice in the context of higher education institution?’ Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 4(2), 94-108.

Lizzio, A., & Wilson, K. (2009). Student participation in university governance: the role conceptions and sense of efficacy of student representatives on departmental committees. Studies in Higher Education, 34(1), 69-84.

NUS. (2012). Student Experience Report 2012. London. Retrieved 30th March 2017 http://tsep.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/1513-NUS_QAA-FullReport_FINAL.pdf

Robinson, C. (2012). Student engagement: What does this mean in practice in the context of higher education institution? Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 4(2), pp.94-108.

Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change cover

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Published

10/02/2017

How to Cite

Bols, A. T. G. (2017). Enhancing Student Representation. The Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 3(1), 81–89. Retrieved from https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/585

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2017)

Section

The Shifting Context of Higher Education

License

Copyright is held by the journal. The author has full permission to publish to their institutional repository. Articles are published under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence.