Invitation focus group Student as Partners

Dear student assistants, PC student member, members of student councils and other involved students at VU, You all contribute in important ways to the education VU has to offer. You advise on education, make sure the student perspective is heard, help develop education, or maybe even teach your fellow students. What you contribute is seen by VU. That is why a new project has been created to take what you do to the next level: from 'student assistant' to Student as Partner.

Student as Partner: "a collaborative, reciprocal process through which all participants have the opportunity to contribute equally, although not necessarily in the same ways, to curricular or pedagogical conceptualization, decision making, implementation, investigation, or analysis." (Cook-Sather, Bovill & Felten 2014, pp. 6-7)

So what exactly? That you collaborate with faculty or other regular VU staff members on an equal basis to better education at VU. Not as an assistant, but as a partner.

Cool, how do we get there? One of the missions of the Student as Partners project is to provide professionalization to students as well as faculty through training. For example:

• Training and guidance on trust and inclusion in a partnership between students and teachers.
• Developing and offering trainings in the area of well-being and (self-) responsible learning.
• Development of a Student Teaching Qualification (StuKO).
• Development and provision of a Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) track for lecturers in which students act as partners.
• Support and advice to teachers on the job by students.

But before we can get started on that, we are curious to know what your role and partnership within the VU currently look like.

Will you talk to us? On Friday, March 17, 2023 from 15:30 - 17:00 students Oumaima el Ouarit (Network for Teaching & Learning/VU Educational Workshop) and Noah Rookmaaker (LEARN! Academy) are organizing a group discussion/panel discussion/focus group to exchange experiences with you about the current role of an engaged student at VU. What is already going well in the collaboration between you and the permanent staff? Where do you see opportunities for improvement? What do you find most valuable about the role you play? We would love to hear this and much more from you

We would like to hear if you are coming and with how many. Then we'll know immediately how many drinks and pizza to cater.

Warm regards,

Oumaima el Ouarit and Imane Allilouch