STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN QUALITY ASSUARANCE AT UNIVERSITY

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28925/1609-8595.2020.3.11

Keywords:

feedback, higher education, higher education quality, students, student voice, student participation in university.

Abstract

The article highlights the problems associated with the concept of involving students in the formation, development and implementation of vital decisions in the field of higher education. It is emphasized that the relevance of student participation is that students are not only a stakeholder but also an equal partner in the processes of university governance and in the process of ensuring the quality of higher education. The article analyses different approaches to the concept of «student voice». The authors propose to consider this concept as a philosophical and managerial idea that students have their unique opinion on education and they should be able to make a real contribution to decision-making in higher education, influencing results, expressing their views, promoting their ideas and feeling the results of their influence.
Different models and mechanisms of student voice are presented: representation of students in the governing bodies of the university; activities of students in leading groups of educational programs; survey of students, focus groups; cooperation with the students’ organization; regular informal discussions between students and faculty and university management.
The article analyses the practical implementation of different models and mechanisms of student voice in European universities: University College London and University of Helsinki, and reviews the impact of student voice on educational practice in Ukrainian higher education institutions on the example of the National Technical University of Ukraine «Kyiv Polytechnic Institute named after Igor Sikorsky». It is concluded that in Ukrainian universities, compared to European ones, the concept of cooperation with students as full partners in every aspect of their education has not yet found practical implementation; forms of students’ influence more often relate to socio-cultural and sports areas, organization of leisure and entertainment.

Author Biographies

Oksana Bulvinska, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, 13-b Tymoshenko Str., 04212 Kyiv, Ukraine

PhD in Pedagogy, Senior Researcher, Senior Researcher of Scientific-Research Laboratory of Educology

Lesya Chervona, National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine, 9 Bastionna Str., 01014 Kyiv, Ukraine

PhD in Philosophy, Senior Researcher, Leading Researcher of Department of Leadership and Institutional Development of Higher Education, Institute of Higher Education

References

Canning, J. (2017). Conceptualising Student Voice in UK Higher Education: Four Theoretical Lenses. Teaching in Higher Education, 22 (5): 519–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2016.1273207

Chervona, L. (2019). Student Participation in University Governance: Experience of Ukraine. International Scientific Journal of Universities and Leadership, 2 (8), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.31874/2520-6702-2019-8-2-119-132

Cook-Sather, A. (2020). Student voice across contexts: Fostering student agency in today’s schools. Theory into Practice, 59 (2), 182–191. 10.1080/00405841.2019.1705091

Cooke, B. & Kothari, U. (Eds.) (2001). Participation: The New Tyranny? Zed Books.

Fletcher, A. (2014). The Guide to Student Voice. CommonAction Publishing.

Freeman, R. (2016). Is Student Voice Necessarily Empowering? Problematising Student Voice as a Form of Higher Education Governance. Higher Education Research & Development, 35 (4), 859–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/07 294360.2016.1172764

Hall, V. J. (2020). Reclaiming student voice(s): constituted through process or embedded in practice? Cambridge Journal of Education, 50 (1), 125–144. 10.1080/0305764X.2019.1652247

Harper, D. (2000). Students as Change Agents: The Generation Y Model. Generation Y.

Helsingin yliopisto. University of Helsinki. https://www.helsinki.fi/

Lyons, L., Brasof, M. (2020). Building the capacity for student leadership in high school: a review of organizational mechanisms from the field of student voice. Journal of Educational Administration, 58 (3), 357–372. 10.1108/JEA-05-2019-0077

McCulloch, A. (2009). The Student as co-producer: learning from public administration about the student-university relationship. Studies in Higher Education, 34 (2), 171–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070802562857

Mendes, A. B., Hammett, D. (2020). The new tyranny of student participation? Student voice and the paradox of strategic-active student-citizens. Teaching in Higher Education. 10.1080/13562517.2020.1783227 National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute». https://kpi.ua/

Nelson, E., Charteris, J. (2020). Student voice research as a technology of reform in neoliberal times. Pedagogy, Culture and Society. 10.1080/14681366.2020.1713867

QS World University Rankings 2020 by Subject (Education). https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/ university-subject-rankings/2020/education-training

Quaglia, R. J. & Corso, M. J. (2014). Student Voice: The Instrument of Change. Corwin Press.

Quaglia, R. J. (2015). Student Voice: Ensuring a Sense of Self-Worth for Your Students. Corwin Press.

Templeton, L., Smith, A. & MacCracken, A. A. (2019). Study on Student Voice in Higher Education. Diversity & Democracy, 22 (1). https://www.aacu.org/diversitydemocracy/2019/winter/templeton.

The Glossary of Education Reform for journalists, parents, and community members (2013). https://www.edglossary. org/student-voice/

Tyrrell, J., Varnham, S. (2015). The student voice in university decision-making. In Varnham S., Kamvounias, P. & Squelch, J. (Eds.), Higher Education and the Law, (pp. 30–40). The Federation Press.

University College London. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/

Williams, R. (2008). Valuing the Student Voice – Evidence from the UK. EURASHE. https://www.eurashe.eu/ library/ia-4-williams-pdf/

Young, H. & Jerome, L. (2020). Student voice in higher education: Opening the loop. British Educational Research Journal, 46 (3), 688–705. 10.1002/berj.3603

Downloads

Published

2020-11-01

How to Cite

Bulvinska, O., & Chervona, L. (2020). STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN QUALITY ASSUARANCE AT UNIVERSITY. Continuing Professional Education: Theory and Practice, (3), 95–101. https://doi.org/10.28925/1609-8595.2020.3.11

Issue

Section

QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ITS EXPERT SUPPORT: THE EU EXPERIENCE