International Summer Institute on Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching

We are now full for the Change Institute element of the Summer Institute, which is being held at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada from 8-11 May 2017.  We have 8 teams from 6 different countries participating for the Change Institute.  Places remain for the two workshops and the writing retreat elements on a first come first served basis. The early bird rate is open until 31 March.  After that, we will continue to accept registrations if places remain available until 30^th April. If you are interested in participating, please reserve your place by registering as soon as possible at: https://www.regonline.ca/registration/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1940996

The overall aim of the International Summer Institute is to build the capacity and understanding of faculty, staff, and students to develop, design, implement, and disseminate initiatives that promote the practice of students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education.

Over 100 staff/faculty and students participated last year in roughly equal numbers. Here are some comments from participants:

“By far the most beneficial and enjoyable aspects … were the networking opportunities which led to collaboration and collective knowledge building. The international nature of these discussions really helped me to reconsider my assumptions about partnership.”

“Thanks for this most challenging and rewarding experience, a very inspiring three days! We very much appreciated both the balance between systematic impetus, drawing on the community present and focusing on our own issues.” 

Staff and Faculty are encouraged, where possible, to bring a student with them, or students to bring a member of staff/faculty with them to participate in:

• One or two consecutive two-day interactive workshops; or
• A 3.5 day writing retreat

The activities will be facilitated by a highly experienced international team of staff/faculty and students from Australia, Canada, US and UK.
One of the outcomes of last year’s Summer Institute was the establishment of the International Journal for Students as Partners (https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/ijsap), which publishes research articles, case studies, reflective essays and opinion pieces.  It is run, like the Summer Institute, by an international team of faculty/staff and students.
For further details and booking please go to: https://macblog.mcmaster.ca/summer-institute/.

Here are some further comments from last year’s participants:

“The inclusion of student partners was terrific and essential.  I wish we could have brought a student or two.  The time to simply plan in a context with stimulation, structure, and feedback was so valuable.” 
“The best thing about the Institute was having a chance to work with students and teachers from around the world and seeing the way they do things at their universities was really enlightening.”   
“Overall, I found the institute to be an eye-opening experience. As a student, it allowed me to learn from perspectives of those that I don’t often hear from (professors, educational developers, curriculum developers), and provided me with a growing sense of agency over my own education.”

Key Dates & Deadlines

• 31 March 2017: Early Bird Registration deadline
• 30 April 2017: Regular Registration deadline
• 8-11 May 2017: Institute

Professor Mick Healey BA PhD NTF PFHEA