Pedagogical Partnership as a Subversive Activity: A Phenomenological Case Study

The significant benefits to students of working collaboratively with faculty, increasingly conceptualized as Students as Partners (SaP), and focused on aspects of teaching and learning through pedagogical partnerships, are well documented, yet these practices typically occur on a small scale. SaP practitioners and scholars have proposed SaP as a way of transforming higher education into an inclusive and authentic community of learning and called for building a broader partnership ethos to achieve transformation. However, the resistance demonstrated by some faculty uncertain about rethinking the roles and responsibilities of teacher and learner creates a barrier to the increased and ongoing faculty participation that would allow expansion. SaP facilitators attempting to assist faculty in overcoming their resistance require a nuanced understanding of faculty experiences to build a base of evidence for advocacy for broader participation and to provide meaningful support through what has been described as a transformative process. Yet systematic explorations of faculty experiences in SaP are underrepresented in the literature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore faculty experiences of pedagogical partnership, one specific form of SaP, and the contexts that shape them. The results of this study inform the work of those facilitating SaP programs, providing the information on which they can build support for their faculty participants. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]