Student Voice as Partnership, Not Extraction

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Who helps decide what a teaching-and-learning study asks, and who interprets its answers? Alice Brown and Megan Kimber argue that students should contribute to these decisions as knowledgeable partners.

The paper’s argument

This is a conceptual critique of scholarship of teaching and learning, rather than a new experiment measuring the effect of student partnership. The authors question approaches in which researchers define the problem and students primarily supply data.

They discuss Students as Partners, co-design and students as co-researchers, drawing on existing examples and educational theory. Their concern includes power: who defines worthwhile knowledge, whose perspectives are missing, and whether students can influence the inquiry.

The paper does not demand the abandonment of surveys or interviews. It calls for reconsidering how such methods are framed and who shapes them. Its case for more democratic inquiry should be read as an argued methodological and ethical position, not a quantified guarantee of improved outcomes.

An editorial application

Before starting a feedback project, agree with students which decisions they can influence. Include opportunities to question the interpretation of themes and explain how priorities will be chosen. Participation also requires realistic support, time and recognition.

A report or dashboard can support these conversations, but producing one does not establish partnership. Document how student contributions affected the question, analysis or resulting decision, including where constraints prevented a proposed change.

Reference

Alice Brown and Megan Kimber. “Repositioning Student Voice and Agency: A Call for the Epistemic Expansion of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Inquiry.” Active Learning in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1177/14697874261426374.

Reviewed 7 September 2026 against the full paper. The revision identifies its conceptual scope and separates the authors’ argument from demonstrated intervention outcomes.