The potential of student narratives to enhance quality in higher education

Abstract

University policies are increasingly developed with reference to students' learning experiences, with a focus on the concept of the 'student voice'. Yet the 'student voice' is difficult to define, and emphasis is often placed on numerical performance indicators. A diverse student population has wide-ranging educational experiences, which may not be easily captured within the broad categories provided by traditional survey tools, which can drown out the rich, varied and gradual processes of individual development. There is no single tool which can be used to measure students' experiences. This paper draws on findings from four narrative inquiry studies, carried out in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, to illustrate how a narrative approach could be used to complement performance indicators. This provides a richer context for educators' understanding of students' experiences and for supporting and setting institutional agendas.

Challenging the deficit discourse: Insight from university staff about first-generation students in South Africa and the United Kingdom

“…Staff-student relationships are an important influence on students' learning (Crossman, 2007;Oldfield, Rodwell, Curry & Marks, 2017;Picton, Kahu & Nelson, 2018), and teaching staff need to be the drivers of cultural change in universities. The authors' previous research on the experiences of first-generation students has demonstrated that academic staff play a key role in shaping the academic environment and in creating spaces where all students feel welcome (Hamshire, Forsyth, Bell, Benton, Kelly-Laubscher, Paxton & Wolfgramm-Foliaki, 2017;Hamshire, Forsyth & Player, 2018). Tanner and Allen (2007) suggest that lecturers can create more inclusive environments by being culturally competent.…”

Story Completion: Storying as a Method of Meaning-Making and Discursive Discovery

“…However, story completion still remains a relatively unkown qualitative method, and within the literature today, there exist only a limited number of published qualitative story completion studies as detailed above. Furthermore, these studies largely exist within the disciplines of psychology and feminist theory, and a literature search found no published studies that employed story completion as a method within the author's home discipline of educational research, although interesting research exploring the potential of students' stories via narrative inquiry methods exists within this area (for example, Hamshire et al, 2017). In addition, Clarke, Hayfield, Moller, and Tischner (2017, p. 9) write that "story completion offers scope for methodological innovation" and that "qualitative researchers have only recently begun to fully explore the possibilities that story completion offers."…”

Shape-shifting and pushing against the odds: staff perceptions of the experiences of first generation students in South Africa and the UK

“…Despite an increase in their admissions to university, they are one of the student cohorts most likely to depart higher education early (Pascarella et al 2004;Tinto 2006). Research in South Africa and the UK has highlighted that some students, especially those who are first generation, do not feel that they belong at university (Hamshire et al 2012(Hamshire et al , 2013(Hamshire et al , 2017(Hamshire et al , 2018Laubscher-Kelly et al 2018). In addition to the challenges of inclusion and belonging for so-called 'non-traditional' students, there has been wide critique of the effectiveness of the higher education sector in terms of its ability to deliver social mobility (Archer et al 2002;Hall 2012;Smit 2012).…”