Our changing world requires us to think differently and in ever more complex ways. As scientists, critical thinking is a vital tool for us to weigh up empirical evidence, make informed judgements and generate changes that can make a real difference. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, profound global political instability is coupled with spiralling social, economic and health inequalities. The key question is: how are we preparing students to be agents of change?
Student-staff partnerships represent more socially just and democratic approaches to educational practice, as they can disrupt traditional power dynamics and make space for dialogue, critical discourse and enhanced student agency. The process of collaboration itself shows that collective enquiry, where knowledge is co-constructed and shaped actively by students and staff, generates the most sustainable and impactful outcomes. Through co-creation, students can participate as genuine partners in curriculum design, cultivating essential skills such as problem-solving, independence, critical curiosity and the capacity to exercise authority.
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Here are three approaches through which academics can actively engage students as partners in transforming their classroom environments, while also giving them the tools to cultivate change in the future.
1. Co-creation to disrupt power dynamics and foster dialogue
Consider the dynamics between students and with teachers in the classroom. The University of Westminster Student Partnership Framework offers a starting point, with reflective questions for staff to address power in the classroom. To create a more democratic learning space, co-create values of working in partnership in the classroom. This can be done using a word-cloud, which will help surface shared priorities and make visible the diversity of voices in the room.
By doing this, we can make the classroom a democratic space where we negotiate our values, instead of having them imposed upon us. This allows all participants to experience what it means to contribute to and shape a community. Disrupting power dynamics is also about getting to know one another more deeply.
Icebreaker activities, when framed through co-creation, increase our knowledge about each other and what matters to each of us. This can help students and staff break down barriers, share their personal experiences and find common ground.
Activities like these are more than trivial warm-ups, they’re democratic acts. They give equal weight to diverse perspectives, enable students to practise listening and negotiation, and model how dialogue can be a tool for change.
2. Co-enquiry of real-world examples
Co-creation is not just about values, but about knowledge itself. Rather than giving students finished answers, co-devise the questions with them and treat research as a shared endeavour. This shifts the dynamic from knowledge transmission to knowledge construction, where both students and teachers learn from the process.
In our Critical Thinking in a Changing World module, we built a toolkit of questioning and analysis skills, but asked students to apply them to real-world cases of racism and health inequality. Each week, students generated their own questions about the case in question, leading discussions with their peers and tutors.
Assessments were also co-created, including a podcast where students interviewed members of the public about the issue.
As a result, students reported feeling like partners in the learning process, more confident discussing difficult topics and better able to apply critical thinking beyond the classroom. They experienced first-hand how democratic dialogue, rather than pre-packaged answers, can generate the habits of critical citizenship and change-making.
3. Create space for students to contribute to assessment design
One practical way to do this is the co-creation of a marking rubric. For example, give students a past rubric with key terms removed, then work together to fill in the blanks. Ask questions such as “What would make this answer excellent rather than good?”. This helps to break down ambiguous terminology, makes expectations transparent and invites students to question the assumptions embedded into assessment.
Students can also contribute to designing coursework titles or proposing the topics they want to explore. Asking them “What matters to you?” reframes assessment from being just a measure of attainment into an opportunity for ownership, dialogue and creativity.
There are several examples of how this work can be undertaken in the classroom. Involving students in these processes increases transparency. But it also helps them develop the critical skills to interrogate standards, negotiate meaning and advocate for their perspectives. These are the essential capacities for cultivating change makers in and beyond the classroom.
Moonisah Usman is senior lecturer in critical urban health at the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation, University of Westminster.
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