Empowering Learners: A Student Partnership Creating Spaces for Learning
Griffith is launching Empowering Learners, a new initiative promoting student mental health and well being through a Students as Partners approach. It is designed to prioritise the student voice and empower learners, and will provide a great opportunity to develop leadership and other transferable skills thus making students more employable. A key goal of the project is to help students build their own networks as they become engaged in the design and delivery of curriculum.
The project will promote student mental wellbeing through the design of effective learning environments that support student agency and empowerment, both within and external to the curriculum. By exploring the holistic experience of students, it will work out how to best partner with students to support their sense of belonging, autonomy, competence and purpose. That support is geared to develop student confidence in learning within and beyond Griffith. For students, getting involved with Empowering Learners gives you the opportunity to enhance your learning experience and strengthen your leadership skills on the job, while also influencing the way Griffith University supports all learners.
To achieve these outcomes, the project will be designed with and directed by students with support from staff. Stage 1 of the project will harness the student voice to develop a series of projects to address identified core learning needs. Students will work with staff to:
- Build and promote a collaboration site for the student voice, using Microsoft Office 365 applications such as SharePoint, Teams, Yammer
- Co-create an online platform for students and staff from across disciplines to come together to explore their learning journey and experiences of learning
- Lead a learning and teaching policy advocacy group
- Create new mental health and wellbeing resources for Griffith students
- Participate in a Work Integrated Learning opportunity tgriugh development of a suite of focused mini- projects generated from student feedback
- Manage a Sprint Team developing new curriculum
- Design a competition where students visually present their learning experience
Stage 2 of the project will work to further integrate approaches to building self-regulation and resilience throughout the curriculum. Both stages of the project focus on working with students to shape the design and delivery of curriculum to include wellbeing as a central component of curriculum design.
Griffith is now calling on students to become involved with Empowering Learners. Your involvement will not only benefit Griffith students collectively, and the University, it will also benefit you individually. Involvement will enhance your own learning experience. You will strengthen your leadership, communication, and networking skills. You’ll be able to update your CV with innovative projects that showcase your collaborative skills, and you can then impress future employers with demonstrated expertise in project management.
To register your interest, please contact Michelle Whitford on m.whitford@griffith.edu.au and include the area you’re interested in, for example:
Supporting other students
Curriculum design
Policy advocacy
Communication and promotion among student communities
Marketing
Work Integrated Learning
Highlighting diverse student perspectives
Network development
and many others….