This is the final blog post in our three-part series reflecting on our student-faculty partnership in a lifespan development course that’s focused on our university’s new Advancing Equity Requirement. Our partnership was built on Elon’s Teaching and Learning Apprenticeships and Pedagogical Partnership Program. 

Our partnership offered a rich milieu to explore pedagogical questions around sharing power with students, content related to social justice and equity, and students’ engagement in their own learning. In the literature, partnerships challenge traditional hierarchies, prompt students’ reflection and ability to act on their own agency in shaping their educational experiences, and can renew students’ engagement and motivation for learning (Cook-Sather, Bovill, and Felten 2014; Felten and Kupatadze 2026). In this sense, our course and partnership had several overlapping goals.  

Introducing Stages of Reflective Judgement

Sabrina L. Perkins: Throughout the term, I tried to underscore that teaching and learning are not neutral processes (see Boler 1999; hooks 1994). Inevitably, teachers teach in ways that are informed by their own experiences and perspectives and write assignments and select course materials based on their own preferences. Students, too, receive and engage with material in ways that are shaped by their own interests and experiences. None of this is neutral, and that is okay.  

In the course, I explained that by explicitly communicating this to students (rather than pretending I am neutral), I was trying to help them feel empowered to actively make sense of their own learning. Research on student-faculty partnerships has characterized them as relational spaces where radical resistance to oppressive institutional environments may emerge (Mercer-Mapstone and Abbot 2020).   

In centering racial equity in the course, we strongly considered developmental psychology research on reflective judgment in college students. We develop reflective judgment as we learn to reason about the world (e.g., current affairs, relationships, religion, science, etc.; Please see Table 1 for an overview; King and Kitchener 2004). Early in the term, we introduced the idea of reflective judgment to the course, and we student-faculty partners frequently talked about it as we debriefed and discussed class happenings.  

Stage	Brief Description	Example
Pre-reflective thought  (common in high school and first-year college students)	Students value their own observations but may also be used to learning from authority figures such as teachers or parents. They often view knowledge as certain, believe authority figures have the “right” answer, and hold firm positions on controversial issues.	“I don’t believe racial discrimination exists anymore because I’ve never seen it.”  “My father always emphasized that hard workis the way to succeed. I don’t have White privilege because my family has worked hard for everything we have.”
Quasi-reflective thought  (most common in college students ranging from sophomores to seniors)	Upon encountering many different perspectives in college (from authority figures and peers), students may become overwhelmed with information. They are more likely to believe that knowledge is subjective and withdraw from trying to persuade others of their position.	“All I know is I am entitled to my perspective of my rights and freedom and other people are entitled to theirs.”   “I know my experience as a White student is different from someone else’s, but it’s hard to know whose perspective is more accurate.”
Reflective judgment  (most common at the graduate level)	With gains in knowledge and critical thinking skills, students begin to understand that people construct knowledge using careful analysis of evidence and many points of view. They accept that new evidence can change knowledge.	“My understanding of racial equity has changed as I’ve examined historical policies, current data, and perspectives from people with different lived experiences. My views are still evolving as I encounter new evidence.”

Our observations were consistent with the literature; a majority of students seemed to show pre-reflective judgment, finding more comfort in engaging with and discussing well-structured questions (i.e., a “correct” answer), rather than ill-structured problems, which could be answered in better or worse ways with differing evidence. Ella regularly noticed this in her observations.  

Of course, simply learning about the stages of reflective judgment is not enough to support its development. Rather, extensive training in a field is often necessary to develop relevant reflective judgment capacities. But there are ways students can build and practice the skills necessary for reflective judgment, such as reflecting on their own assumptions, discussing and engaging with issues with classmates who hold different perspectives, practicing interpreting and using evidence, and hearing feedback from others on their reasoning about issues.  

We frequently discussed ways to foster students’ reflective judgment skills, such as prompt-based reflections or open-ended vignettes to facilitate deeper thought, which could not be answered with simple summarization. While many students attempted to engage with these activities, they often neglected to use evidence-based materials and instead generated responses based on their own ideas. This often meant they were not engaging deeply with the concepts and regularly concluded their work after only a brief portion of the allotted time. Olivia and I frequently visited smaller groups to facilitate deeper discussion and offered heavy guidance to help students engage with course materials and scientific evidence.  

In addition, important factors related to racial identity development were at play throughout the term. Our university is a Predominately White Institution (PWI), and our class makeup was also largely White. While many students engaged thoughtfully with the content and assignments, we each noted several instances where students resisted engaging with content related to the Advancing Equity Requirement (AER) components of the course, and this was a frequent challenge throughout the whole term.  

Prior research shows there are multiple reasons why students may resist learning about systemic racism, including identity fragility or threat-avoidance (e.g., “If racism benefits me, are you saying I am a bad person?”; Boler 1999), cognitive dissonance or limited experience (e.g., “my prior world view about equal opportunity is shattered”), or feeling overwhelmed, dismissive, or anxious (e.g., “I’d rather say nothing than accidentally hurt someone’s feelings”; Helms 1990, Singh 2019).  

Facilitating Reflective Growth

We wanted to prompt students to share their candid concerns, but were mindful of how negative attitudes can quickly spread in a classroom through peer influence and shared complaining. We opted to solicit feedback in anonymous forms (as described in Cook-Sather, Bahti, and Ntem 2019), but that approach limited our ability to offer individualized support. Regardless, several students shared feedback with us in one-on-one conversations.  

For example, one student asked if they could do their project on a different topic besides racialized experiences (in short, the answer was no), another asked for help with knowing what to write about on an identity reflection as a straight White man (his predicament was in fact information that he could use to gain insight about how his identities shaped his experience in the world), another student shared with us that they had heard other students complain about AER components of the course, and some White students rejected personal low-stakes invitations to meet with the instructor to talk about their thoughts and experiences.  

To facilitate our reflection on these situations, we partners decided to explore the literature on challenges others have encountered in teaching courses centered on racial equity and justice (we described the utility of this approach in student-faculty partnerships in an earlier post; see also Cook-Sather, Bahti, and Ntem 2019). We read an article on White students’ emotional resistance to talking and learning about racial justice (Ozias 2023). In many ways, we noticed parallels between our earlier observations about reflective judgement and White students’ discomfort and resistance.

Some students were being challenged to reexamine their own learned beliefs and perspectives (possibly from a state of pre-reflective judgment). Further, they were perhaps realizing that “seeing things differently” from others is actually a choice that has the potential to cause suffering and violence to others (quasi-reflective judgment; Boler 1999; King and Kitchener 2004). In hindsight, there are a few ways we could have capitalized on our unique partnerships to potentially improve students’ experiences in our AER course.  

What Might We Do Differently? 

Sabrina: I thought it was extremely beneficial to discuss the article with Olivia and Ella, as I realized there was more work I needed to do in the future to grapple with White students’ emotions acting as potential barriers to their learning about racial justice (Ozias, 2023). I will need to better prepare myself, any student partners, and students in the course for discomfort. How could future versions of the course acknowledge but not recenter focus on White students’ emotional discomfort, or disregard or minimize the experiences of racially marginalized students (see Applebaum 2017)? 

We found ourselves wanting to know more about students’ subjective or more emotional experiences in the course. For example, what were students’ initial responses to assignment instructions? And further, as a pedagogical partner, Ella was trained to conduct behavioral observations of the class environment, but some of the questions we had about students’ experiences may have been better answered in other ways.  

Ella Negley: In this context, we believe the work of a Pedagogical Partner could be expanded from behavioral observation to more opportunities for smaller group conversations about students’ assignments, or the creation of anonymous surveys to gauge their personal thoughts, learning process, or individual work. Limited research has described how a pedagogical partner may do this work, but we think it could be an effective avenue for future research, especially for courses and goals such as ours (Cook-Sather, Bahti, and Ntem 2019).  

Sabrina: At the end of the term, we asked students to share feedback on whether they interacted with either of the student partners in the course, why or why not, and if they would share ways they thought each partner’s work or efforts affected their experience. While many reported interacting with Olivia and perceived benefit from her contributions, students reported feeling or experiencing little to no effect of Ella’s presence or work throughout the term, and some students’ anonymous responses suggested they may have viewed her in an adversarial way.  

For example, some students commented on Ella’s weekly observations that she was “never in class” compared to Olivia’s more common attendance, and some expressed discomfort with being observed, or complained about Ella’s effectiveness as a partner when they felt dissatisfied with aspects of the course that did not change throughout the term (e.g., the format of the course). I felt this was very surprising and disappointing, given how much energy and thought Ella put into her work. I wondered whether students viewed Ella as more of a support role for, or an extension of me, but viewed Olivia more as a support for them.  

The literature on student-faculty partnership programming has clearly differentiated roles of pedagogical partners and TLAs: TLAs generally have prior content knowledge they can use to support students in the course, whereas oftentimes, pedagogical partners do not, so they can focus more intensely on questions around pedagogy (Cook-Sather, Bahti, and Ntem 2019). To our knowledge, the literature has not addressed challenges like those we faced in how students in a course perceive and respond to the different roles of student partners, which we think could be a fruitful direction for future research.   

Ella: If I were to participate in this partnership again, I believe it would have been more impactful to discuss my notes and observations with the students so they could better understand my role and their own contributions to the course. When Dr. Perkins and I collaborated on things like feedback forms about activities or assignments, she sometimes pointed it out in class, but it seemed like these highlights were not sufficient. I could have shown them my classroom maps, their presence and engagement, how many faces I saw looking up at the professor and not at their screens, etc.  

If I were able to discuss these observations with students, it would hopefully prompt them to understand how they take up space in the classroom and what impact they have on their own and others’ learning. I would also consider ways to provide more frequent reminders about when they could reach out to me, and how to make myself seem more like a visible partner helping with the classroom environment rather than an observer. 

Olivia Guarino:  I found that my time in the classroom was useful, and thankfully many students felt the same way. If I had the opportunity to serve in this role again, I would want to shift from taking a reactive approach, in which Ella’s observations would inform our plan of action for the upcoming week. Instead, I would want to spend more time proactively and preemptively reviewing course activities and assignments and providing feedback to Dr. Perkins about students’ possible reactions and perceptions. Informed by my own experiences as a student, I think this would have strengthened my relationship with the students and ultimately increased engagement in the course.  

Wrapping Up 

Ella: What made this partnership so unique was the dynamic we cultivated as equals; we let each other in on a personal level to provide and receive feedback. As partners, we talked through many challenges throughout the semester, and my observations taught me that students share an equal responsibility with the professor in creating the classroom environment.

I learned about what it feels like to stand at the front of the classroom and wait for a group of students to respond, and I learned firsthand what silence can do to a classroom dynamic, not from the students’ side, but the professor’s. This taught me about empathy, and I am indubitably a better student for it. I have a lot of gratitude for everything I learned as a student and everything I gained as a partner over this past semester working with Dr. Perkins. As a student, I will remember that going forward. 

Olivia: This partnership was especially meaningful because it allowed me to experience the course from two perspectives. I was first a student in Dr. Perkins’ Lifespan Development class, where I genuinely loved the course and the engaging, supportive classroom environment that was created. Returning as a TLA gave me the unique opportunity to see the thought, care, and intentionality that goes into her teaching. Working alongside Dr. Perkins and Ella provided me with a new appreciation for the challenges and rewards of fostering an inclusive learning environment. 

Sabrina: While we faced many challenges in the classroom in our time together, there was a hidden benefit. As I reflected on all our debriefing and planning conversations, and some of our shared frustrations and triumphs, it is clear we were truly working together on a shared goal while bringing each of our own perspectives, expertise, and insights to the fold. I personally felt impressed and so inspired and appreciative of Olivia and Ella for their ideas and contributions. I found so much enjoyment and fulfillment working as a team with them, when so much of my typical reflections on pedagogy happen on my own or with faculty colleagues. I think we worked very well together as partners in a way that was mutually respectful and collaborative.  

I know even though our work together only lasted a few months and I was unable to implement large-scale changes, my course and pedagogy will be positively influenced by what I learned from them in the long-term (which aligns with the literature emphasizing student partnerships as more process- rather than product-focused; Cook-Sather, Bovill, and Felten 2014). Many of the changes I will make because of our collaboration are in the works for future iterations of the course.  

In sum, our student-faculty partnership experience provides some evidence that investing time in building a collaborative relationship can not only foster learning and growth for everyone involved but also inspire longer term improvements in pedagogy.  

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References 

Applebaum, Barbara. 2017. “Comforting Discomfort as Complicity: White Fragility and the Pursuit of Invulnerability.” Hypatia 32 (4): 862–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12352. 

Boler, Megan. 1999. “A Pedagogy of Discomfort: Witnessing and the Politics of Anger and Fear.” In Feeling Power: Emotions and Education. Routledge. 175-203. 

Cook-Sather, Alison, Melanie Bahti, and Anita Ntem. 2019. Pedagogical Partnerships: A How-To Guide for Faculty, Students, and Academic Developers in Higher Education. Elon, NC: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa1. 

Cook-Sather, Alison, Cathy Bovill, and Peter Felten. 2014.  Engaging Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching: A Guide for Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Felten, Peter, and Ketevan Kupatadze. 2026. Students as Partners. Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/resources/students-as-partners/ 

Helms, Janet E. 1990.  Black and White Racial Identity: Theory, Research, and Practice. Greenwood Press. 

hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge. 

King, Patricia M., and Karen Strohm Kitchener. 2004. “Reflective Judgment: Theory and Research on the Development of Epistemic Assumptions Through Adulthood.” Educational Psychologist 39 (1): 5–18. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3901_2. 

Mercer-Mapstone, Lucy, and Sophia Abbot. 2020. The Power of Partnership: Students, Staff, and Faculty Revolutionizing Higher Education. Elon, NC: Elon University Center for Engaged Learning. https://doi.org/10.36284/celelon.oa2. 

Singh, Anneliese A. 2019. The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing. New Harbinger Publications. 

See also: 

Luschen, Kristen, Sarah Bunnell, Riley Caldwell-O’Keefe, and Eugene Lee. 2026. “A Dyadic Analysis of Pedagogical Partnerships: Exploring Alignment and Misalignment in Students-As-Partners Relationships”. International Journal for Students as Partners 10 (1):70-91. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v10i1.6783. 

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About the Authors 

Sabrina L. Perkins is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Elon University and served as a seminar leader for CEL’s 2023-2025 research seminar on Mentoring Meaningful Learning Experiences. She has several publications and presentations on teaching and mentoring in higher education and has received awards for teaching excellence.  

Olivia Guarino is a recent graduate from Elon University with a B.A. in Psychology. She is currently seeking research opportunities before she plans to pursue graduate study in Clinical Psychology where she hopes to combine her passion for psychology and student-centered teaching.  

Ella Negley is a rising Junior studying Mathematical Statistics B.S. and Data Analytics A.B. at Elon University. Ella recently completed a research assistantship at the Learning Research Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, focusing on a scoping review of the provision process in providing feedback. After graduation, Ella plans to continue studying mathematics with a financial scope at the master’s level. 

How to Cite This Post 

Perkins, Sabrina L., Olivia Guarino, and Ella Negley. 2026. “Part 3: Reflection on Student-Faculty Partnership and Collective Observations on Racial Equity in Lifespan Development Curriculum.” Center for Engaged Learning (blog). Elon University. November 3, 2026. https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/part-3-reflection-on-student-faculty-partnership-and-collective-observations-on-racial-equity-in-lifespan-development-curriculum/.