Pedagogical Partners
The Pedagogical Partners program aims to support faculty’s continuous engagement with their pedagogy as they work towards more inclusive, effective teaching. This page was written by our 2024-2025 Student Partners.
Our Work and Mission:
In Pedagogical Partners, students are paired with faculty outside of their subject area and are responsible for attending lectures and observing faculty teaching. Student Partners meet with their Faculty Partner to provide thoughtful reflections, facilitate discussions, and provide resources that will support the goals of the Faculty Partners.
Student Partners offer student perspectives and provide insight to their Faculty Partner, and in return gain insight to the teaching ecosystem at a university level. Together, Partners set goals and reflect on strategies to provide students professional, engaging, inclusive, and research-informed teaching. This develops a classroom culture that will continue to foster mutually beneficial relationships between students and faculty in future years.
UO has engaged in years of dedicated work towards inclusive teaching, yet this process has lacked space for student collaboration. This project gives faculty access to student perspectives by supporting generative dialogue between faculty and students, resulting in reciprocal relationships that betters UO’s learning community.
Our Approach:
At the very foundation of this program are these concepts:
- Students have valuable knowledge of and important perspectives on teaching and learning.
- Student Partners are not subject matter experts.
- Reciprocity in Partnership does not mean exchanging exactly the same thing.
- Faculty Partners do not have to do whatever students say.
- Partnership is not about finding what is wrong and fixing it.
- Pedagogical Partnership is about exchange, not change for the sake of change.
- Partnership is about sharing power, not giving it up or taking it away.
- Partnership is a process, not a product (although it can lead to products)
From Cook-Sather, Alison, Melanie Bahti, and Anita Ntem. 2019. Pedagogical Partnerships. A How-To Guide. p 33-35.
How We Align with UO Teaching Excellence:
UO has identified four broad standards as key to effective teaching at UO: professional, engaged, inclusive, and research-informed. The Pedagogical Partners aligns with and supports faculty in enacting them.
- Professional: Student Partners can give a student perspective on the organization and quality of class materials and activities.
- Inclusive: Student Partners can help identify barriers to student participation and provide insight on methods that help students feel seen in their course and field of study.
- Engaged: Faculty Partners set goals for their own pedagogy, reflect on practices, and engage productive feedback.
- Research-informed: Pedagogical Partnerships will build knowledge about approaches to teaching and learning in a specific course's context.
Fall 2024
We will work to create our foundation as the first cohort of student partners. During weekly meetings, we will decide how to perform observations, debrief observation reflections with faculty partners, and consider lectures with an equity centered outlook. Student and Faculty Partner introductions will take place during week 10 of the term.
Winter 2025
During the winter term, student partners will begin attending the lectures of their faculty partners and holding discussions with their faculty partners. This term will employ the tools and framework student partners developed during the fall term. Student and faculty partnerships for the spring will be determined.
Spring 2025
During the spring term, student and faculty partners will continue their work, building on the past two terms. Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort will open at the beginning of spring term and will close in the middle of the term, with an aim to have the new cohort hired by the end of spring term 2025.
Lucas Eliot
Lucas is a Cultural Anthropology major and History minor graduating in Spring 2025. He is also a Peer Advisor for the GlobalWorks International Internship Program. Outside the classroom Lucas has passion for sport, literature, cooking, and exploring the outdoors. Since moving to Oregon, he has also become a Wildland Firefighter. Through attending various international schools and working at summer camp, Lucas developed a curiosity and interest in pedagogical practice and the ways different approaches to the student-teacher relationship affect learning. As a Pedagogical Partner, he hopes to gain insight into course design and delivery and provide a student perspective in support of fostering a space for engaging and inclusive learning.
Logan Fisher
Logan Fisher (They/Them) is a native Oregonian studying Linguistics and Music at the UO, graduating in 2027 with a double major. During their time at UO, Logan has been involved in many programs including the Oregon Marching Band, Oregon Basketball Band, the Yellow Garter Band where they have been a logistical director, and the Wayne Morse Scholars Program. They also play the French Horn in the university's ensembles. They are also minoring in Spanish and they are passionate about learning languages. Logan is passionate about education and its impact on students. As a product of a dual-language program, they have seen the importance of multicultural education and have been an advocate for diversity in the classroom ever since. They are also an advocate for underrepresented voices in the classroom, especially LGBTQ+ voices.
Kaydyn Guelsdor
Kaydyn Guelsdorf is a student in the Clark Honors College, majoring in multidisciplinary science and minoring in science communication, planning to graduate in spring 2026. Outside of the classroom, Kaydyn enjoys being outdoors, reading, and spending time with her friends. Throughout her time at the University of Oregon, Kaydyn has been involved in Class Encore and Pi Beta Phi sorority. Kaydyn is interested in understanding positive pedagogical practices and their implementation into the classroom. From the pedagogical partners program, she hopes to gain new perspectives about teaching and learning from faculty partners, through beneficial and reflective dialogue. Kaydyn's desire to learn from faculty about the formulation and execution of their curriculum, and how research-based practices can be employed in the classroom, drew her to becoming a Student Partner.
Patrick Alemán Henslee
Patrick Alemán Henslee (he/him) is a Comparative Literature and English major at UO expected to graduate June 2025. He is also a McNair Scholar and a Peer Academic Coach at the Tutoring and Academic Engagement Center. In his free time, Patrick likes to read short stories and essays, watch movies he hasn’t yet seen, or cook something delicious with his loved ones. As a Student Partner in the Pedagogical Partner Program, Patrick hopes to learn what elements instructors consider when they design their courses and navigate their classrooms in higher education, as well as how they plan for and respond to a diversity of student needs.
Lydia Lewis
Lydia Lewis is an Environmental Studies major with minors in Landscape Architecture and Earth Sciences graduating in fall of 2024. Both in and out of academics, Lydia has a huge passion for the outdoors and loves to share her excitement. She has been working with young students for over 5 years now and hopes to continue inspiring younger generations through exploration and investigation! Through the Environmental Leadership Program, Lydia took an education theory in practice course in which she learned valuable skills in pedagogical methods and strategies to support efficient, inclusive, and multidimensional learning. Though her experience is established with younger students she is super curious to see how that evolves with adult students. She is confident that this program has transformed both her professional communication and pedagogical strategies that she will continue exercising as she strives toward a career in environmental education.
Hannah Shriver
Hannah (she/her) is a student in the Clark Honors College majoring in environmental studies with minors in psychology and ethics expected to graduate in June 2025. Born and raised in Oregon, Hannah enjoys spending time outdoors, reading, and knitting. During her time at the University of Oregon, Hannah has been involved with the Craft Center, Student Orientation Programs, and the Student Sustainability Center. As a Student Pedagogical Partner, Hannah is interested in learning about the implementation of pedagogy through connecting with Faculty Partners. She also hopes to share her knowledge about access and impact on students with faculty in order to give back to the university.
Kai Schrosk
Kai Schrosk studies journalism, anthropology, and science communication at the University of Oregon expecting to graduate in June 2025. During his time at the University Kai has gotten involved in various environmental justice and social justice movements, in which he has learned how vital good communication truly is. Kai deeply values spending time in the natural world and with his community. He grew up in a small town where he got the opportunity to experience generative and mutually beneficial learning communities. Kai is interested in using communication to build bridges to mutual understanding, instead of building walls in defense.
Join us
Stay tuned for updates about our 25-26 Pedagogical Partners applications. We hope you’ll join us in partnering towards a new kind of support for teaching and learning.