New book chapter: Reclaiming Student Voice through Peer Review of Teaching

Debbie Holley
2 hours ago
2 min read

Our chapter (by the wonderful Dr Jo Thurston) and myself, explores a central tension in contemporary higher education: the growing importance of student voice alongside the risk that it becomes reduced to a compliance-driven exercise. While regulators such as the Office for Students (OfS) require evidence of student engagement, the chapter argues that this has too often led to metric-focused practices (e.g. NSS scores and “You said, we did” responses) that prioritise accountability over authentic partnership. Jo (my lovely co-author) and I position student voice as both ethically essential and operationally complex. On the one hand, it represents a commitment to students as co-creators in their education; on the other, it is frequently instrumentalised as a mechanism for demonstrating compliance. This dual role risks superficial engagement, where feedback is collected but not meaningfully integrated into teaching and learning enhancement.

Against this backdrop, we suggest Peer Observation of Teaching (POT)—specifically when reimagined as Peer Review of Educational Practice (PREP)—as a powerful bridge between quality assurance and genuine quality enhancement. Traditional models of POT have varied from evaluative (linked to performance management) to developmental and peer-led approaches. We advocate strongly for the latter (of course!) : a collegial, dialogic model grounded in trust, reflection, and shared learning. What next? How about HEIs thinking:

Embed student voice within peer review processes - Move beyond surveys by integrating student perspectives directly into teaching observation and feedback cycles (e.g. 360° approaches).
Shift from compliance to enhancement cultures Redesign POT frameworks to prioritise collegial dialogue, formative feedback, and professional learning rather than metrics and audit.
Adopt humanised, strengths-based approaches Use frameworks such as Appreciative Inquiry to foreground inclusive, psychologically safe, and relational learning environments that reflect students’ lived realities. (a new posting about this on its way!)

Thurston, J. and Holley, D. (2025) ‘Peer Review of Teaching: Connecting Voice to Experience’, in Smith, A. (ed.) Enhancing Student Engagement in Higher Education. London: Routledge, pp. 130–140.

Purchase here: https://www.routledge.com/The-Flourishing-Academic-Practicing-with-our-Head-Hand-and-Heart/Devis-Rozental/p/book/9781032939605

and huge thanks to Dr Camila Devis-Rozental for her encouragement and for editing the collection of chapters.