It's more than just internships, placements, and guest lecturers: Partnership pedagogy in practice

Abstract

Partnership pedagogy is a teaching and learning approach that brings academics, students, and external industry partners together to collaborate on meaningful projects, bridging the gap between academic theory and real-world practice. It involves a genuine and purposeful relationship with an industry partner or partners that extends beyond internships and placements. This paper examines implementing and evaluating this pedagogical approach within an undergraduate business school context. While our focus remains within a sport management program of study, we suggest that this approach and its outcomes be adapted and applied to other disciplines. In this paper, we examine the benefits of meaningful engagement with industry before highlighting four different approaches to course content creation. Our paper is grounded in experiential learning theory to explore the outcomes and impact of partnership pedagogy on the student experience. Analysis of data from student-led focus groups, interviews with industry staff, and qualitative feedback from final-year sport management students revealed that, despite their experiences being embedded in industry, students did not always recognise them as industry engagement. Consequently, we argue that while investing in innovative methods such as partnership pedagogy holds the potential to enhance student success, it must explicitly link academic learning with the accompanying development of professional skills. This will ensure that students reflect on this symbiotic relationship's tangible and discernible benefits.