Addressing diversity in higher education: two models for facilitating student engagement and mastery

Abstract

[Abstract]: This paper introduces new ways of thinking about diversity in higher education. The 'deficit-discourse shift' challenges the deficit approaches that perceive the increasing diversity of the student body as a problem, or deficit. The shift conceptualises the university as a culture encompassing a multiplicity of sub-cultures, each with its own discourse or literacy. Students' transition to the new university culture can then be seen as the processes of becoming familiar with and engaging these multiple literacies and discourses, and perseverance as the processes of mastering and demonstrating them. These processes are illustrated in a model, the 'Framework for Student Engagement and Mastery'. An additional model, the 'Model for Student Success Practices at University', presents three practical, dynamic strategies that assist unfamiliar students to achieve this engagement. The three practices include reflective practice, socio-cultural practice and critical practice. Used together, the two models aid students to more effectively engage and master the multiple discourses and literacies they encounter in the university culture.