‘Starting Strong’: A critical reflection of the complexities of orienting students in higher education

Navigating any new environment can be stressful and confronting. For students in widening participation programs, orientation into the higher education environment can bring additional challenges potentially not considered nor adequately addressed by educators. This paper explores my own critical reflections as an academic in widening participation through the lens of my development and leadership of an orientation initiative – ‘Starting Strong’ – within an Australian enabling program. Through my involvement in the Centre for Excellence in Equity in Higher Education (CEEHE) Writing Program at the University of Newcastle, I was gifted time and a critical friend to explore my own perspectives and approaches to this initiative, underpinning this with theories of enabling pedagogy. Through this process I was emboldened to recognise that whilst the concept of commencing students being ‘on a journey’ is a well-worn metaphor, attention to the role of the educator on this journey must not go unexamined. As educators who commonly adopt the role of the ‘mentor’ within the ‘Hero’s Journey’ of our students (Campbell, 1949), we need time and space to interrogate the initiatives such as ‘Starting Strong’, to ensure that such interventions, designed to help students navigate and negotiate their new environment, do not unwittingly reproduce the structural inequalities inherent in higher education.