Student as co-producer in a marketised higher education system: a case study of students’ experience of participation in curriculum design

Abstract

Student engagement is an expectation of UK quality enhancement processes. It is not without its challenges in a marketised higher education sector where students are increasingly treated as consumers of an educational product. Nowhere is this more the case than in curriculum development. This encompasses engagement in learning and teaching, in identity and in governance. As such, it demands a lot of both students and tutors. This paper reports a case study of student participation in curriculum development. Analysis of data from students who were involved in the process, complemented by information from students who did not engage, suggests that meaningful engagement requires a revision of the culture and processes of university curriculum decision making. Moreover, it concludes that engagement needs to be a consistent part of the student experience and not just an activity that occurs in a particular quality enhancement activity such as curriculum design.

Keywords:

• student engagement
• curriculum
• consumerisation
• marketisation
• student participation
• co-production

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Higher Education Academy. The author would like to thank the students who participated and Professor Paul Trowler of Lancaster University for his helpful comments on an earlier draft.