Abstract
Student engagement in institutional governance and curriculum development is an important and valued aspect of higher education (HE). In the UK, changes to funding and quality assurance arrangements have led to concerns that a consumerist model is developing, with implied changes to the relationship between students and universities. The National Union of Students has responded by calling for reframing these relationships as communities of practice (Streeting and Wise 2009) and more recently as a clearly defined partnership (Wenstone 2012). This article applies the notion of communities of practice (Wenger 2001) to one aspect of student governance, through a project that revitalised the way one university faculty worked with student representatives (O’Hara and Flint 2010). A critical analysis of the project, exploring how it promoted communities of practice, provides valuable insights and recommendations for engaging students with institutional governance. Our analysis highlights the limitations and complexity of applying this framework in practice and recommends integration with complementary scholarship around student voice and partnerships.
Highlights
The notion of involving students in higher education institution (HEI) governance is widespread, models of involvement vary in practice
The aim of this article was to explore the nature of the relationship between student representatives and staff in one Faculty of a UK university through the theoretical lens of communities of practice
Our analysis indicates that some aspects of the communities of practice (CoP) framework were useful, through exploring the dimension of engagement, gaining greater insight into the nature of peripheral participation, and understanding the subtleties of the impact that organisational and structural boundaries have on the nature of the relationship
Summary
The notion of involving students in higher education institution (HEI) governance is widespread, models of involvement vary in practice. A review of student engagement by Little et al (2009) indicated that a range of formal and informal models of working with representatives are in use across institutions. Student representatives are involved in external reviews of institutional quality and standards through the Quality Assurance Agency's institutional audit process (QAA 2009). This is not an agenda limited to Higher Education, the schools sector in many countries has a long history of commitment to encouraging student participation and voice in educational governance (Cook-Sather 2002; Ruddock and Fielding 2006; McFarland and Starmanns 2009)
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