Enabling and exploiting student expertise: the case of a Norwegian centre for excellence in education

Student involvement has been advocated for and studied by educational scholars in recent years. Simultaneously, measures to increase student involvement have surfaced, such as the Norwegian Centres for Excellence in Education (CEE) initiative. This study explores how students, staff and leaders have experienced student involvement through a CEE in the Norwegian context by turning to sociological institutional theory, in which governance structures and change processes are interlinked. The Centre for Excellence in Music Performance Education (CEMPE) was run from 2014 to 2023, situated at a music academy characterised by privatised teaching culture and a master/apprentice teaching model. In this instrumental case study, primary data were collected from 18 semi-structured interviews with students and staff who had occupied management roles at CEMPE/the Academy. Interview transcripts were triangulated with secondary data in the form of strategic documents such as annual reports, action plans, minutes from steering group meetings, applications and publication lists. The data were coded with thematic narrative analysis, and four distinct narratives on student involvement were identified: (1) students as participants; (2) students as creators; (3) students as facilitators; and (4) students as consultants. The findings indicate that the involved students were both empowered and burdened through their work in the centre. The paid student positions, in particular, enabled students to develop qualifications that staff members and the Academy benefitted from and where students took the roles as facilitators and consultants. However, student expertise can be exploited if not properly supported and fostered, which makes co-creation practices crucial in higher education.