Co-creation of learning and teaching as an equity-oriented approach

Document Type

Journal Article

Role

Author

Journal Title

Higher Education Research & Development

Volume

45

Issue

2

First Page

396

Last Page

402

Publication Date

3-17-2026

Abstract

Efforts to share decision-making and responsibility for learning and teaching can be impeded by the hierarchical structures and practices of most institutions of higher education. However, without such sharing, inequitable practices can be perpetuated. Granting power to both learners and teachers disrupts traditional hierarchies, values the learner and the teacher role as agentic, and holds promise for co-creating more equitable practices. This opinion piece builds on these premises to posit that whole-class co-creation of teaching and learning within undergraduate courses is an equity-oriented approach when it affirms enrolled students’ identities, lived experiences, and choices not only as worthy of recognition and respect but also as constituting forms of expertise. The authors, a faculty member and an undergraduate student, draw on their respective and shared perspectives to: define co-creation; describe the focal, co-created course; share the perspective of the faculty member as a long-time practitioner and scholar of co-creation; and share the experience and perspective of a student with multiple intersecting identities. The piece concludes with recommendations for pursuing co-creation of teaching and learning as an equity-oriented approach based on four principles of co-creation.

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