Decoded: A Translational Framework for Institutional Legibility, Student Co-Creation, and Equity-Oriented Transformation in Higher Education

Across higher education, there is increasing recognition that addressing inequities in student experience, attainment, and belonging requires more substantive forms of student engagement. However, institutional responses often remain constrained by consultative models of “student voice” that fail to produce meaningful structural change. This paper argues that a critical, yet under-theorised, barrier to transformation is institutional illegibility, the inability of students and staff to meaningfully access, interpret, and engage with institutional systems, language, and power structures.

In response, this paper introduces Decoded, a conceptual framework that positions translation as a necessary precondition for effective student co-creation and institutional change. Drawing on scholarship in student partnership, critical pedagogy, and institutional theory, Decoded conceptualises transformation as a three-stage process: translation, dialogue, and co-creation. The framework reframes student engagement as a process of building shared institutional understanding, enabling critical participation, and embedding collaborative knowledge production within curriculum and governance structures.

The paper situates Decoded within the broader Disrupt the Discourse (DtD) framework and related practice-based initiatives such as Visualising Justice, arguing that translation-oriented approaches can bridge the gap between institutional strategy and lived experience. In doing so, the paper contributes a novel conceptual model for understanding how universities might move beyond extractive engagement practices toward more participatory and equitable forms of institutional learning.