Cross-sectoral partnerships in schools are highlighted in policy as important contributions to students’ learning and societal participation. However, museum-school collaboration is challenging due to political and cultural differences, which must be considered (Kisiel, 2010, 2014; Klein et al., 2001). This is a practice document study (Asdal & Reinertsen, 2020) to investigate the characteristics of cross-sectoral collaboration between museums and schools, to examine how the issue of "collaboration between schools and museums is framed and described in key Norwegian reports to Parliament from 2002 to 2021. The study contributes to the European knowledge field of cross-sectoral partnership between culture and school to enhance students learning outcomes, especially between museums and schools.

The theory of cross-sectoral partnerships (Brinkerhoff, 2002) and Asdal & Reinertsens theory of practice-oriented document studies is framework for this study.

Research Question: How is the issue of collaboration between schools and museums conceptualized in political documents and what are changes over time in the documents from 2003 to 2021?

The context for the cross-sectoal collaboration between museums and schools is the "The Cultural Schoolbag” (TCS), a Norwegian government initiative that aims to provide all students in primary and secondary schools access to various cultural experiences (Borgen & Hallås, 2023). The collaboration between schools and TCS has undergone a 20-year journey, evolving through reports to Parliament on the same topic. The collaboration has been modified and changed, with the museum taking on different roles within the context of TCS as a policy. While school-museum collaboration has long traditions, its formalization through TCS policy has reshaped the partnership. This paper investigates what characterises the relationships the policy documents describe and what changes in scope the policy allows for over a period of 20 years.

The corpus of relevant documents (Asdal & Reinertsen, 2020, pp. 167–168) compiled for the study, are four Norwegian reports to Parliament from 2002 to 2021. The document analysis consists of two approaches. First a summative analysis is conducted by counting and recording occurrences of terms such as "collaboration," "school," and "museum" (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). To deepen understanding, the text sections containing these terms are identified.This analysis also looks at other political references the documents point to, which could influence how the issue is framed and shifted. Concepts such as "issue establishment," "modification work," and "contextualising" from the methodological literature are used to analyse how the issue is established, reshaped, and influenced by the context it is part of (Asdal & Reinertsen, 2020, p. 111). Through the analysis, we will become familiar with the issue of "collaboration between schools and museums" and gain insights into how the issue moves and changes over a 20-year political journey through the documents. A practice-oriented document analysis allows us to observe how the issue of collaboration within the context of TCS changes over time and identify what remains, what continues, and the translations, contradictions, and conflicts that emerge between documents. Materials are always in motion, continuously being translated as they are incorporated into new entities. This implies a material-semiotic approach, where literary devices act as agents of change (Asdal & Jordheim, 2018, p. 69). In this case, reports to Parliament not only describe an external reality but also contribute to working with, modifying, and transforming this reality (Asdal, 2015). Thus, the reports to Parliament actively shape the issues and the realities they discuss (Asdal, 2015; Asdal & Reinertsen, 2020; Ruud et al., 2022), in this case, the collaboration between schools and museums.

We have observed a shift from a TCS framing to a museum framing of the collaboration between schools and museums. As a result, the issue of school-museum collaboration has changed, as have the actors. The relationship has shifted from an offer and order model to one of dialogue, participation, and co-creation. TCS has transitioned from being context and method to becoming more of a tool. Instead, museums have gained more space, being placed on an equal footing with schools as knowledge providers and learning arenas in a "larger knowledge machinery" (Ministry of Culture, 2021b), where actors are now more proactive. Students are seen as active co-creators, and teachers and museums must collaborate on this. Museums are tasked with developing the competences of the TCS actors, including schools. The role of museums has expanded, making them a greater presence than TCS in the issue. Museums have become the new context and framing of "collaboration between schools and museums." The collaboration alternates between contracting and mutual partnerships (Brinkerhoff, 2002). Especially in the more recent reports, we see a shift toward co-creation, but the lack of shared structures and language makes it challenging to realize this in practice. To succeed with the goals of TCS, good collaboration at all levels between the sectors is crucial (Ministry of Culture, 2021a). At the same time, research on challenges in the collaboration between art, culture, and pedagogy is highlighted, affecting the relevance and anchoring of TCS (Borgen & Brandt, 2006 in Ministry of Culture, 2021a, p. 148). Preliminary finding is that museums seek mutual partnership with schools, which requires a common language (Brinkerhoff, 2002). Further research should explore how differences impact school-museum partnership.

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