The Promise of the University
The Promise of the University

Author: Áine Mahon

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-09

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9811652775

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book offers philosophical readings of the contemporary university and is motivated by a series of pressing challenges in the global context of Higher Education. It argues that the university is a place for community, for refuge, for enlightenment and the careful questioning of knowledge, but it is also a place for visceral ambition and for intellectual cowardice, for blinkered individualism and professional competitiveness. In the context of a highly competitive post-crash global economy, contemporary students are placed under increasing pressure to distinguish themselves from their peers via a portfolio of learning excellence and extracurricular achievement. Growing numbers undertake part or full-time employment in order to cover registration fees and the basic costs of living. University staff take on very different forms of pressure that operate across the life-course of an academic career – from early-career anxieties to the worries of more privileged and permanent faculty who fear they do not meet ever-changing structures, assumptions and demands of the university itself. This book argues that these interlinked agendas demand consideration from philosophers of education in Ireland, Europe and further afield. It proposes that we must embody a very careful balancing act: one where we remember the romantic ideals and promises of the university while still acknowledging the very real and pressing challenges faced by our staff and students. The book will be of interest to academics, graduate students, and advanced-level undergraduates in Philosophy, Education, Mental Health, and Organizational Psychology in both North America and Europe.

Good Education in a Fragile World
Good Education in a Fragile World

Author: Alan Bainbridge

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-12-18

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 1003810292

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This edited collection aims to provoke discussion around the most important question for contemporary higher education – what kind of education (in terms of purpose, pedagogy and policy) is needed to restore the health and wellbeing of the planet and ourselves now and for generations to come? The book contains contributions from colleagues at a single UK University, internationally recognised for its approach to sustainability education. Introducing a conceptual framework called the ‘Paradox Model’, the book explores the tensions that underpin the challenge of developing sustainability in higher education in the 21st century. It asks probing questions about the purpose of higher education in the 21st century given growing concerns in relation to planetary safety and justice and calls for a rethinking of educational purpose. It draws upon the theory and practice of education and explores how these can develop an understanding of sustainability pedagogies in practice. Finally, it delivers thought-provoking discussion on what constitutes a ‘good’ higher education that meets the needs of a world in crisis. Drawing on a planetary health lens, the book concludes with a ‘manifesto’ that brings together the key insights from the contributing authors. This will be an engaging volume for academics and educators from a wide range of disciplines in higher educational settings interested in translating sustainability theory into educational practice.

The Alienated Academic
The Alienated Academic

Author: Richard Hall

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-08-25

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 3319943049

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Higher education is increasingly unable to engage usefully with global emergencies, as its functions are repurposed for value. Discourses of entrepreneurship, impact and excellence, realised through competition and the market, mean that academics and students are increasingly alienated from themselves and their work. This book applies Marx’s concept of alienation to the realities of academic life in the Global North, in order to explore how the idea of public education is subsumed under the law of value. In a landscape of increased commodification of higher education, the book explores the relationship between alienation and crisis, before analysing how academic knowledge, work, identity and life are themselves alienated. Finally, it argues that through indignant struggle, another world is possible, grounded in alternative forms of organising life and producing socially-useful knowledge, ultimately requiring the abolition of academic labour. This pioneering work will be of interest and value to all those working in the higher education sector, as well as those concerned with the rise of neoliberalism and marketization within universities.

Collaboration in Higher Education
Collaboration in Higher Education

Author: Sandra Abegglen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-05-18

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1350334073

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Collaboration in Higher Education, an open access book, focuses on the opportunities and challenges created by engaging in collaboration and partnership in higher education. As higher education institutions become ever more competitive to sustain their place in a global, neoliberal education market, students and staff are confronted with alienating practices. Such practices create an individualistic, audit and surveillance culture that is exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the wholesale 'pivot' to online teaching. In this atomised and competitive climate, this volume synthesises theoretical perspectives and current practice to present case study examples that advocate for a more inclusive, cooperative, collaborative, compassionate and empowering education, one that sees learning and teaching as a practice that enables personal, collective and societal growth. The human element of education is at the core of this book, focusing on what we can do and achieve together: students, academic staff, higher education institutions and relevant stakeholders. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Knowledge Unlatched.

Prefiguring the Idea of the University for a Post-Capitalist Society
Prefiguring the Idea of the University for a Post-Capitalist Society

Author: Gary Saunders

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-12-06

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 3031466497

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Using an Open Marxist theoretical framework, this book provides a critique of the neoliberal reforms made to higher education since the late 1970s and the impact this has had on the sector. Rather than arguing for a return to the idea of the public university, the book argues that public and private models of higher education are both forms of capitalist accumulation and have historically perpetuated forms of oppression, exploitation and discrimination; thus, a more radical solution that addresses both the current crisis of higher education and the contradictory and exploitative nature of late capitalism is required. This book critically examines the autonomous learning spaces that emerged out of the UK student protests (2009-2010) and documents what can be learned from them to prefigure the idea of the university for a post-capitalist society.

EBOOK: Teaching for Quality Learning at University
EBOOK: Teaching for Quality Learning at University

Author: John Biggs

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)

Published: 2011-09-16

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 0335242766

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"This book is an exceptional introduction to some difficult ideas. It is full of downright good advice for every academic who wants to do something practical to improve his or hers students’ learning." Paul Ramsden, Brisbane, Australia "Biggs and Tang present a unified view of university teaching that is both grounded in research and theory and replete with guidance for novice and expert instructors. The book will inspire, challenge, unsettle, and in places annoy and even infuriate its readers, but it will succeed in helping them think about how high quality teaching can contribute to high quality learning." John Kirby, Queens University, Ontario, Canada This best-selling book explains the concept of constructive alignment used in implementing outcomes-based education. Constructive alignment identifies the desired learning outcomes and helps teachers design the teaching and learning activities that will help students to achieve those outcomes, and to assess how well those outcomes have been achieved. Each chapter includes tasks that offer a 'how-to' manual to implement constructive alignment in your own teaching practices. This new edition draws on the authors' experience of consulting on the implementation of constructive alignment in Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Malaysia including a wider range of disciplines and teaching contexts. There is also a new section on the evaluation of constructive alignment, which is now used worldwide as a framework for good teaching and assessment, as it has been shown to: Assist university teachers who wish to improve the quality of their own teaching, their students' learning and their assessment of learning outcomes Aid staff developers in providing support for departments in line with institutional policies Provide a framework for administrators interested in quality assurance and enhancement of teaching across the whole university. The authors have also included useful web links to further material. Teaching for Quality Learning at University will be of particular interest to teachers, staff developers and administrators.

The School for Life
The School for Life

Author: Edward Broadbridge

Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag

Published: 2011-10-24

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 8771242635

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) produced a major body of work in the fields of theology, education, literature, politics, and history. He was also a poet, a hymn-writer, and a translator. In particular, however, it is his educational writings that over the years have attracted international attention from the USA in the west to Japan in the east. In recognition of his influence the European Union called its adult education project the Grundtvig programme. As part of its agenda to digitalise and translate some of this vast output, the Grundtvig Study Centre at the University of Aarhus is pleased to publish this broad selection of Grundtvig's writings on education in a completely new translation. The texts vary in form from poems and songs to articles in periodicals, introductions to books, an open letter to the Norwegians and a private letter to the King of Denmark. These texts, taken together, will provide a solid basis for international scholars without knowledge of Danish to be able to work closely with Grundtvigs ideas on education for the people. The book is accompanied by a CD (MP3 format) with the texts read by Edward Broadbridge and the introductions by Clay Warren.

Playing the University Game
Playing the University Game

Author: Helen E. Lees

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-08-11

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1350188468

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Going to university is expensive. It's an investment of money. It is also a massive leap of faith by everyone connected to your choice. You hope it will be a good experience, but you aren't sure. You want it to be fair to you and worth the effort, but there are no guarantees. Going to university to study and get a degree or certificate of qualification is as political as it is personal. So beware and be ready! But worry not. You will spend your money wisely for a long-term return. Why? Because there is a game to play, and by picking up this book, you intend to play to win. Playing the University Game shows you the rules of the game, strategies for success on your terms (not those of the university as institution and system) and, most importantly, how to enjoy yourself as a university student, reaping the long-term benefits both during your experience and afterwards. How to win the personal way using political-social knowledge shared with you from inside the university walls. Helen Lees draws on her research and lived experiences of self-care in education, combining this with the voices of established academics, who between them have a wide-ranging and deeply reflective understanding of the university and university student interactions. Helen takes you into the heart of the mechanisms of university life, revealing key moves you need to make to survive and thrive in the game. She shares with you which actions and attitudes matter to win, why winning matters, how you can win without joining a dog-eat-dog competition. Helen empowers you to see why university education is about you and your flourishing, not the graduation prize but nevertheless happily also all about the graduation prize, which really matters. She skills you with the knowledge you need to avoid stress, to enjoy yourself and get true value for money from the educational product you have chosen.

Postdigital Ecopedagogies
Postdigital Ecopedagogies

Author: Petar Jandrić

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-06-08

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 3030972623

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book conceptualizes ecopedagogies as forms of educational innovation and critique that emerge from, negotiate, debate, produce, resist, and/or overcome the shifting and expansive postdigital ecosystems of humans, machines, nonhuman animals, objects, stuff, and other forms of matter. Contemporary postdigital ecosystems are determined by a range of new bioinformational reconfigurations in areas including capitalism, imperialism, settler-colonialism, and ontological hierarchies more generally. Postdigital ecopedagogies name a condition, a question, and a call for experimentation to link pedagogical research and practice to challenges of our moment. They pose living, breathing, expanding, contracting, fluid, and spatial conditions and questions of our non-chronological present. This book presents analyses of that present from a wide spectrum of disciplines, including but not limited to education studies, philosophy, politics, sociology, arts, and architecture.

The Affects of Pedagogy in Literary Studies
The Affects of Pedagogy in Literary Studies

Author: Christopher Lloyd

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-02-21

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1000813398

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Affects of Pedagogy in Literary Studies considers the ways in which teachers and students are affected by our encounters with literature and other cultural texts in the higher education classroom. The essays consider the range of emotions and affects elicited by teaching settings and practices: those moments when we in the university are caught off-guard and made uncomfortable, or experience joy, anger, boredom, and surprise. Featuring writing by teachers at different stages in their career, institutions, and national or cultural settings, the book is an innovative and necessary addition to both the study of affect, theories of learning and teaching, and the fields of literary and cultural studies.