Institutional imperatives versus emergent dynamics: a case study on continuous change in higher education

This qualitative case study examines continuous change in a higher education organization (HEO). Both real time and retrospective data covering a 6-year period of the case were collected. The findings suggest that, in order to meet institutional imperatives the HEO defined several managerial and academic domains when the internationalization process was launched. When organizational members activate these domains they confronted with local needs, problems, and opportunities, which enable them to modify, update or extend the defined domains. In addition, throughout time the members constantly realize the missing parts and incorporate them into the process. These findings suggest several insights on the adaptability of higher education organizations.     

Bicycle model on climate change education: presenting and evaluating a model

Abstract

This article presents and evaluates a model made for climate change education – the bicycle model. The model was created based on an extensive literature review, from which, essential aspects of climate change education were drawn out. The bicycle model is a representation of holistic climate change education and emphasizes the importance of the following aspects: knowledge, thinking skills, values, identity, worldview, action, motivation, participation, future orientation, hope and other emotions, and operational barriers. In this study, the model is also evaluated by climate education researchers and educators. The evaluation was done through documented group discussions and an electronic questionnaire. The findings suggest that the model is useful in developing climate change education policy, research and practice. The findings also give insight into expert's perceptions on climate education. Finally, the article discusses how this model could be developed further.     

Transformative change in higher education through participatory action research: a capabilities analysis

As a methodological approach, participatory action research (PAR), and its variant of critical action research in education, aims to further social justice and generate transformative change. Although this understanding of PAR is well rehearsed, there is still a gap in detailed explorations of the transformative impact of PAR projects in higher education settings beyond the classroom: how do we then know whether transformative change through PAR has taken place, in which ways, through which processes, and for whom. This article aims to address these questions through proposing the use of a participatory action research cube (PARC) as a human capabilities evaluative framework for personal and structural transformative change enabled by PAR projects. Evaluating transformative change from this perspective rests on both the normative nature of the capabilities approach in its justice concerns, as well as consideration for individual well-being, understood as the expansion of freedoms people have to live the lives they value. Evaluating change both includes personal well-being as well as broader social or structural impact in the direction of more social justice. To demonstrate this empirically, we report on an eight-month PAR project on one rural South African university campus, where 13 undergraduate students were involved in researching gender inequalities on their campus. The PARC analysis highlights the development of capabilities and agency through axes of participation, knowledge development, and public deliberation, as well as identifying the developmental impact of these axes on transformative change for the participants, as well as the university.     

Achieving social justice within and through higher education: the challenge for critical pedagogy

While the term critical pedagogy embraces a range of writers and literature, a common feature of all is a belief that education and society are intrinsically inter-related and that the fundamental purpose of education is to improve social justice. However there are perceptions that critical pedagogy has been more successful in critiquing educational and social practices than in achieving actual change. In this paper I explore two areas that critical pedagogy can address to move beyond critique: the importance of a movement formed by diverse elements, in which difference and disagreement are harnessed to help drive change; and the use of this diversity to direct change at a range of levels. My analysis draws specifically on literature that challenges managerialist assumptions about change as a simple, technical process, focusing instead on the complexities of the social world and the attendant complexities of achieving educational and social change.     

安全新观念与高等教育应对--兼论高校国防教育

新的国家安全观念认为国家安全是由不同层次多种安全要素构成的复杂的安全体系。教育安全作为国家安全的一个构成要素，在安全体系中基础性作用日益凸显。高校国家安全教育的主要途径是国防教育，高校应当普及国家安全教育，并加大力度改革和创新其内容和手法。     

Understanding working-class 'drop-out' from higher education through a sociocultural lens: Cultural narratives and local contexts

The 'drop-out' of working-class students from universities has been identified as one of the most pressing issues for the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom. This article draws on the initial findings of a major research project that explores the meanings and implications of such withdrawal from HE amongst young working-class people. The article argues that drop-out should be seen not just as an educational problem, but also as a manifestation of sociocultural change. To understand drop-out we need to look beyond student support needs or institutional barriers to cultural narratives and local contexts. This enables us to use a sociological frame to understand the educational question, and employ the educational data to contribute to sociological debates on class. The article analyses 'drop-out' as a self-fulfilling cultural narrative that is increasingly connoted as working class, as well as being a consequence of the material exigencies of working-class circumstances. It illustrates how class identity mutates yet stays the same, with the working class still positioned in terms of 'lack'. Although the possibility of university study has become a part of working-class identity, the expectation that this experience may be 'flawed' or 'spoilt' has also become engrained. The article analyses drop-out as two sides of one coin: as both significantly influenced by local culture and as having a perceived impact upon that culture, with different effects in different locales.     

Community universities in the South of Brazil: prospects and challenges of a model of non-state public higher education

In recent years, higher education institutions have been encouraged to engage more strongly with their local communities, and address their historically weak links with their surrounding populations. In the latter part of the twentieth century, a number of community universities were established in the South of Brazil, characterised by democratic local community involvement, expansion of access in non-metropolitan regions, and close ties with local industry. This article analyses these innovative institutions in relation to the complex demands of the so-called knowledge economy and multifaceted relationships between public and private, exploring the ways in which the public good role of universities manifests itself in relation to the local. Given their hybrid nature – independent from the state but with a public good mission – these institutions can be seen to represent a new model of non-state public higher education. Implications are drawn out for the potential role of these institutions in the current policy context of Brazil, and internationally, in light of their context-specificity and the significant challenges from the highly commercialised for-profit sector.     

Reality versus perception: Restructuring tertiary education and institutional organisational change – a case study

The purpose of this study was toinvestigate the outcome of restructuring thetertiary system in New South Wales, Australiafive years after its announcement in the late1980s. It was hoped that lessons could belearned to assist policy makers in Nova Scotia,Canada in their attempt to restructure highereducation. Twenty-four senior administratorswere interviewed to collect data on `why' and`how' decisions were made in response to avoluntary restructuring policy. Qualitativedata analysis revealed that (1) voluntaryamalgamations and federations take place whentertiary institutions fear governments willmandate restructuring; (2) restructuring oldestablished institutions is more difficult; (3)personal ambitions of leaders negotiatingmergers play an important role; (4) loosefederations are likely to become morebureaucratic and less efficient; (5)organisational change and development arepoorly understood by senior administrators.To achieve organisational change, more than onefactor must be present. Congruence betweenthese factors is critical to achieve desiredoutcomes. The data inferred that there is arelationship between leadership, restructuring,managing staff relations, organisationaldevelopment, external pressure for change, andorganisational change. To illustrate thisrelationship, the `primary triad model' wascreated suggesting a holistic approach toachieving desired outcomes. Otherwise,organisational change may be perception ratherthan reality.     

Diverse experiences of women leading in higher education: locating networks and agency for leadership within a university context in Papua New Guinea

The ways in which women deliberately press back against practices of oppression and demonstrate agency in higher education institutions are highly contextual and culturally bound. The formal and informal networks that women develop and maintain are important elements of generating agency and enhancing women's access to and opportunities for leadership. This article presents a case study from research that explored women's leadership experiences in a higher education context in the Pacific Islands – Papua New Guinea. Situated within a feminist poststructural methodology, the research examined women's experiences of leadership and considered aspects that influenced women's access to formal leadership roles. The findings illustrated that the women faced numerous barriers to formal leadership opportunities. A range of culturally and contextually located approaches supported women to demonstrate agency with regard to their own leadership development and practice. This research highlighted the importance of considering the relationship between networks and agency and the impact of associated cultural and contextual practices within organisations, providing insights into the culturally located complexities of women's leadership in higher education contexts.