学生合约与学生消费者：学习的市场化与高等教育公共产品性质的侵蚀

自20世纪80年代中期以来,全世界范围内接连出现的政府主导的改革将高等教育系统向"教科书般"经济市场越推越近已实施的改革包括公司化、引入竞争性资助、增加学费和其他费用、使用高校管理中产出模式和绩效报告。但是,没有一个国家面向本国学生的第一学位教育是按照真正的资本主义经济市场来运作的,没有研究型大学的发展是被股东、利润、市场份额、配置效率或商品形式所驱动的。在一些国家,只有职业培训和国际教育才会真正收取商业性质的学费。虽然高等教育中普遍存在激烈的竞争、企业家精神和消费者话语,但资本主义在其中没有一席之地;现有的高等教育市场充其量是一个受监管的准市场在许多国家,高等教育领域的"市场改革"不同于交通、通信、广播电视和医疗保险界的私有化和商业化。究其原因,本文发现真正的市场改革受制于高等教育领域特定的内在限度(公共产品、地位竞争)以及与这些限度相关的政治因素、高等教育市场改革计划在本质上是乌托邦式的,目前市场改革的抽象理想仍在持续并不是因为它具有真正实现的前景,而是由于外源性政策的推动(如财政缩减、政府控制等)。如果资本主义市场是无法实现的,为什么要继续假装它们可以实现呢?我们需要一个与教育系... 更多还原     

Are local students disadvantaged? Understanding institutional,local and national sense of belonging in higher education

Research on inequality in higher education (HE) is often dominated by class-based assumptions about traditional and non-traditional students. This binary distinction emphasising students’ socio-economic status tends to oversimply the complexity of educational inequality, neglecting crucial factors which affect the perception of social position. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the understanding of inequalities in HE with new data on the meaning of locality, using evidence from comparative studies of institutions. Locality is interpreted as an inclusive concept capturing place identity as well as local attachments based on language, culture and the natural environment. The qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 192 participants in three distinctly different HE institutions, which were deliberately selected according to their socio-economic, cultural, and institutional status. This mixed methods research confirms the importance of different types of belonging at institutional, local and national levels, and their different effects on student groups. The study captures to what extent geographical mobility is associated with social class, by examining students’ sense of belonging and their interpretation of locality in universities across Wales. It challenges the notion of disadvantaged background, and poses a critical question about cultural and geographical familiarity. This study therefore enriches the current debates about the impact of social inequality alongside social class on students’ belonging, success and retention in HE.     

Higher education marketisation and its discontents: the case of quality in Kenya

This study addresses the implications of higher education marketisation for quality in Kenya. It focuses on full fee-paying programmes, the de facto market source of revenue for Kenya’s public universities. The study argues that Kenya’s public universities were precipitately subjected to diminished public capitation, and so was their plunging into marketisation. These institutions started enrolling full fee-paying students at a time when they were strained in terms of institutional capacity. There were not enough physical facilities, and most of those available were suffering decay following many years of neglect. They did not have enough teaching staff, a problem, which the marketisation agenda has made worse. The desire to claim a bigger share in the student market has seen the introduction of many new courses in advance of capacity to offer them. The study concludes that by seeking economic self-determination through full fee-paying programmes, in advance of a well-developed institutional capacity, the subsequent pressure seems to have made the quality situation worse.     

Gatekeepers or facilitators: the influence of teacher habitus on students’ applications to elite universities

Low application rates of state school students to elite universities have been identified as a factor in their limited participation in elite universities. This article explores the role of teachers in state schools and colleges in guiding higher education (HE) choice. Drawing on qualitative research with teachers and students in six institutions, we identify differential practices that corroborate explanations of an ‘institutional habitus’ shaping students’ likely pathways to HE. However, we suggest that attention is paid to teacher habitus, demonstrating how teachers’ political and ethical dispositions as well as their social capital are potential factors shaping students’ decision‐making about HE, and elite university applications in particular.     

Reflections on learning: widening capability and the student experience

This paper argues for a more nuanced perspective on learning that takes account of the real and situated contexts of student experience. It is presented against a backdrop of the agenda to widen participation in higher education (HE) in the UK, which has led to a rise in students from non-traditional backgrounds entering into HE. Responding to this, an argument is made in favour of widening ‘capability’ in learning, to produce a more socially just pedagogy. Drawing on examples of the student learning experience a series of reflections is produced from an undergraduate programme of education studies. Such reflections, linking personal knowledge with wider social and cultural practices, are used to produce notions of ‘cultural wealth’ across informal and formal learning contexts. It is argued that by creating choice and freedoms in student learning the exclusivity of university education may be challenged and a more socially just pedagogy usefully considered.     

Access and retention in French higher education: student drop-out as a form of regulation

Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory and using Durkheim’s concepts of ‘social fact’ and ‘regulation’, this article examines the place held by public universities within the French higher education (HE) system, breaking with the purely bureaucratic vision prevailing in France today. By setting aside some of the main received ideas about the effects and meanings of student selection and drop-out, the article suggests that public universities play an essential role in regulating the successive flows of first-generation students through French HE. It is precisely because public universities are non-selective that they are able to play this role. Finally, the distribution of HE choices and students’ dropping out are both considered as products of a structural and institutional process of regulation.     

Students as consumers? A counter perspective from student assessment as a disciplinary technology

The notion of students as consumers who exercise educational decisions based on economic self-interest leads to interesting questions about their perceptions of current higher education assessment practices. Guided by a Foucauldian theorisation and the findings from focus groups carried out with students from two European universities, one from the UK and another from Estonia, the article argues that globally dominant consumerist policy discourses have altered but not removed the student experience of constraint in assessment. I argue that students’ response to disciplinary power in assessment has become highly strategic and differs depending on the institutional assessment systems: students from Estonia recognise the powerful position of academics as assessors and find ways to create a good social impression of themselves; their counterparts from the UK, however, demonstrate a tactical approach to their learning and study processes.     

Class acts? Working class student officers in students’ unions

Abstract

This article explores the recent emergence of ‘working-class student officer’ roles in students’ unions associated with elite UK universities. These student representative roles are designed to represent the interests of working-class students within their universities and sit alongside student representatives for liberation groups and/or student communities. Based on interviews with postholders and using Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field and Reay’s applications of a ‘reflexive habitus’, I explore how these students have come to assert a public and political ‘working-class student’ identity within their universities. Their commentaries reveal the ‘makings of class’ in a context where students are very aware of claims for recognition and the ‘hidden injuries of class’ and offer an insight into how working-class students are finding new ways to navigate their classed identities in HE.     

‘If they can say it they can write it’: Inclusive pedagogies for senior secondary physical education

Pedagogical practices are fundamental to teachers' work, and in the spaces of schooling impact significantly on students' success and achievement (Evans, J. 1986. Physical Education, Sport and Schooling: Studies in the Sociology of Physical Education. London: Falmer Press.). This is especially the case for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are deeply reliant on schooling for their educational resources. This article explores the interrelationships between pedagogical practices, the physical education curriculum at the senior secondary level and learning by both students and a teacher in a school located in an area of socio-economic disadvantage. Action research investigating a pedagogical redesign of a unit of ‘Skill Acquisition’ is the specific focus. Of key interest are pedagogical practices that incorporated opportunities to learn ‘about’ Skill Acquisition ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement. These practices attempted to develop and apply scientific literacies specific to the human movement sciences, which are important for academic success in senior secondary physical education. Findings reveal high student engagement, increasing utilisation of scientific literacies and application of new learning to life-world situations. We argue that pedagogical practices that integrate learning ‘about’ ‘through’ and ‘in’ movement disrupt default modes of teaching theoretical concepts in physical education, which diminish opportunities for academic success amongst students from low-socio-economic backgrounds.     

Australian social work academics’ perceptions of their teaching roles within higher education

The marketisation of higher education (HE) has created a number of tensions and ideological dilemmas that may influence how academics see their roles and teaching practices. This paper explores how academics in the discipline of social work (who were also in leadership roles) perceive their roles and identities and manage the tensions and dilemmas that arise for them as teachers in the current HE environment. Unless the tensions and dilemmas are articulated, it is not possible to understand and manage their impact on academics. This may lead to the loss of quality learning experiences for students and lower workplace satisfaction. This paper addresses the research question: were there ideological dilemmas experienced by social work academics in the current environment and if so, what subject positions did they adopt in response to these? A discursive psychology approach was used to answer this question. Data showed a range of ideological dilemmas represented by each of the different subject positions adopted. The paper concludes with questions for readers to consider, generating ideas for transferring understanding of these ideological dilemmas into positive action within the workplace.     

The impact of term‐time employment on higher education students’ academic attainment and achievement

Term‐time employment among Britain’s undergraduates is a growing phenomenon but it has received scant attention from government and policy makers. Although there are numerous studies on the subject, few have explored the impact of term‐time employment on students’ actual attainment and those that have are limited. This article attempts to fill that gap. Using data derived from 1000 students in six UK universities, it quantifies the impact of students’ paid work on their actual marks and degree results, while controlling for their academic attainment on entry to higher education and other factors including their hours of work. It shows that irrespective of the university students attended, term‐time working had a detrimental effect on both their final year marks and their degree results. The more hours students worked, the greater the negative effect. Consequently, students working the average number of hours a week were a third less likely to get a good degree than an identical non‐working student. Some of the least qualified and poorest students are most adversely affected perpetuating existing inequalities in HE. The 2006/07 changes to student finances may help some of them, but term‐time employment is likely to remain part of the HE landscape.     

Responding to misrecognition from a (post)/colonial university

This article addresses the challenge of reclaiming higher education (HE) as a public good for building effective democracies. We use Bernstein’s model of pedagogic rights and Fraser’s model of social justice to develop a normative framework for discussing how universities in unequal societies might mitigate social injustice. Referring to recent student protests in South Africa, we show the extent of student anger and frustration at the misrecognition they experience due to the reproduction of colonial hierarchies at postcolonial universities. The article is an attempt to respond to students’ calls about ‘black pain’, ‘black debt’ and for the ‘decolonisation’ of South African universities. In particular, we focus on theories of recognition and how these are being played out in the current South African HE context. Our aim is not to critique student politics, but to understand the position and heed the cry of the subaltern student. We deliberate on what an adequate response, framed within a model of pedagogic rights, might be from those who teach in and manage universities. We note some impediments to implementing this response and conclude by asserting the importance of working with a politics of recognition and representation as well as redistribution.     

Student-parents and higher education: a cross-national comparison

During its time in office, the UK’s Labour government gave a strong message that having caring responsibilities for a young child should not be seen as a barrier to engaging in education and training. Its widening participation strategy included a specific commitment to increasing the number of mature students in higher education (HE) – students who are more likely than their younger peers to have caring responsibilities for dependent children. Furthermore, considerable resources were devoted to encouraging teenage mothers to return to education and training soon after the birth of their child. Nevertheless, despite this policy focus, there have been relatively few studies of the experiences of ‘student-parents’ within HE. This paper draws on findings from a cross-national study (funded by the Nuffield Foundation) to explore the support currently offered by UK universities to students who have parental responsibilities for one or more children under the age of 16. It compares this support to that offered by Danish institutions, to assess whether differences in ‘welfare regime’, the structure of the HE system and pervasive assumptions about gender relations have any discernible impact on the way in which student-parents are both constructed within institutional cultures and assisted by institutional practices.     

Student ambassadors: ‘role-models’, learning practices and identities

Employing students to market higher education (HE) and widen access is established practice in the United Kingdom and other developed countries. In the United Kingdom, student ambassadors are held to be effective in aspiration and attainment-raising work and cited as ‘role-models’ for pupils. The focus of this paper is student ambassador outreach work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics including medicine) at two contrasting universities. The study deployed ethnography and approaches from across the social sciences to trace and analyse discourses surrounding ambassadors, and to explore their positioning within learning contexts, relationships with pupils and the learning that takes place. Findings indicate that where ambassadors work collaboratively with pupils in contexts with ‘informal attributes’, pupils can identify closely with them. However, in contexts with more ‘formal attributes’, differences, not similarities, are highlighted. Stakeholder interests are found to significantly impact on learning contexts and on ambassadors’ efficacy as HE ‘role-models’.     

Learning approaches and cultural influences: a comparative study of Confucian and western-heritage students

With the advent of increasingly multinational student cohorts in many higher education institutes, the possible influence of ‘national culture’ on students’ learning approaches has become a focal point of attention. In particular, the claim that Asian (Confucian) students adopt (primarily) surface learning approaches has attracted much debate despite, or perhaps because of, relatively little empirical research on the matter. Similarly in Ireland, while much concern has been voiced regarding the existence of a culture of surface learning in higher education, few studies have been conducted on the matter. The purpose of this research is to strengthen our understanding of these two areas through empirical evidence. This study examines the preferred learning approaches of students (n?=?327) from 37 nationalities studying in a higher education institute in Ireland. Two hypotheses are tested: Confucian Asian students will have higher surface strategy learning scores than western students (Hypothesis 1) and Irish students will have higher surface learning scores than other western students (Hypothesis 2). The results indicate important differences in preferred learning approaches according to nationality and cultural cluster, where Hypothesis 1 is rejected and Hypothesis 2 is supported. The study is of particular interest to HE management and educationalists working with students entering higher education from diverse national backgrounds. Recommendations are made at an institutional level as to how HE management might address student surface learning approaches.     

A pedagogical alliance for academic achievement: Socio-Emotional effects on assessment outcomes

Assessment of student learning outcomes is often discussed in relation to curriculum, standards and even administration practices. However, assessment of learning outcomes is rarely discussed in light of students’ socio-emotional contexts, which might help or hinder learning outcomes. For example, do students’ perceptions of the teacher as trustworthy influence their empathic views on classmates, learning engagement, academic achievement and wellbeing? The present paper reports the results of a theoretically-driven, short-term longitudinal study designed to explore the effects of socio-emotional variables, specifically students’ trust in teachers and empathy towards self and peers on engagement for learning, academic achievement, and wellbeing. Grounded in attachment theory and the LEAFF model, Panel Structural Equation Modeling (P-SEM) results revealed three significant pathways, which provide evidence that student trust in teachers may serve to launch a domino effect of outcomes, predicting students’ empathic views of classmates, learning engagement, academic achievement, and wellbeing.     

Problematising the use of education to address social inequity: Could participatory action research be a step forwards?

This paper critiques international trends towards certain school practices aimed at promoting equity and social justice by closing gaps in specific learning outcomes among students. It argues that even though some of these practices (e.g. individualised student support, data‐driven leadership) improve learning outcomes for certain groups considered ‘disadvantaged’, they fail to have a genuine impact on the issue. They remain ‘locked’ in the logic of social mobility, reaffirming the legitimacy of a hierarchical system underpinned by competitive individualism, which unfairly distributes social opportunities under the guise of ‘merit’ and ‘justice’. The paper argues that unless students develop awareness of the subtle injustices legitimised by the current system, no specialised interventions will ever tackle inequity, but will, instead, reinforce it. Yet, attempts to explicitly challenge mainstream school practices are likely to face harsh resistance from system agents due to being so ingrained in school cultures. An alternative strategy is suggested which, without being too subversive, could raise students’ awareness—what Freire called ‘conscientização’. This would entail the application of participatory action research (PAR), under the cloak of traditional (system‐aligned) action research. Such PAR, despite its political character, would initially appear to fulfil the performative role of more technical interventions (e.g. raising test scores), but in such a way that ‘conscientização’ also happens in the process. This may set the ground for social reform, encouraging the transition to a more sustainable and equitable society based on collectivity and solidarity.     

The activation,appropriation and practices of student-equity policy in Australian higher education

Current national reforms in Australian higher education have prioritised efforts to reduce educational disadvantage within a vernacular expression of neoliberal education policy. Student-equity policy in universities is enmeshed in a set of competitive student recruitment relations. This raises practice-based tensions as universities strive to meet specific institutional targets for low-socio-economic status (SES) and Indigenous student participation, whilst broadening participation more generally within the sector. This paper seeks empirically to trace the activation and appropriation of federal policy through two sites of higher education policy practices: a state government-sponsored equity practitioner body and two differently positioned universities, Dawson and McIllwraith, as they engage with low-SES schools. Working together Dorothy Smith’s insights into the textually mediated activation of local practices, Levinson and colleagues’ concept of the local appropriation of authorised policy, and Bourdieu’s notion of the contested field, we demonstrate that the generation of state level and institutionally specific policies for student-equity practices not only articulates to federal policy, but also appropriates the ruling relations of mandated policy. Further, the scope of these creative local appropriations is organised within a hierarchical academic field through which particular institutional imperatives, as well as the needs of low-SES students, are negotiated. The analysis demonstrates the vernacularisation of policy in the national rearticulation of global discourses, in appropriation at the level of the state body and in the practices of equity workers.     

A critical examination of informal learning spaces

ABSTRACT

Globally, the future of the higher education sector is under increasing scrutiny, and questions are being asked about the relevance of universities as traditional sites of teaching and learning. In an effort to adapt to the complexities that beset the higher education environment, universities are exploring the utility and benefits offered through informal learning spaces. However, the emergence of informal learning spaces raises important questions regarding student behaviours and ‘learning’, including the dichotomous positioning of the categories ‘formal’ and ‘informal’. This article highlights a tendency in the literature to treat informal learning spaces in a romanticised and overdetermined way. It challenges some of the popular imaginaries of these spaces as free, open and democratising in terms of students’ use, technological affordances, and a largely unchallenged emphasis on forms of community and collaboration as if they are unproblematic. Indeed, a persistently undefined ‘social’ quality attributed to informal learning settings, coupled with a focus on design and technology elements, elides the possibility of negative social practices such as exclusion and marginalisation. Moreover, empirical treatments of these spaces are dominated by quantitative methods that rely on deterministic cause and effect models, including normative understandings of academic success, as a measure of effectiveness. If universities are to proceed in better understanding these learning sites and the meanings and practices students bring to them, new perspectives incorporating more critical, interpretive qualitative approaches that give primacy to understanding the ways in which these spaces might reproduce marginalising or exclusionary social practices are required.