Accountability and professionalism: a contradiction in terms?

Declining trust in public services has led to increasing calls for higher education to be ‘accountable’ for the quality of its teaching and learning provision. However, increasing levels of quality evaluation have led academics to feel that their professionalism is under attack. Reflecting on this history and various dimensions of accountability, this paper seeks to interpret accountability by addressing two questions: What is accountability in higher education? How can it be related to academic professionalism? The paper argues that professionalism and accountability appear to be contradictory terms, but can exist simultaneously. If academics' moral and social responsibility becomes requisite to an enhanced social accounting for the quality of university teaching and learning, there could be less perceived tension between academic professionalism and accountability.     

Expanding doctoral education in South Africa: pipeline or pipedream?

The purpose of this paper is to discuss both the status of the PhD in South Africa and the feasibility of the country's aspiration to increase by fivefold the production of PhDs by 2025. Based on the first empirical studies on doctoral education in South Africa, it argues that in order to move towards this target, an expanded and coordinated effort is necessary. This includes the removal of barriers that hinder the expansion of the South African higher education system. In particular the paper highlights insufficient funding, policy that stands in the way of expansion, scarcity of students, limited supervisory capacity and lack of recognition of the value of the doctorate and higher learning, as well as limited and inadequate partnerships. The main question is whether South Africa can achieve the desired outcome by following international trends or whether the expansion target is merely a pipedream.     

Learning styles fray: Brilliant or batty?

Many school educators, instructional designers, and corporate training specialists believe that learning styles are important and that much of training success relies on the craft of incorporating learning styles into learning materials. But how do common views and popular wisdom on learning styles align with what the psychological sciences tell us today? Does matching instructional design to learning styles really result in learning enhancement? This article seeks to examine such questions based on current research in psychological sciences.     

Educational inclusion and critical neuroscience: friends or foes?

Momentum is continuing to grow in the circulation of neuroscientific discourse, informing aspects of how we live but affecting too how we think about education and learning. Neurologically informed intrusions into education frequently align with psychology which has until now largely adopted a ‘medical model’, supporting policies and practices which ultimately invoke psychopathology and arguably render individual young people more vulnerable to various forms of social and educational exclusion. This paper urges caution in respect of understandings of educational neuroscience that focus on individual deficits and diagnoses. Rather it holds in mind the broader historical context for neuroscience and its implications for our understandings of what it is to be human in the twenty first century and thereafter for education and learning. Theoretical resources from critical and affective neuroscience but also critical educational psychology are brought together specifically to support the principles of inclusionist policies and practices in education.     

International doctoral students’ experience of supervision: a case study in a Chinese university

Internationalisation in higher education is now a worldwide phenomenon but there is little attention paid to internationalisation at doctoral level, although this phenomenon has grown exponentially in recent years. This study focuses on a university in China to examine how international doctoral students and their supervisors perceive supervision and the relations between supervisor and student. It describes and analyses the experiences of supervisors and students, and the concepts they used to articulate and reflect on them. Semi-formal interviews were conducted with six doctoral students and their supervisors. Analysis shows that, apart from formal supervision, informal enculturation through social and academic networks, the tongmen, plays an important role in supervision and in socialising the doctoral researchers into the community of practice. The study adds to the field a new case from a specific epistemological and intellectual tradition and challenges existing theories concerning methods and concepts of supervision.     

Research priorities and disciplinary cultures: friends or foes? A cross-national study on doctoral research training in economics in France and Norway

Science and technology research seems to be evolving toward an integration of research systems which cover numerous knowledge fields. These systems change and reconfigure as new technologies develop. Yet, Research Universities continue to educate students within commonly accepted disciplines and within a number of professions. Doctoral research training (DRT) constitutes a sensitive indicator of changing knowledge production patterns in changing universities. This study focuses upon DRT programs in economics. Are national research priorities and disciplinary cultures friends or foes? Two case studies on DRT in economics are presented and compared: from Toulouse, France; and from Oslo, Norway.Similarity in the findings from the two case studies corroborate the theory of a strong disciplinary identity which in several areas constitutes a stronger binding factor than national priorities. The disciplinary culture of a given field is a powerful factor to be reckoned with.     

Language Education in English Education: Grammar instruction,grammar plus,or critical social analysis?

I consider the difficulty of deciding what to include in a one-semester course on language education in English education for preservice teachers. While it is imperative to prepare teachers to talk about language in written texts, other concerns of the English classroom, from classroom talk to reflections on self, can be illuminated by knowledge about language. I describe different representations of the language system: one proposed in a scope and sequence document prepared by a group of linguists and educators in the United States; and the other Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), which, while relatively unknown and unsupported in the United States, has influenced education in Australia. While I admire the advances in language education being made in the United States, in my view, SFG offers a conceptual advantage to those who want to make the link between grammar and broader concerns. I believe it is possible to use SFG conceptually in the design of classroom activities, while also relying on non-SFG methods to make visible, for instance, the operations of talk in the classroom. In the end, I advocate linking language to issues that matter, focusing above the language system to meaning-making more broadly, and using knowledge about language in the service of social analysis as well as the interpretation of texts.     

‘Challenge and support’: the role of the critical friend in continuing professional development

Abstract

In this paper, the writer, a senior teacher in a comprehensive school, describes his role as a critical friend to two teachers who were undertaking self‐initiated action research projects as part of a school‐based, award‐bearing curriculum development scheme offered in conjunction with the local higher education institute (HEI). He concludes that such a relationship, in providing both challenge and support for colleagues who are attempting to improve practice, is a powerful vehicle for the professional development of teachers and has a positive impact on whole‐school development.     

Ways of knowing in doctoral examination: How well is the doctoral regime?

The article draws on findings from the PhD Examination Project at the SORTI Research Centre of The University of Newcastle, Australia. It focuses on an analysis of the roles of examiner and supervisor, in relation to the candidate, as seen through the lens of Habermas's ‘Ways of Knowing’ theory. On the basis of this, it has been postulated that the dominant text in the PhD examination process may work to constrain the generation of new knowledge rather than encourage it. The paper explores practical implications for research training and questions the current well being of the doctoral regime.     

What disengages doctoral students in the biological and environmental sciences from their doctoral studies?

This study explored the causes of student disengagement from their doctoral studies in the biological and environmental sciences. The data came from interviews of 40 doctoral students (male?=?15, female?=?25) and underwent qualitative analysis for content. Our results showed that doctoral studies provide multiple contexts for disengagement, such as the scholarly community and supervision, while doctoral students’ sense of distress, cynicism and inefficacy emerged as central components of disengagement. The study identified isolation, indifference, and lack of support and constructive feedback as sources of cynicism, while distress and inefficacy were more often related to failure or lack of progress in research. Our findings indicate that the source of disengagement can vary not only between individuals, but also between the academic activities at hand. Thus, while promoting an engaging doctoral experience, awareness of what typically triggers disengagement in the doctoral journey is vital.     

Student perceptions of facilitators’ social congruence,use of expertise and cognitive congruence in problem-based learning

In problem-based learning (PBL), the role of a tutor or facilitator is different from what is typically considered as the role of a traditional teacher. In addition to being a subject-matter expert, the facilitator is also expected to be ‘socially’ and ‘cognitively congruent’. In this study, we analyze the survey responses from more than 10,000 students in order to better understand their perceptions of what makes a good or poor facilitator, and to identify specific qualities related to social congruence, cognitive congruence and use of expertise. Students’ comments for the highest and lowest scoring groups of facilitators were analyzed qualitatively using inductive data analysis strategies. The following themes were identified: for social congruence—facilitator personality, relating to students, professionalism, motivating students, and learning environment; for cognitive congruence—scaffolding learning, and communication skills; for use of expertise—content knowledge and experience, and stretching students’ learning. Coding of students’ feedback also demonstrated that students most frequently commented on issues related to facilitators’ social congruence. Our findings indicate that social congruence encompasses skills which facilitators may improve on. We also argue that understanding students’ perspectives is critical especially in a learner-centred approach such as PBL and therefore propose that our findings provide useful input for the professional development of PBL facilitators.     

Instructors’ teaching styles: relation with competences,self-efficacy,and commitment in pre-service teachers

Instructors’ teaching styles in higher education are an issue of major importance because these interactions affect students’ self-perceptions, involvement, and achievement. This study aimed to test a theoretical model of relations between perceived teaching styles (autonomy support, structure, and control) and competences, self-efficacy, and commitment in pre-service teachers; to assess the invariance of the model in two samples; and to analyze the mediated relations between these variables. Measures were collected from 842 Spanish pre-service teachers. As main research implications, teaching styles predicted acquired competences, competences predicted teaching self-efficacy, and self-efficacy predicted commitment to the profession. This model was equivalent in two samples of childhood and primary education pre-service teachers. Competences and self-efficacy mediated the relationships between variables. As practical implications, this study clearly shows the need for different interventions to enhance adequate instructors’ teaching styles and to foster among novice pre-service teachers the acquisition of professional competences, initial self-efficacy, and a good level of commitment to their profession.     

“Physics and the girly girl—there is a contradiction somewhere”: doctoral students’ positioning around discourses of gender and competence in physics

Doctoral physics students have stories about what kinds of actions, behaviours and ways of doing physics allow individuals to be recognized as physicists. Viewing a physics department as a case study, and individual participants as embedded cases, this study used a sociocultural approach to examine the ways doctoral students construct these stories about becoming physicists. Through observations, photo-elicitation, and life history interviews, eleven men and women shared stories about their experiences with physics, and the contexts that have enabled or constrained their trajectories into doctoral physics. The results of this study revealed the salience of recognition in the constitution of physicist identities; but how recognition was achieved often entailed the reproduction or reworking of persistent discourses of gender norms. Various interchangeable forms of competence (technical, analytical, and academic) emerged as assets that can be used to achieve recognition in this physics community. However, competence was not the only means by which one might be recognized as a physicist. Contributing to the possibility for recognition was the performance of stereotypical Discourses for physicist that relied on traditional gender norms for the field. The results demonstrated that achieving recognition as a competent physicist often involved a complex negotiation of gender roles and the practice of physics.     

The ‘critical friend’ role in fostering reflective practices and developing staff cohesion: A case study in a new secondary school,New Zealand

This exploratory case study, arising from a longitudinal project into the establishment of a new secondary school in New Zealand, examines reflective practice through critical friend roles among staff. The paper describes, through the lens of Bourdieu's logic of practice, the implementation of a critical friendship approach linked to the school leaders’ vision and aim regarding learning within open classroom spaces as part of a modern learning environment. Reflective practice involves critiquing, rethinking and reframing existing professional practices, often through a critical friendship approach among school staff within a fostered collaborative and open culture. The researchers interviewed six participants (four leaders and two teachers), observed how the teaching and learning took place in the new open classroom spaces, and reviewed blog posts and the school's website. Findings reveal that critical friendship, as a way to develop staff cohesion, is fostered and supported by the school leaders’ vision and actions, while the physical geography of the new classroom spaces, and the redesign of learning, also make this easier to enact. Staff cohesion, trust and openness to peer scrutiny are hallmark of this emerging school culture. These emerging findings provide some insights into how one new school culture develops cohesion with its stated vision and mission.     

Formal education and pastoralism in western India: inclusion,or adverse incorporation?

The education exclusion of pastoralists is increasingly recognised as a critical area for attention in progress towards Education For All. This article sets out two interlinked propositions as to what underlies barriers to education inclusion for pastoralists in India: a conflation of ‘education’ with schooling; and ambiguity over whether pastoralism is a relevant contemporary livelihood. Taking an adverse incorporation and social exclusion perspective on marginality, policy narratives of education inclusion are explored using its construct of ‘terms of inclusion’. Empirical evidence showing how pastoralism and formal education intersect demonstrates multi-faceted exclusions which simultaneously drive demand for schooling and impose highly adverse terms of incorporation for pastoralism in the globalising economy. Policy strategies currently undervalue ‘education’ as situated learning with a crucial role in pastoralist livelihood sustainability, recognition of which is essential to considering how such ‘education’ can interface with institutional arrangements and tackling the delegitimisation of pastoralism by hegemonic, place-based schooling.