Repositioning the Subject Discipline for an "Academic-Enhancement" Model of Widening Participation: A Philosophical Sketch

Autor/in	O'Brien, Mark
Titel	Repositioning the Subject Discipline for an "Academic-Enhancement" Model of Widening Participation: A Philosophical Sketch
Quelle	In: Active Learning in Higher Education, 14 (2013) 3, S.241-250 (10 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1469-7874
DOI	10.1177/1469787413498036
Schlagwörter	Nontraditional Students; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Learner Engagement; Foreign Countries; Intellectual Disciplines; Social Influences; Teacher Role; Teacher Student Relationship; Student Participation; Student Role; Teaching Methods; Critical Thinking; Student Characteristics; Cultural Influences; Science and Society; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Ausland; Geisteswissenschaften; Sozialer Einfluss; Lehrerrolle; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung; Schülermitarbeit; Schülermitwirkung; Studentische Mitbestimmung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Kritisches Denken; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Großbritannien
Abstract	This article addresses a question for those seeking to deepen engagement with nontraditional students for strategies of widening participation in the higher education setting. The question is as follows: how can the academic subject be made more "open" to what the student (and therefore also the nontraditional student) can bring to it? "Openness" is intended in two senses here that each generates its own corollary questions. First, there is the question of how the academic subject as a discipline can be seen as open to society and culture: and to the "world" of the student. Second, how can the teaching of the academic subject be opened up to what the student has to offer: what forms of pedagogy do we need? Reflecting philosophically, the article outlines responses to each of these questions. Responding to the first question, with particular focus on Western science tradition, concepts from debates with the philosophy of science are employed to highlight the interactions between society and the academic discipline in its real historical development. In response to the second question, the tradition of Critical Pedagogy is foregrounded as offering the types of openness to student involvement in and contribution to the academic discipline. Such approaches, it is suggested, can create spaces in which nontraditional students, by virtue of their social experiences, cultural identities and personal characteristics, can become more deeply engaged in the academic and intellectual life of their chosen academic subject. The article then combines a number of theoretical perspectives to suggest that the social and cultural mix within the student body is something that warrants renewed attention for academic life and work. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10