Values In Higher Education Teaching

Values in Higher Education Teaching explores the way in which teaching, research, learning and higher education are a values enterprise and that an exploration of values is necessary to work out the full purposes of a higher education to guide practices and help academics understand academic work. Values inform thinking and actions and although this is well recognized, values are seldom brought to the forefront of inquiries as practices in higher education are developed. This book argues that by putting values firmly on the agenda of those who teach, work and learn in higher education the academic profession can open up new spaces for value conversations and potentially transform the way in which they practice. Values in Higher Education Teaching is key reading for university lecturers, those with responsibility for leadership and management of higher education and postgraduates studying for higher degrees in higher education. There are few books that directly address the broad and complex question of values in teaching in higher education yet at the same time values are widely recognised as permeating all our practices. In this sense an accepted part of academic life remains in the realm of ‘taken for granted’ rather than being consciously and explicitly explored and practiced. The book deals with the idea of values in both a philosophical and practical manner. It is based on original research and uses both empirical data and theory to address teaching values in higher education and the current values of the higher education system. It explores what academics have valued historically in teaching and also addresses the major reforms of the last 20 years. Reforms have essentially changed the nature of western higher education but have made little real difference to the outcomes for student learning and society whereas teaching with values in all subjects has the potential to radically alter student experiences.

Providing a much-needed global perspective-based analysis of the issue of educational values, this volume examines how higher education cultures are embedded within and heavily influenced by national cultures, norms, and structures through the lenses of Teaching, Learning, Curricula, and Assessment.

Some revision of public schooling history is necessary to challenge the dominant mythology that public schools were established on the grounds of values-neutrality. In fact, those responsible for the foundations of public education in Australia were sufficiently pragmatic to know that its success relied on its charter being in accord with public sentiment. Part of the pragmatism was in convincing those whose main experience of education had been through some form of church-based education that state-based education was capable of meeting the same ends. Hence, the documents of the 1870s and 1880s that contained the charters of the various state and territory systems witness to a breadth of vision about the scope of education. Beyond the standard goals of literacy and numeracy, education was said to be capable of assuring personal morality for each individual and a suitable citizenry for the soon-to-be new nation. As an instance, the NSW Public Instr- tion Act of 1880 (cf. NSW, 1912), under the rubric of “religious teaching”, stressed the need for students to be inculcated into the values of their society, including understanding the role that religious values had played in forming that society’s legal codes and social ethics. The notion, therefore, that public education is part of a deep and ancient heritage around values neutrality is mistaken and in need of se- ous revision. The evidence suggests that public education’s initial conception was of being the complete educator, not only of young people’s minds but of their inner character as well.

What are the aims of higher education? What are the strategies necessary for institutional improvement? How might the student experience be improved? The emergence of the discourse around learning and teaching is one of the more remarkable phenomena of the last decade in higher education. Increasingly, universities are being required to pay greater attention to improving teaching and enhancing student learning. This book will help universities and colleges achieve these goals through an approach to institutional change that is well founded on both research and practical experience. By placing learning at the centre of organizational change, this book challenges many of the current assumptions about management of teaching, supporting students, the separation of research and teaching, the use of information technology and quality systems. It demonstrates how trust can be restored within higher education while advancing the need for change based on principles of equity and academic values for students and teachers alike. Improving Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is key reading for anyone interested in the development of teaching and learning in higher education, as well as policy makers.

Located within the global changing contexts of higher education in the 21st century, this book examines the reform of the teaching and learning practices in Vietnamese universities under the Higher Education Reform Agenda and the influence of internationalization on the higher education sector. Specifically, it analyses the motives, current implementation, effectiveness, and challenges of these reforms, especially from student perspectives. Analyzing approximately 4300 survey responses and interviews with students, the book covers a range of key issues related to teaching and learning in higher education which have attracted attention in recent years, including: The learning environment Student support and first-year transition Student-centred teaching The use of credit-based curricula The use of information and communication technology At-home internationalization of higher education Assessment and feedback Work placements Informal learning via extra curricular activities Students’ perception of the values of university education.

Originally published in 1974 Values and Moral Development in Higher Education deals practically with various aspects of the impact of higher educational processes, recognising a need for these to be inter-related and understood within a common framework. It takes the form of a set of contributions whose authors have sought to relate their perspectives and experiences by reference to John Wilson’s philosophical analyses of the nature of moral maturity and the possible aims of moral education, and, where possible, to each other.

Values and Virtues in Higher Education Research centres on practitioners studying and researching their practices in higher education settings, in order to improve those practices for the benefit of others and themselves. Making research public is a key aspect of ensuring the quality of educational research and educational practices: Values and Virtues in Higher Education Research raises questions and develops conversations about why higher education practitioners should study and improve their work, how this may be done, and what might be some of the benefits of doing so. What we do as practitioners is influenced by and linked with what we value, what we believe is good. Improving practices therefore involves becoming aware of and interrogating the values that enter into and inform those practices; a study of practices becomes a study of the relationships between the practices in question and their values base. From an international group of contributors in this growing field, this book provides strong theoretical resources and case study material that shows how this transformation may be achieved, including topics such as: Theorising practices to show personal and organisational accountability Developing inter-professional and inter-disciplinary dialogues for social transformation Establishing communities of inquiry in higher education and other workplace settings Reconceptualising professional education as research-informed practice Locating educational theory in the real world for human and environmental wellbeing Showing the evolution of theory through critical engagement, this text will be a valuable companion for lecturers, students and professional developers in higher education. This book will form core reading for those who are interested in engaging in practice-based research, and as additional reading for those whose aim is to broaden their thinking in relation to the role of values and virtues in educational research. Jean McNiff is an independent researcher and writer, Professor of Educational Research at York St John University, and Visiting Professor at Oslo and Akershus University College, Beijing Normal University and Ningxia Teachers University. She is also the author of key texts Action Research: Principles and Practice, You and Your Action Research Project and Writing Up Your Action Research Project.

Reflective Teaching in Higher Education is the definitive textbook for reflective teachers in higher education. Informed by the latest research in this area, the book offers extensive support for those at the start of an academic career and career-long professionalism for those teaching in higher education. Written by an international collaborative author team of higher education experts led by Paul Ashwin, Reflective Teaching in Higher Education offers two levels of support: - practical guidance for day-to-day teaching, covering key issues such as strategies for improving learning, teaching and assessment, curriculum design, relationships, communication, and inclusion; and - evidence-informed 'principles' to aid understanding of how theories can effectively inform teaching practices, offering ways to develop a deeper understanding of teaching and learning in higher education. Case studies, activities, research briefings and annotated key readings are provided throughout. The author team: Paul Ashwin (Lancaster University, UK) | David Boud (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia) | Kelly Coate (King's Learning Institute, King's College London, UK) | Fiona Hallett (Edge Hill University, UK) | Elaine Keane (National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland) | Kerri-Lee Krause (Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia) | Brenda Leibowitz (University of Johannesburg, South Africa) | Iain MacLaren (National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland) | Jan McArthur (Lancaster University, UK) | Velda McCune (University of Edinburgh, UK) | Michelle Tooher National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland) This book forms part of the Reflective Teaching series, edited by Andrew Pollard and Amy Pollard, offering support for reflective practice in early, primary, secondary, further, vocational, university and adult sectors of education. Reflective Teaching in Higher Education and its website, www.reflectiveteaching.co.uk, promote the expertise of teaching within higher education.