Critical Approaches To The Study Of Higher Education

An essential guide to incorporating critical research into higher education scholarship. Winner of the Outstanding Publication Award of the Post-secondary Education Division of the American Educational Research Association Critical theory has much to teach us about higher education. By linking critical models, methods, and research tools with an advocacy-driven vision of the central challenges facing postsecondary researchers and staff, Critical Approaches to the Study of Higher Education makes a significant—and long overdue—contribution to the development of the field. The contributors argue that, far from being overly abstract, critical tools and methods are central to contemporary scholarship and can have practical policy implications when brought to the study of higher education. They argue that critical research design and critical theories help scholars see beyond the normative models and frameworks that have long limited our understanding of students, faculty, institutions, the organization and governance of higher education, and the policies that shape the postsecondary arena. A rigorous and invaluable guide for researchers seeking innovative approaches to higher education and the morass of traditionally functionalist, rational, and neoliberal thinking that mars the field, this book is also essential for instructors who wish to incorporate the lessons of critical scholarship into their course development, curriculum, and pedagogy.

Online learning has become an increasing presence in higher education course design, with most courses combining physical real time engagement with asynchronous learning activity. Now, however, there is a greater need for this one-stop guide to critical practice in this area, as we rethink the role of digital in the social practices of university learning and teaching. This book provides a critical and contemporary ‘deep dive’ into the socio-material, technological and pedagogical practices at work in virtual and digital higher education. Examples are drawn from across and between disciplinary pedagogies with a focus on blended and hybrid approaches and the pivot to fully online made urgent by Covid-19 but drawing on existing best practice. The Critical Practice in Higher Education series provides a scholarly and practical entry point for academics into key areas of higher education practice. Each book in the series explores an individual topic in depth, providing an overview in relation to current thinking and practice, informed by recent research. The series will be of interest to those engaged in the study of higher education, those involved in leading learning and teaching or working in academic development, and individuals seeking to explore particular topics of professional interest. Through critical engagement, this series aims to promote an expanded notion of being an academic – connecting research, teaching, scholarship, community engagement and leadership – while developing confidence and authority.

This book unites a dynamic group of scholars who examine linkages among local, national, and international levels of educational policy and practice. Utilizing multi-sited, ethnographic approaches, the essays explore vertical interactions across diverse levels of policy and practice while prompting horizontal comparisons across twelve sites in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. The vertical case studies focus on a range of topics, including participatory development, the politics of culture and language, neoliberal educational reforms, and education in post-conflict settings. Editors Vavrus and Bartlett contribute to comparative theory and practice by demonstrating the advantages of thinking vertically.

This volume informs the growing number of educational policy scholars on the use of critical theoretical frameworks in their analyses. It offers insights on which theories are appropriate within the area of critical educational policy research and how theory and method interact and are applied in critical policy analyses. Highlighting how different critical theoretical frameworks are used in educational policy research to reshape and redefine the way scholars approach the field, the volume offers work by emerging and senior scholars in the field of educational policy who apply critical frameworks to their research. The chapters examine a wide range of current educational policy topics through different critical theoretical lenses, including critical race theory, critical discourse analysis, postmodernism, feminist poststructuralism, critical theories related to LGBTQ issues, and advocacy approaches.

This volume provides a critical examination of the status of women and gender in higher education today. Despite the increasing numbers of women in higher education, gendered structures continue to hinder women’s advancement in academia. This book goes beyond the numbers to examine the issues facing those members of academia with non-dominant gender identities. The authors analyze higher education structures from a range of perspectives and offer recommendations at individual and institutional levels to encourage activism and advance equality in academia.

Care shapes people's everyday lives and relationships and caring relations and practices influence the economies of different societies. This interdisciplinary book takes a nuanced and context-sensitive approach to exploring caring relationships, identities and practices within and across a variety of cultural, familial, geographical and institutional arenas.

This book addresses essential educational dimensions of the university that are often overlooked, not only by prevailing discourses and practices but also by standard critical approaches to higher education. Each chapter takes a different approach to the articulation of a ‘post-critical’ view of the university, and focuses on a specific dimension, including lectures, academic freedom, and the student experience. The ‘post-critical’ attitude offers an affirmative approach to the constitutive educational practices of the university. It is ‘post-’ because it is a movement in thought that comes after the critical, which, in its modern and postmodern forms is considered, in Latour’s terms, to have ‘run out of steam’. It is an attempt to articulate new conceptual and methodological tools that help us grasp our current conditions. It is not anti-critique; but rather than seeking to debunk current practices, this affirmative approach offers perspectives that shed new light on what we do as educators, on the essence of our educational practices, and on their immanent value. The focus on the educational, then, applies not only to practices that happen to take place in the educational space of the university, but also to those practices whose value we can understand in educational terms.

This edited volume examines the diverse Latinx/a/o student populations in higher education. Offering innovative approaches to understand the asset-based contributions of Latinx/a/o students and the communities they come from, this book showcases scholars from various disciplines, including, psychology, sociology, higher education, history, gender studies, and beyond. Chapter authors argue that various forms of knowledge and culturally relevant methodologies can help advance and promote the success and navigation of Latinx/a/o students. The contributors of this book challenge the deficit framing often found in higher education, and expand conceptualizations, theories, and methodologies used in the study of Latinx/a/o student populations to incorporate AfroLatinx/a/o perspectives, center Central American students in research, and bring Undocumented Critical Theory into the conversation. This important work provides a guide for higher education and student affairs scholars and practitioners, helping create knowledge to better understand Latinx/a/o student populations in higher education.

The Trouble with Higher Education is a powerful and topical critique of the Higher Education system in the UK, with relevance to countries with similar systems. Based on the authors’ experiences that span over 30+ years of fieldwork, the issues discussed focus on the problems facing the principle responsibilities of universities: teaching, learning and research. The first half of the book identifies a number of problems that have followed the growth of mass education. It examines their causes and explains their damaging effects. The second half of the book offers a broad vision and makes a number of practical suggestions for ameliorating the problems and improving higher education. Supported by research, the suggestions include: ways of managing universities; proper inspection; better ways of organising students’ learning; improving teaching and learning; better approaches to assessment, and the proper use of ideas such as learning outcomes. Topics discussed include: Chronic under-funding, the replacement of student grants with loans and the introduction of tuition fees. The growth of managerialism. The emphasis on accountability and decline of trust. The growth of a competitive, market ethos. Modular degrees, knowledge treated as a commodity and students seen as customers. The drift towards a two-tiered system, with teaching colleges and research universities. Casualisation of the academic profession. The Trouble with Higher Education is aimed primarily at a professional audience of academics, educationalists, managers, administrators and policy makers, but would interest anyone concerned about higher education. It is suited to professional development courses, and Master’s and doctoral level studies.

The importance of critical thinking has surged as academics in higher education realize that many students, upon entering college, lack the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed. While much has been written regarding the ‘lack’ of critical thinking, less has been written on the success of methods implemented to develop this fundamental skill. The Handbook of Research on Advancing Critical Thinking in Higher Education explores the effective methods and tools being used to integrate the development of critical thinking skills in both undergraduate and graduate studies. Due to the difficulties associated with teaching critical thinking skills to learners of any age, this publication is a crucial addition to the scholarly reference works available to pre-service and early career teachers, seasoned educational professionals, professors across disciplines, curriculum specialists, and educational administrators.