scholarly journals Social responsibility and higher education: just a market target or a real educational challenge? An answer from the trenches

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Maite Ines Jiménez ◽  
Gladys Antonia Jiménez ◽  
Carmen Márquez ◽  
Carolina Astudillo ◽  
Loreto Morales ◽  
...  

Currently, the globalization of local problems is both surprising and concerning, as the systemic impact of these problems undermines local territories and directly affects people and the environment. As these issues are inevitable, public and private initiatives have tried to find intercontinental socially responsible solutions to fight pollution, poverty and corruption, among other problems. In this sense, it is possible to find in South America a fertile field to grow awareness, but sometimes this useful marketing resource is unable to reach students within the classroom or change their views of their future professional practice. In this way, social responsibility coexists with academic capitalism practices. This article aims to show how anchoring learning in social responsibility and ethics can transform the classroom. From the students’ narratives, it can be observed that they changed their view of their professional role and transformed their discourses, integrating consideration of others into their thinking. The results lead us to question how universities influence the way in which their graduates affect the world and vice versa. The classroom, a critical, reflexive and transforming space, is the field in which this question can be answered.   How to cite this article: JIMÉNEZ, Maite; JIMÉNEZ, Gladys; MÁRQUEZ, Carmen; ASTUDILLO, Carolina; MORALES, Loreto; GONZÁLEZ, Lorena; HERMOSILLA, Jonathan. Social responsibility and higher education: just a market target or a real educational challenge? An answer from the trenches. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South v. 2, n. 2, p. 71-89, Sept. 2018. Available at: http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=37&path%5B%5D=26   This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 483
Author(s):  
Libena Tetrevova ◽  
Jan Vavra ◽  
Simona Munzarova

Higher education institutions play a fundamental role in the scientific, economic, social, and cultural development of each and every society. In view of new challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of their social responsibility and ability to effectively communicate the socially–responsible activities which are performed is growing. The aim of this article is to analyze and evaluate the scope and structure of socially-responsible activities communicated on the websites of public higher education institutions operating in a small post-communist country where education plays a traditional role—the Czech Republic, and to formulate recommendations for improvement of the level of communication of social responsibility by higher education institutions. Primary data was obtained using latent analysis of the content of the websites of all public higher education institutions operating in the Czech Republic. The CE3SPA method was applied. The survey which was performed shows that the level of communication of social responsibility by higher education institutions in the Czech Republic is low. Activities in the field of economic and social responsibility are communicated in the greatest scope. On the contrary, activities in the field of environmental responsibility are communicated the least. Public higher education institutions in the Czech Republic should therefore apply the measures proposed in the article, these also being transferrable to practice in other countries.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Ian David Jones ◽  
Geraldine Brady

The purpose of this paper is to consider the following two notions; (1) that the use of ‘informal education pedagogies’ within teaching and learning in the ‘academy’ can both support the learning process within the ‘classroom’ but also transcend to society via students; and (2) that synergies exist between informal education and social pedagogical concepts. The discussions are situated from the perspective of an experienced practitioner and academic who is currently teaching youth related degree courses within a Higher Education Institution. This experiential learning has informed knowledge acquisition, understanding and skills application from professional practice to the teaching environment. An experiential learning perspective will be the primary method adopted; the value of this paper lies in its potential to re-affirm that degree courses which embed a ‘practice the practice’ approach in their teaching methodology support the embedding of core values of the said discipline. The paper argues that the ethically value-based principles and practice of informal education pedagogy, and social pedagogy, are relevant for the current and post COVID-19 pandemic environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 01053
Author(s):  
Ana Vale ◽  
Nazaré Coimbra ◽  
Alcina Martins ◽  
José Oliveira

Research background: At the beginning of the year 2020, there was a shift in strategies and instruments in a short period of time, to respond to a situation of impossibility of face-to-face teaching. Thus, it is essential to reflect on an educational challenge, whose impacts continue on a global scale. Purpose of the article: The present article aims to analyse how the pandemic situation has been influencing education and learning in Higher Education. Methods: Having as context a higher education institution located in the municipality of Porto, a case study was developed that analysed teaching and learning methodologies applied throughout the 2019/20 academic year. For this research, a qualitative methodology was used, with semi-structured interviews with five teachers and opinion essays from nine students, with fourteen participants. The analysis was carried out using the Nvivo software, triangulating the perceptions of the two groups of interviewees. Findings & Value added: The results allow us to conclude that the participants are aware that collaborative work and the use of appropriate technological resources were essential to ensure teaching and distance learning, including the evaluation process, despite mandatory confinement. Globally, the perceptions of the emergence of a new educational paradigm are confirmed, based on the massive use of technological resources, which propelled the innovation of the teaching and learning process. Nevertheless, both groups recognize that distance learning impoverishes the fundamental interpersonal dynamics in Higher Education.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Muaaz Bhamjee

Dr Muaaz Bhamjee, a senior lecturer at the University of Johannesburg's Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, reviews Disrupting higher education curriculum: undoing cognitive damage (2016) edited by Michael Anthony Samuel, Rubby Dhunpath and Nyna Amin. How to cite this book review: BHAMJEE, Muaaz. Book review: Samuel, MA, Dhunpath, R & Amin, N. (eds.). 2016. Disrupting higher education curriculum: undoing cognitive damage. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South, v. 2, n. 1, p. 145-147, Apr. 2018. Available at: http://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=55   This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Alison Kay Reedy ◽  
María Lucía Guerrero Farías

This paper presents a systematic review of the extent and nature of teaching and learning research in higher education in Colombia over the past two decades and shines light on a body of literature from the South that has been relatively invisible on the global stage. The study found that the volume of SOTL taking place in higher education in Colombia is greater than indicated by previous research, but is taking place unevenly across the higher education landscape. This paper explores the challenges faced by Colombian scholars in engaging in and publishing teaching and learning research. The findings show that while teaching and learning research is happening in higher education in Colombia there are major issues in identifying and locating that research due to a lack of consistent terminology to describe SOTL. The findings also show that the nature of research emerging from Colombia is highly aligned with the global North in terms of methods, methodologies and themes. This paper concludes with recommendations on how to make Colombian learning and teaching research more visible and to reflect to a greater extent the diversity and richness in teaching and learning that takes places in Colombia.   How to cite this article:  REEDY, Alison Kay; GUERRERO FARÍAS; María Lucía. Teaching and learning research in higher education in Colombia: a literature review. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South. v. 3, n. 2, p. 10-30, Sept. 2019. Available at: https://sotl-south-journal.net/?journal=sotls&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=113&path%5B%5D=44  This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Sergio Celis

In this review of Nancy Fraser and participatory parity: Reframing social justice in South African higher education, edited by Vivienne Bozalek, Dorothee Hölscher, and Michalinos Zembylas, book reviewer Sergio Celis discusses why this book is an invitation to reimagine our participation in the higher education field, as scholars, teachers, and citizens. Keywords: Nancy Fraser, Participatory parity, South Africa, Higher education, Book review How to cite ths article: Celis, S. 2021. Nancy Fraser and participatory parity: Reframing social justice in South African higher education, edited by Vivienne Bozalek, Dorothee Hölscher, and Michalinos Zembylas. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South. 5(1): 144-148. DOI: 10.36615/sotls.v5i1.178. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Nur Hidayah Che Ahmat ◽  
Muhammad Arif Aizat Bashir ◽  
Ahmad Rashidy Razali ◽  
Salmiah Kasolang

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the education sector locally and globally especially in teaching and learning delivery methods as most universities have adopted online platforms. The present situation is not only challenging but also tests the flexibility of the existing education system. With the help of technology, the existing traditional education system could be more flexible to enable more individuals from around the world to access education. The latest revolution in online education, micro-credential, is growing interest among public and private universities worldwide, including Malaysia. However, to date, little scholarly work is found related to micro-credentials in higher education. This conceptual paper presents an overview of micro-credential and the challenges and opportunities of offering micro-credential certification in the form of digital badges to the national and global market. Recommendations are made to multiple stakeholders (e.g., higher education providers, employers) to enhance the use of certifications for graduate employability. Ideas for further research are also presented.   Keywords: Digital badges, Digital credentialing, Higher-education, Micro-credential, Online certification


Author(s):  
Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez ◽  
M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández ◽  
M. Luisa Pajuelo-Moreno

The issue of Corporate Social Responsibility has received increasing attention over the last few years. Organizations are introducing socially responsible practices in their strategies in order to be more competitive. At the same time, universities are also aware of the importance of the triple organizational vision (economic, social and environmental) and they are making a lot of actions to improve their performance. In this chapter, the authors state that innovation in Higher Education is an important fact and express the experience of innovation from socially responsible universities. These entities have to know their current state and the future demands from the different stakeholders with the intention of satisfy them. This chapter studies how to drive innovation and how to structure it at the university context, how to inform about University Social Responsibility and, finally, the benefits for socially responsible universities. Finally, in this chapter the authors link three important topics today: Corporate Social Responsibility, Universities, and Innovation. As a result, they propose a set of aspects in which Universities could innovate by improving their social responsibility.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Barnett ◽  
Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela

Purpose This paper aims to propose a thesis about the historical evolution of the relationship of the European University in relation to the idea of social responsibility. Design/methodology/approach This paper is philosophical, conceptual and theoretical and in proffering a bold thesis, has an argumentative character appropriate to that style. Findings Three stages can be identified over the past 200 years in the relationship between the university and the matter of social responsibility, being successively tacit, weak and now hybrid. In the present stage, new spaces are opening for the university to transcend social responsibility, moving to a worldly and earthly responsibility. However, this new stage is having to contend against the university in an age of cognitive capitalism. As such, a large but hitherto unnoticed culture war is present, the outcome of which is unclear. Research limitations/implications The scholarship informing this paper is wide-ranging and multi-disciplinary (history, social theory, philosophy, critical higher education studies, literature on the idea of the university, comparative higher education, ethics and sociology of knowledge), as it has to be in sustaining the large thesis being contended for, and it has broad hinterlands, which can only lightly be intimated. Practical implications The key implication is that the idea of social responsibility is currently being construed too narrowly and that, therefore, universities – in developing their corporate strategies and missions – should be more ambitious and set their responsibility goals against horizons that go well beyond the social realm. Originality/value The thesis developed here is original in offering a three-stage theory of a 200-year evolution of the socially responsible European university. A new stage of an Earthly responsibility is glimpsed but it is having to contend with a continuing performative university, so leading to a hidden culture war and such that the future of university social responsibility is in doubt.


Author(s):  
Валентина В. Яценко

The paper seeks to explore the current issues that deepen the understanding of the benefits of social responsibility in higher education institutions. In particular, it is observed that interpreting social responsibility as a philosophical category or an ideological concept is limited to identifying only the boundaries of the company's responsibility for its effects on society and the environment. However, an emphasis is put that to implement a socially responsible strategy, a company should build a model to manage social responsibility and its integration into the key business processes: production, sales management, logistics, and personnel management. The hypothesis of the study is that making use of the benefits in developing social responsibility in higher education institutions will contribute to boosting their competitiveness in the educational services market. The purpose of the study is to provide insights into the benefits of developing social responsibility in higher education institutions in the educational services market. The methodological basis of the study is the neo-institutional theory which assumes concluding contracts (transactions) between counterparties based on a cycle of "negotiations, accepting and fulfilling of obligations"; an institutional paradigm as a process of interaction between the government and the society which negotiates, accepts and fulfils obligations as to organizational and financial involvement in socially responsible activities. The findings have identified cause and effect relationships that determine the terms and the degree of shaping social responsibility in higher education institutions which are of a two-fold character. It is argued that the maturity of social responsibility of the government and higher education institutions significantly enhances their competitiveness. The results of research provide evidence on the existence of certain University social responsibility patterns. However, it is noted that at the early development phase, certain volatility is observed in cause and effect relationships between social responsibility factors, causes and drivers in society as a whole and in terms of differentiated business units including higher education institutions.


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