Ordinary ethics: conversation, friendship and democratic possibilities

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Sheldon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Institutional Conditions

This chapter foregrounds my approach to ethics as a ‘new’ ethnographic object. I show how an attentive ethnographic sensibility can uncover forms of interpersonal relationality, which diverge from a politics of interminable opposition. Learning from Veena Das’ work, I turn away from the most visible campus ‘events’ and toward a seemingly mundane student meeting in order to address the following question: how, in a politically polarised context, do friendships and alternative sociabilities become possible? I offer an ethnographic account of a small scale gathering of students involved in an ‘Israel-Palestine Forum’ at Redbrick University. Tracing the interpersonal and institutional conditions of this meeting, I show how its participants cultivated practices of speaking and listening, which enabled us to engage with each other as uncertain, ambivalent and fragmented subjects. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s ethics of ‘parrhesia’ and Stanley Cavell’s insights into the pedagogic dimensions of democratic relationships, I explore how risk-taking, trust and singular friendships enabled the tragic histories of Palestine-Israel to be spoken and reflected upon. The chapter concludes with some comparative insights in relation to my three fieldsites, highlighting how the differential impacts of socio-economic changes to higher education can limit these democratic possibilities within campuses.

1. The Neoliberal Logic of Service-Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Snider Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
Community Based ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Relationship

<?page nr="1"?>Abstract This article investigates the ways in which service-learning manifests within our neoliberal clime, suggesting that service-learning amounts to a foil for neoliberalism, allowing neoliberal political and economic changes while masking their damaging effects. Neoliberalism shifts the relationship between the public and the private, structures higher education, and promotes a façade of community-based university partnerships while facilitating a pervasive regime of control. This article demonstrates that service-learning amounts to an enigma of neoliberalism, making possible the privatization of the public and the individualizing of social problems while masking evidence of market-based societal control. Neoliberal service-learning distances service from teaching and learning, allows market forces to shape university-community partnerships, and privatizes the public through dispossession by accumulation.

scholarly journals An Assessment of Entrepreneurial Affinity in Bangladesh: A Comparative Analysis between Small Live Entrepreneurs and Potential Entrepreneurs of University Level Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Serena Aktar
Keyword(s):  
Family Business ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Random Sampling ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
University Level

This is an empirical and quantitative study conducted on small scale live entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs of university level students of Bangladesh. The main purpose of this study is to identify and examine the factors influencing decision of becoming an entrepreneur. For fulfilling the study purpose, by using simple random sampling technique a total of 600 questionnaires were administered; 300 were distributed to the students who were interested to become entrepreneurs and 300 questionnaires were also distributed to small scale live entrepreneurs who formed their business during the last two years and more. Data were analyzed according to objectivity. The results indicated that need for achievement is highly influential factor in picking up decision of becoming an entrepreneur of potential entrepreneurs of university level students and family business background is the main influential factor in taking decision of becoming an entrepreneur of the small scale live entrepreneurs. Parallel factors, e.g., locus of control, risk taking propensity and proactive personality also acted as the influential factors of creating entrepreneurial affinity in both of them.Journal of Business and Technology (Dhaka) Vol.10(1) 2015; 1-20

scholarly journals The impacts of international, national and institutional conditions for higher education on the primary processes of teaching and learning in the higher education institutions in Vietnam

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Truong Trinh
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
System Quality ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Vietnamese Higher Education ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

This paper describes how the international, national and institutional conditions affect the primary processes of teaching and learning in the Vietnamese higher education institutions. Under such influences, the Vietnamese higher education institutions are facing both challenges and opportunities in terms of the competitions among institutions. establishment of credit-based system, quality assurance and accreditation.

The contradictions of policy and practice: creativity in higher education

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain MacLaren
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Workplace Stress ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Collaborative Exploration ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Creativity And Innovation

Whilst much of the rhetoric of current educational policy champions creativity and innovation, structural reforms and new management practices in higher education run counter to the known conditions under which creativity flourishes. As a review of recent literature suggests, surveillance, performativity, the end of tenure and rising levels of workplace stress are all closing off the space for real creative endeavour, characterised as it is by risk-taking, collaborative exploration and autonomy. Innovation, as conceived in this policy context (i.e., that of the UK and Ireland), is narrow in scope and leaves little room for critical re-examination of the nature of education itself or radical reconceptions of curriculum, raising the question as to whether such are more likely to arise extra mural , from new forms of organisation.

Legal Considerations of Providing Information in Support of Distance Learning by Digital Libraries in Universities in Kenya

2016 ◽  
pp. 57-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Japhet Otike
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
University Education ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Electronic Information Resources ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
Exceptions And Limitations ◽  
Ict Infrastructure

This paper examines the legal challenges librarians managing university libraries in Kenya experience when providing information services in support of distance learning. Kenya is experiencing enormous socio-economic changes. These changes have exerted serious pressure on higher education resulting to phenomenal expansion of university education. Unfortunately, the demand for university education has not translated into infrastructural expansion of universities. While university intake continues to grow at an alarming rate, funding for universities including libraries continue to diminish. An option taken by many universities to meet increased demand for higher education has been to invest in distance education. This option has its own challenges. Distance learning like residential programmes, require adequate financial investment in print and electronic information resources; and ICT infrastructure. Since libraries in Kenya are underfunded, they are compelled to reproduce the scarce materials available with them to serve distant learners as opposed to acquiring additional materials. This arrangement has equally serious challenges. Top on the list is copyright infringement. Without adequate exceptions and limitations to copyright restrictions, university authorities and librarians are likely to be charged for infringement.

scholarly journals Student Perceptions of Higher Education and Apprenticeship Alignment

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Decker
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Career And Technical ◽  
Baby Boomer Generation ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Master Craftsman

Since its inception in medieval Europe, apprenticeships have played a vital role in knowledge transfer from one generation to the next. In a mutually beneficial relationship, the master craftsman passes along years of skill and wisdom to the younger apprentice while gaining the youthful, energetic infusion of labor from the burgeoning new learner. In the 21st century, the concept remains largely unchanged, but after years of falling by the wayside, the United States is experiencing a renaissance in the apprenticeship movement. For generations, apprenticeships were marginalized in favor of a more traditional form of classroom-based education now termed Career and Technical Education. However, with economic changes activated by a national ‘skills gap’ and a retiring Baby Boomer generation, the country faces a potential crisis if a skilled workforce is not trained quickly. With just over 500,000 participants nationally, apprenticeship pales in comparison to the 17 million students currently enrolled in higher education. Some of the fastest growing sectors of the American economy such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and healthcare, have only a few thousand apprentices each. The solution to this challenge lies with the alignment of both methodologies. This article explores the subject of integrating apprenticeship growth and the higher education sector.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Small-Scale Fishermen’s Adaptation Toward the Impacts of Climate Change: Reflections From Malaysian Fishers

SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824401986420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah ◽  
Hayrol Azril Mohamed Shaffril ◽  
Azimi Hamzah ◽  
Bahaman Abu Samah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Multistage Cluster Sampling ◽  
Adaptation Practices ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

This study aims to examine the influence of individual differences on the small-scale fishermen’s climate change adaptation practices toward climate change. This is a descriptive correlational study on 400 small-scale fishermen living in four climate change–affected areas in Malaysia, which were selected based on a multistage cluster sampling. In conclusion, it was found that age, income, and fishing experience recorded a significant relationship with climate change adaptation practices, whereas their household size did not yield any relationship with the adaptation practices. Furthermore, a number of small-scale fishermen who use fisheries technologies, have alternative jobs, and possess higher education have recorded better climate change adaptation practices compared with nonusers, full-timers, and less educated fishermen. Several recommendations were made to assist the concerned parties in developing better adaptation strategies that are fitted to the fishermen’s needs, interests, and abilities.

scholarly journals Assessing Four Budget-Balancing Strategies in Higher Education

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur M. Hauptman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Tuition Fees ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Budget Balancing ◽  
Tuition Fee

Higher education institutions currently face serious challenges from cutbacks in government funding worldwide. In responce to this, four strategies are available: capping enrollments and cutting costs, changing the mix of enrollments, increasing tuition fees for existing students, and increasing enrollments while maintaining current tuition-fee levels. Institutions need to decide their response based on their institutional conditions.

scholarly journals Students’ perceptions of assessed seminar performance in law

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Laura Anne Bliss
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Speaking ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Student Attendance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Form ◽  
Key Skills

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine assessed seminars in law modules across first-, second- and third-year students at a higher education academy in Lancashire (England). This form of assessment is essentially a 1 h tutorial, where students are given marks for their oral contribution to class discussions. Assessment is a feature in all degree programmes conducted throughout higher education institutions. Recently, a move has been made from traditional examinations and coursework to assess students learning, to more inclusive forms of assessment following the changing nature of those entering higher education. Design/methodology/approach Using a quantitative survey, participants were asked to answer ten questions on their perceptions of assessed seminars as a form of assessment. To enhance the findings, interviews also took place with members of staff who had experience in teaching both assessed and non-assessed seminars. Findings This research found that although some students were daunted by assessed seminars, over the course of three years, their key legal skills had improved. Key skills enhanced through assessed seminars include communication-based skills and public speaking, whilst also being a positive form of assessment that maintains student retention. Research limitations/implications This is a small-scale research project, completed in the fulfilment of the authors PgCert. However, it does provide a template for other legal institutions to follow. Originality/value With a growing concern across the higher education sector around student retention, assessed seminars are proven to be a form of assessment that ensures student attendance, whilst enhancing skills ready for the workplace.

scholarly journals Reflecting on and Articulating Teaching Experiences: Academics Learning to Teach in Practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Mette Sandoff ◽  
Kerstin Nilsson ◽  
Britt-Marie Apelgren ◽  
Sylva Frisk ◽  
Shirley Booth
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Teaching Experiences ◽  
Teaching Knowledge ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Interpretative Analysis ◽  
Short Courses

Higher education teaching demands theoretical and practical knowledge. It goes without saying, a strong knowledge of one’s subject is essential. But while teaching principles are generally gleaned from short courses, it is one’s own teaching that offer the main ground for gaining practical teaching knowledge. To examine this claim we have conducted an interview-study in which Swedish business administration academics have described where they learned something about their teaching. An interpretative analysis led to six different lessons learned, ranging from the personal, through the pedagogical, to the interpersonal. We claim there are three necessary opportunities to turn the experience into an occasion for learning: reflection over experience, the opportunity to articulate one’s experience, and a forum for sharing; particularly experiences connected with risk-taking. We conclude that academics need opportunities to reflect on and articulate their learning experiences related to the practices of teaching, and to share and discuss them with colleagues. 

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