Arts and Humanities in Higher Education current issue

Editorial: Impact: More Violence and Exploitation for the Arts and Humanities

Phipps, A. — 2009-09-23

' Making a World that is Worth Living In': Humanities teaching and the formation of practical reasoning

Walker, M. — 2009-09-23

This article considers humanities teaching as a vital space where students might develop their capability as ‘practical reasoners’. The importance of this for self-development, but also for society and democratic life, is considered, while the economic purposes which currently dominate higher education are critiqued. An example is taken from the teaching of history to show how lecturers teach and students learn secular intellectual practices under pedagogical arrangements of communicative reasoning and ontological becoming.

Continuing Professional Development in Higher Education: The role of the scholarship of teaching and learning

Elton, L. — 2009-09-23

It is argued that Humboldt’s original definition of ‘scholarship’ (Wissenschaft), as well as Humboldt’s concept of the purpose of a university, continue to be relevant — with appropriate adaptations. They should be extended to include not only a unity between the practice of teaching and learning and research into teaching and learning, but also an overall unity of teaching and research, i.e. disciplinary as well as generic teaching and learning, together with disciplinary research and research into teaching and learning: all in the service of scholarship (Wissenschaft). This should be accompanied by appropriate academic staff development and training, framed on the basis of evaluated experience and going well beyond Humboldt, leading to a postgraduate qualification.

Influences on the Teaching of Arabic and Islamic Studies in UK Higher Education: Connections and disconnections

Bernasek, L., Canning, J. — 2009-09-23

Middle Eastern Studies, modern foreign languages and Islamic Studies have been recognized by the UK government as strategically important subjects in higher education. Motivated by government concerns about lack of knowledge about the Middle East and the radicalization of British Muslims, this designation has complex implications for the teaching and learning of Arabic language and Islamic Studies. Factors influencing the teaching of these disciplines in the UK are characterized by connections and disconnections which are historical, political, geographical and motivational.

Toward a Productive and Creative Curriculum in Architecture

Wang, T. — 2009-09-23

A model of curriculum development that enables students of architecture in the developing nation of Taiwan to draw on their own life experiences in formulating their own architectural education is proposed. Such an ideology recognizes that while education certainly includes the acquisition of the technical skills needed to ply one’s trade, its more important aspect is the development of the ability to learn throughout life and to apply those skills creatively as social, economic, and cultural contexts change. An architecture curriculum that accomplishes this end will draw on existing designs and encourage input from a wide variety of disciplines and cultures, especially including the humanities and social sciences. In particular, it will recognize the philosophical tradition of epistemology and the epistemological tradition of constructivism. Moreover, such an architectural curriculum will shift its focus of study from the modern tradition of aesthetics to the postmodern concern for environmental ethics. For both practical and cultural reasons, these changes will not be easy, but they are necessary.

Creativity and Conflict: How theory and practice shape student identities in design education

Tynan, J., New, C. — 2009-09-23

By exploring the role of student identities in shaping attitudes to learning, this study asks how design students draw on experience to work across theory and practice. It explores how a specific group of design undergraduate students in a UK university perform on two distinct learning experiences on their course: work placement and dissertation. In particular, it considers the context for learning: the value placed on practice and scholarship; the role of social identity; links between art and design education. Using Bourdieu’s concept of ‘habitus’ the discussion considers the role of experience and motivation in learning in design education, and questions how useful historical divisions drawn between theory and practice are to student learning in design education. By questioning the value of internal disciplinary conflicts to student learning, it asks how we distinguish between vital pedagogic processes and divisive practices in higher education.

Academy and the Real World: Developing realistic notions of career in the performing arts

Bennett, D. — 2009-09-23

Performing arts courses within the university sector retain a necessarily strong practical focus as they prepare graduates for work within a highly competitive environment. However, the reality for graduates is a world in which performance is only one component of the myriad activities required to build a sustainable career. This article reports findings from two studies which investigated work patterns, education and professional development of practising and intending musicians and dance artists. Data gathered using a questionnaire, focus groups and interviews reveal disparity between undergraduate curricula, the career expectations of students and the realities of professional practice. Alignment between the results of the music and dance studies suggests the potential for the collaborative delivery of both initial and lifelong education. The findings are discussed within the context of protean careers, and the article advocates the potential for practising artist academics to engage students in career development and the formation of their professional identities.

Musical Styles as Communities of Practice Challenges for learning, teaching and assessment of music in higher education

Hewitt, A. — 2009-09-23

The last three decades have been marked by significant expansion of music education within higher education, the outcomes of which can be seen in the increased numbers of students studying music and in the diversity of activity and purpose within music courses. This article interrogates the relationship between stylistic diversity and music provision, specifically in relation to teaching and assessment, and considers music styles as examples of ‘communities of practice’ into which students may be inducted through formal and informal means.

Understanding the Transition from School to University in Music and Music Technology

Winterson, J., Russ, M. — 2009-09-23

This article considers the transition from school to university in Music and Music Technology, continuing the discussion of transitional issues which began in Volume 2 of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education. The focus of the article is a survey of undergraduates, examining areas that were key to their first experience of studying for a degree, such as entry qualifications, course choice, career prospects, difficult aspects of the course and aspects they felt well-prepared for. These data were supplemented with teacher and lecturer interviews and a university staff questionnaire. The findings demonstrate that student perceptions of undergraduate music study are sometimes at odds with those of the university staff. In the light of the changing nature, interests and needs of these students, it is timely to rethink both what it is intended to achieve and how this is going to be assessed.

Alien Environments or Supportive Writing Communities?: Pursuing writing groups in academe

Pasternak, D. L., Longwell-Grice, H., Shea, K. A., Hanson, L. K. — 2009-09-23

This article addresses the impetus for joining and maintaining writing groups in academe. The authors consider the motivations and purposes for organizing and forming such groups. Revealing the complexities of writing both as profession and in pursuit of the profession, they analyze their experiences as collaborative writers. They examine the delicate negotiations that accompany the organization and maintenance of writing groups. Their dialogue places writing groups into a sociocultural teaching and learning model with a constructivist epistemology, making concrete concerns expressed in the professional debate about publishing in higher education and sustaining learning.

Supervision Satirized: Fictional narratives of student--supervisor relationships

Kelly, F. — 2009-09-23

This article seeks to further dialogue between the disciplines of English literature and Higher Education by offering a different approach to examining the practice of graduate supervision — a comparison of three fictional narratives: two recently published novels and one ongoing online comic strip. It considers what these narratives reveal about the ways in which supervision is represented in cultural practices at this time. What kind of self or individual subject characterizes the research student and supervisor in these representations, and what kind of relationship between supervisor and student is portrayed? Examining representations of supervision offers a mirror, however distorted, of a pedagogical practice, enabling both students and supervisors to reflect on their roles in the supervisory relationship.