Toward a Pedagogy of Responsive Attunement for Higher Education

In a context of “fake news” and associated disillusionment, this article explores what it means to nurture a capacity to concern ourselves with what matters for our living, among both students and teachers in higher education. In addressing this issue, I highlight responding through attunement to particularities of importance. A contribution of this article* lies in proposing that we direct student learning toward responsive attuning to what matters in the fields or professions to which they aspire, providing renewed direction for pedagogy and curricula. Enhancing such a capacity, moreover, has the potential to broaden the scope of possible ways of being in, and directed to, the communities to which these aspiring professionals belong. An additional contribution of the article is in exploring what responsive attunement can mean for higher education settings, both as a focus for learning by students and a modus operandi for teachers

Improving teaching: Enhancing ways of being university teachers

My aim in this paper is to theorize my teaching in a course for experienced university teachers, in a context of increased attention to such courses. My focus in the course is transforming and enhancing ways of being university teachers, through integrating knowing, acting and being. In other words, epistemology is not seen as an end in itself, but rather it is in the service of ontology. In the paper, I explore and illustrate how this focus on ontology is enacted in the course

Unveiling professional development: A critical review of stage models

In research across professions, the development of professional skill traditionally was seen as a process of accumulation of knowledge and skills, promoted by practical experience. More recently, this view has been modified to incorporate skillful know-how that is progressively acquired by passing through developmental stages, such as novice, competent, and expert. The authors of this article critically review contemporary stage models that are typically applied across professions. Their principal critique is that a focus on stages veils or conceals more fundamental aspects of professional skill development. On the basis of their critique, the authors propose an alternative model that builds on the strengths of previous models while seeking to overcome their main limitations. Finally, the authors outline the implications of their alternative model for professional education, workplace practices, and research on professional development

Re-imagining active learning: Delving into darkness

Ample attention is being paid in the higher education literature to promoting active learning among students. However, critical examination of educational purposes and ends is largely lacking in this literature on active learning. In expanding this debate, we consider it important to ask: About what substantive matters are students to be active? To what end is this activity directed, especially beyond gaining skills and competences within a unit of work or course? In this article, we critique and extend the conceptualisation of active learning. In particular, we discuss dimensions that are neither readily visible nor instrumental, which are overlooked in much of this literature. In doing so, we explore features and potential consequences of such an expanded conceptualisation. Drawing from educational philosophy and, in particular, existential philosophies, we show that active learning may also be partly invisible, unfocused, unsettling, and not at all instrumental—sometimes even leaving the learner more confused and (temporarily) incompetent. However, such forms of undisclosed or ‘dark’ learning, we conclude, are necessary and even vital counterparts for the forms of active learning that flood higher education curricula today

Bodily grounds of learning: embodying professional practice in biotechnology

Although ever present, the way in which the body is implicated in learning has received scant attention in the research literature to date. A particular area of neglect relates to the significance of the perceiving, feeling, motile body in learning to enter the professions. The philosophical-empirical inquiry in this article targets this neglected area of research. Its purpose is to explore what is entailed in learning to embody skilful performance by aspiring professionals in the context of the recently prominent, highly technologised field of biotechnology. Exploring learning with and through the lived body, as students endeavour to enact the practice of biotechnology, highlights features of the bodily grounds of learning. Based on this inquiry, theoretical and educational implications are identified for understanding and promoting learning for the professions

Comparative evaluation of a teaching innovation in accounting education: Intensive learning in a seminar format

This paper reports a teaching innovation involving intensive learning and the evaluation of that innovation. A review of the literature reveals a lack of research about how effective intensive programmes are in enhancing student learning. In this study the performance of students studying accounting during an intensive summer-school in seminar format was compared with those studying during the regular semester in a lecture and tutorial format. Performance was compared by reference to students’ grades and the understanding and retention of a key concept in the subject. Student study habits and the experiences of staff and students who participated in the summer-school were also evaluated. This study concluded that summer-school students’ performance was better than regular semester students in the accounting subject studied. Their performance was equivalent or better than the regular semester students in the three other subjects studied in first semester. Summer-school students demonstrated a more complete understanding of a key concept than did the students in the regular semester, with this difference sustained after two years. There was a positive response to the summer-school by those staff and students who participated

Impact of curriculum on understanding of professional practice: A longitudinal study of students commencing dental education

This longitudinal study examines changes in understanding of dental practice among a cohort of students in the early years of a dentistry programme. In their first two professional years, we identified five distinct understandings of dental practice that we have ordered from least to most comprehensive: relieving pain or generally caring for teeth, carrying out particular dental procedures, diagnosing and treating dental problems or diseases, evaluating and responding to oral health, and finally, evaluating oral health and preventing oral disease in the community. At entry into the dental program the most common understandings among both men and women focused on dental procedures or diagnosis and treatment. The largest changes in students’ responses at the end of the first and second professional years were generally in line with the emphasis of the curriculum in each of these 2 years, although prevention was not clearly featured. These data suggest that at least some students responded to the curriculum and, hence, highlight the impact of the curriculum on students’ emerging understandings. We conclude that curricula can have a key role in the development of understanding of professional practice during professional programmes, although the impact of curricula is not always as expected and merits investigation