University teachers as curriculum change agents

Author(s):

Guðrún Geirsdottir

Conference:

ECER 2008

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 07C, Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Part 4) Curriculum and Cultures

Paper Session

Time:

2008-09-11

15:30-17:00

Room:

B2 215

Chair:

Mariana Gaio Alves

Contribution

In the study, a conceptual approach proposed by Basil Bernstein was used to explore and understand the complexity of curriculum decision making and tensions within different disciplines in higher education. Bernstein’s ideas and theories were used as a theoretical framework to provide a multilevel and coherent perception of the higher education curriculum. The aim of the study was to explore university teachers’ conceptions of the pedagogic discourse (the curriculum) of their discipline and to provide insight and understanding that captures the complexity and intricacies into the curriculum process in higher education

Method

The study was carried out within a single university and involved three academic disciplines. Data was collected through observations at staff meetings and in-depth interviews with university teaching within the departments of mechanical and industrial engineering, anthropology and physics at the University of Iceland. Analysis of various documents related to the curriculum construction of the different disciplines was also carried out. Data was analyzed through formal data structure and discourse analysis

Expected Outcomes

The main findings of the study is the existence of a local pedagogic discourse of each discipline, characterised by different aims of the discipline, different conceptions of student identities and teacher roles, and specific instructional discourse. The local pedagogic discourse is most strongly influenced by teacher conceptions acquired during their own time of studying the discipline and their experience of teaching. The discipline’s organisational culture and structure as well as its saga both mould the local pedagogic discourse and create its social context within which different contesting ideologies arise. The study demonstrated that the teachers in the study sense different authority and agency in curriculum decision making between as well as within the disciplinary curriculum. In this paper, the research findings will be discussed in light of the conference focus of change and two main questions will be raised: 1) how do teachers’ conceptions of their authority and agency of the curriculum process support or hinder the development of learning and teaching within higher education and; 2) do local disciplinary discourses lend themselves differently to educational change and development?

References

Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity (2nd revised ed.). New York: Rowman and Littlefield. Geirsdóttir, G. (2004a). Hinum megin Suðurgötunnar: Um nám og kennslu ólíkra háskólagreina [On the other side of Soutroad: On teaching and learning within different disciplines]. In Ú. Hauksson (Ed.). Rannsóknir í félagsvísindum V: Félagsvísindadeild, (pp. 459-471. Reykjavík: Félagsvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands and Háskólaútgáfan. Geirsdóttir, G. (2004b). Hvað mótar hugmyndir háskólakennara um skipulag náms og kennslu [What influences university teachers’ conceptions of the organisation of learning and teaching]? Tímarit um menntarannsóknir, 1, 163-173. Geirsdóttir, G. (2005). Námskrárgerð og gæði Háskóla Íslands [Curriculum development and quality within the University of Iceland]. In I. Hannibalsson (Ed.), Rannsóknir í Félagsvísindum VI: Viðskipta- og hagfræðideild, (pp. 145-157), Reykjavík; Félgasvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands. Geirsdóttir, G. (2006). Að skapa fag úr fræðigrein. Um hlutverk háskólakennara í námkskrárgerð [Creating disciplines from fields of knowledge: On teacher’s role in curriculum development]. In Ú. Hauksson (Ed.). Ransóknir í félagsvísindum VII: Félagsvísindadeild, (pp. 339-351). Reykjavík: Félgasvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands. Geirsdóttir, G. (2007a). Er frelsið yndislegt? Greining á frelsi og svigrúmi háskólakennara í námskrárgerð út frá kenningum Bernstein [Is frredom fantastic? A Bernsteinian analysis of university teachers’ freedom and space in curriulum development] . In G. Þ. Jóhannesson (Ed.) Rannsóknir í Félagsvísindum VIII: Félagsvísindadeild, (pp. 359-371). Reykjavík: Félagsvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands. Geirsdóttir, G. (2007b). Þróun náms og kennslu á háskólastigi:sjónarmið ólíkra greina [The development of teaching and learning in higher education: disciplinary views]. In K. Bjarnadóttir and S. K. Hannesdóttir (Eds.), Þekking - þjálfun - þroski. Delta Kappa gamma - 30 ára afmælisrit(pp. 167-177).

Author Information

Guðrún Geirsdottir

University of Iceland

Social Sciences

Reykjavik

103

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