Knowledge – The Most Important and Least Considered Object of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm, (HKT)
Date: 14 May, 2024
Mode: by Zoom
Speaker: Prof. Paul Ashwin (Lancaster University)
Chair: Prof. Juuso Henrik (The University of Hong Kong)
Registration link: https://hku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpfuurqDoiHtcrZeD4Vv_pz8PsMjr4JEFS

Abstract

In this seminar, I will argue that studies of teaching and learning in higher education all too frequently fail to consider the role of knowledge in educational processes. This occurs regardless of the island of higher education research that they inhabit. This means we get discussion of student-centredness, student engagement, or student identities without any sense of how all of these processes are shaped by the knowledge to which students are seeking to gain access. This occurs for both  methodological and conceptual reasons but is ironic given higher education’s primary role as a steward of knowledge for societies. I will argue that without an understanding of knowledge it is not possible to understand what it means to educate students. 

About the Speaker

Paul Ashwin is Professor of Higher Education, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University. He is Deputy Director of the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) and leads the Centre’s Graduate Experiences of Employability and Knowledge project, which is examining the experiences of graduates of chemistry and chemical engineering in England, South Africa and the United States. His book, ‘Transforming University Education: A Manifesto’ (2020), argues for a focus on the educational, rather than economic, purposes of university degrees in order to understand their transformational impact on students and societies. He is also the lead author on Reflective Teaching in Higher Education (2015, 2020) written by an international team to support the development of research-informed university teaching