Research Papers by Peter Kahn
Teaching in Higher Education , 2021
Decolonisation is being embraced as an imperative within Higher Education, yet many institutions ... more Decolonisation is being embraced as an imperative within Higher Education, yet many institutions have struggled to formulate a coherent response. This article reports on a case study of a research-intensive South African university where the call for decolonisation emerged amidst considerable conflict on campus. The research takes as its departure point the notion that the discourse on decolonisation, thus far dominated by calls to re-examine Western ways of knowing, would nonetheless benefit from perspectives grounded in the paradigm of critical realism and from a social realist analysis. It found that an intellectual and cultural solipsism, as a form of fractured reflexivity, rooted in social and cultural identity, played a causal role in constricting the collective reflexivity of the corporate agents that shape the Western academic environment, resulting in a reproduction of an exclusionary intellectual and cultural environment.
Journal of Critical Realism, 2020
Employability has developed into a key component of the policies of higher education institutions... more Employability has developed into a key component of the policies of higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide, whereby students convert into consumers and knowledge morphs into a marketable commodity that supports a supply of qualified graduates to a precarious labour market. In such a market, employability is influenced by post-truth narratives of marketization to sell education. This conceptual paper draws on critical realist theorizing of structure and agency to discuss how commodified programmes of higher education constitute a narrow view of academic knowledge serving mainly corporations and their financial interests. It argues that HEIs could establish programmes of education that foster collective reflexivity to prepare students to make contributions as agents working within collectivities to enhance human emancipation, rather than merely as ‘employable’ individuals serving the needs of the labour market. Such an approach to education could have significant value in enabling HEIs to support more actively the flourishing of society.
Higher Education Quarterly, 2021
Graduate employability is now typically conceptualised in terms of the extent to which the capaci... more Graduate employability is now typically conceptualised in terms of the extent to which the capacities of individual students match the available employment opportunities. As a result, higher education is increasingly seen as an investment in a project of the self for economic reward. This theoretical study draws on critical realist perspectives to problematise existing understandings of employability. It explores a collective perspective on work, analysing the institutional, social and reflexive basis for agency in workplaces. This exploration supports a conceptualisation in which graduate employability is understood as the capacity of a graduate to act as an agent within the workplace in ways that contribute to the maintenance and elaboration of collectives. It is argued that were higher education to treat collectives as an integral aspect of learning, then workplaces could be aligned more directly towards values that matter to society.
Teaching in Higher Education , 2019
Higher education is increasingly now established in ways that entail a crossing of national, ling... more Higher education is increasingly now established in ways that entail a crossing of national, linguistic, cultural and other boundaries. This co-authored editorial to a Special Issue of the journal Teaching in Higher Education is framed around a consideration of agency on the part of both individuals and collectivities. The framing incorporates a reading of the articles in the special issue that sees agency as something that is never simply pursued on the agent’s own terms. In the paragraphs that follow, we depart from the themes of exclusion and inclusion, the mundane, perverse privilege, and collectivities, exploring their manifestation in relationship to educational mobilities and internationalised higher education, interweaving the contributions of the papers in the special issue.
Journal of Professions and Organization, 2018
It has been claimed that a divide now exists between the professions and the public, with profess... more It has been claimed that a divide now exists between the professions and the public, with professionals too often serving their own interests rather than the good of society. This conceptual paper argues that the origin of this divide is found, at least in part, in the way that professionals exercise agency in organizational settings. It contends that existing treatments of agency in professional life have failed to fully appreciate the way in which structural constraints, reflexivity, and agency are interlinked. The paper offers a synthesis between institutional theory and the realist social theory of Margaret Archer to explore how a constrained reflexivity mediates the influence of social structure on the agency of professionals, affecting the interests that are served. The analysis specifically considers how reflexivity is influenced by professional knowledge and social relations, alongside the constraints afforded by institutional logics. The article concludes that attempts to renew the professions through institutional work should take account of these inter-linkages. A range of strategies are identified for such institutional work that includes: the development of professional knowledge and its integration into professional or organizational life and attention to the characteristics of the social relations that are present. Insight also emerges for careers management on the part of professionals operating in contexts with limited scope for institutional work, as well as for professional education. The article calls for a strengthening of the cultural, social, and personal basis of both the professions and institutional theory.
British Educational Research Journal, 2019
Research on the impact of professional doctorates on students and their organisations has reporte... more Research on the impact of professional doctorates on students and their organisations has reported contested outcomes. We undertook a study to develop a causal explanation of how organisational change may, or may not, result from participation in a Doctor of Education programme (EdD). Drawing on critical realist perspectives, the research found that all the doctoral students shared professional concerns with their work colleagues. In some cases, however, this sharing fostered social relations that supported both collective meta‐reflexivity and a performative collective reflexivity, and that resulted in organisational change. Variation in the students’ impact on their organisations was further connected to their organisational roles, and to the extent to which their agency aligned with organisational agendas or other external regulatory and normative systems. Strictly limited, or no, organisational change was, however, evident where collective reflexivity was seen to be restricted or to involve contestation. The article concludes that there is significant value to gain by conceiving learning on a professional doctorate not simply in terms of personal growth, but also in terms of mastering a discourse that crosses both research and professional practice and developing the capacity to draw others into that discourse in an organisationally relevant and yet critical fashion.
An economic agenda, characterized by the mastery of subject knowledge or expertise, increasingly ... more An economic agenda, characterized by the mastery of subject knowledge or expertise, increasingly dominates higher education. In this article, I argue that this agenda fails to satisfy the full range of students’ aspirations, responsibilities and needs. Neither does it meet the needs of society. Rather, the overall purpose of higher education should be the morphogenesis of the agency of students, considered on an individual and on a collective basis. The article builds on recent critical realist theorizing to trace the generative mechanisms that affect the morphogenesis of such agency. I argue that reflexive deliberation shapes the agency of students as they engage in teaching–learning interactions. It may be possible to enhance the agency of students if approaches are used that consider curricular knowledge, the presence of supportive social relations and the dedication of students. The article offers ways to promote the flourishing of students rather than their dehumanization.
It has been suggested that higher education policy across the world is currently framed by a comm... more It has been suggested that higher education policy across the world is currently framed by a common set of assumptions. As a result, policy makers have a restricted sense of the options that are open to them. This paper looks to the paradigm of critical realism in order to open up alternative perspectives for policy makers. The argument specifically focuses on policy around student engagement, building on earlier theorising in this area. Student engagement is seen to be constituted by the agency of learners within educational settings, supported as this is by the social relations maintained by learners. The argument opens up alternative framings for policy in ways that take account of the reflexivity and relational goods that sustain the engagement of students in their studies, addressing areas such as teaching and learning, extra-curricular activity, human resources, the character of institutions and student protest.
It is important to develop understanding of what underpins the engagement of students in online l... more It is important to develop understanding of what underpins the engagement of students in online learning environments. This article reports on a multiple case study that explored student engagement in a set of postgraduate degrees offered on a fully online basis. The study was based on a theorization of student engagement as the exercise of intentional human action, .or agency. It identified ways in which tasks and social relations in the online learning environments triggered reflexivity on the part of students, with ‘reflexivity’ understood to mean the ordinary mental capacity to consider oneself in relation to one’s social setting. A different relationship between reflexivity and student engagement was in view than that identified by Margaret Archer with regard to reflexivity and social mobility. Rather than displaying one dominant mode of reflexivity, the students considered in the study were seen to draw on a range of modes. The engagement of these students in their learning was also seen to depend on the manner in which they engaged in reflexivity centred on the pursuit of shared goals, that is in collective reflexivity. Specific practices were seen to trigger constructive forms of collective reflexivity, while fractured and restricted forms of collective reflexivity were linked to student disengagement in relation to joint tasks. As well as adverting to the importance of collective reflexivity to learning, the study highlights scope for dissonance between the modes of reflexivity and practices favoured by an online learning environment and the reflexive profile of the student.
This article aims to deconstruct the underpinning tenets of the term ‘newer researcher into highe... more This article aims to deconstruct the underpinning tenets of the term ‘newer researcher into higher education’. In recognition of the ambiguities of the term, we begin by questioning the nature of the field(s) of research into higher education (HE). Secondly, we critique the policy discourses associated with the term ‘newer researcher’. Then, with a view to illustrating the over-linear assumptions of such discourses, the article articulates the biographies of practising researchers in this field through narrative reconstructions of the five authors’ own routes as researchers into HE, openly acknowledging their temporalities and serendipitous conditionalities. Finally, we consider the nature of a career in the context of the professionalisation of routes into HE research. Our concluding remarks return us to the question of the status of HE research and to suggestions of positive ways to embrace the dilemmas we face.
There has been growing interest in recent years within organisational settings in the notion of i... more There has been growing interest in recent years within organisational settings in the notion of institutional work, which involves purposive action that seeks to create, sustain or disrupt institutions. This study proposes a development of Archer's realist social theory to explore how institutional work involves agents employing (internal) reflexivity in order to guide their (external) relations with others in agreeing and pursuing shared goals.
The emancipatory dimension to higher education represents one of the sector's most compelling cha... more The emancipatory dimension to higher education represents one of the sector's most compelling characteristics, but it remains important to develop understanding of the sources of determination that shape practice. Drawing on critical realist perspectives, we explore generative mechanisms by which methodology in pedagogic research affects the sector's emancipatory potential. In this, we critique the research that led to the Structure of Learning Outcomes taxonomy. Our analysis here enables us to offer a revised version of the taxonomy that is sensitive to horizontal knowledge structures. We further consider a set of studies employing approaches to research that were sensitive to variation in knowledge across disciplines, social relations, reflexivity, corporate agency and other considerations, enabling us to illuminate the stratified basis for our explanatory critique. There is potential for our analysis to assist in developing approaches that are distinctive to research into higher education.
Higher Education Close Up 7, Lancaster University, 21-23 July 2014
The professions make a significant contribution to society at large, but to what extent do they p... more The professions make a significant contribution to society at large, but to what extent do they prioritise the interests of clients? Are there ways in which client interests are downplayed in relation to agendas determined by States or by professionals themselves? Indeed, concerns are often raised over the way that professional practice is conducted. In this conceptual paper, we draw on the paradigm of critical realism and on Margaret Archer’s account of the way that reflexivity mediates the impact of social and cultural structures on agency. We argue that the requirement for a professional to undertake action in the service of a client represents a fundamental mechanism that engenders reflexivity. While professions differ from each other in the extent to which professionals need to navigate their way through uncertainty, each professional needs to acquire knowledge and expertise to deal with the provisionality entailed. We identify a range of structural influences on this reflexivity, even as scope remains for professionals to react to these influences in different ways. In particular, we consider the influence on reflexivity of different organisational and regulatory constraints, and of varied approaches to the integration of social relations into professional settings. As a result, we are able to present an overview of ways in which structures operating within different settings influence the reflexivity of professionals. This provides a means to consider whose interests are prioritised. The analysis enables us to draw together conceptualisations of professional setting from the management literature into a single perspective, offering further insight into the way that professional settings vary from each other. There are implications from this analysis for the education of professionals and for the development of their careers, as well as for the organisation of professional life. Awareness of self-in-professional-setting represents an important professional trait, and an essential element of any agenda for professional education that takes into account whose interests are served. Furthermore, changes in the basis on which professional life is organised affect how professionals exercise reflexivity, with consequences for such issues as levels of regulation, modes of organisation, access to the professions, whistleblowing and retention of professionals. It is essential that professionals, and organisations and regulatory bodies for professionals, are more keenly aware of the mediating influence of reflexivity. Such understanding is essential if the professions are to develop a greater sensitivity to the public interest.
British Educational Research Journal, Oct 7, 2013
Student engagement has become problematic following the rise of mass and universal forms of highe... more Student engagement has become problematic following the rise of mass and universal forms of higher education. Significant attention has been devoted to identifying factors that are associated with higher levels of engagement, but it remains the case that the underlying reasons for student engagement and, indeed, the notion itself of ‘student engagement’ remain weakly theorised. In this article, we seek to develop the theoretical basis for student engagement in a way that highlights the student’s own contribution. We explore how learning involves students taking responsibility for action in the face of uncertainty, whether in pursuit of personal or communal concerns. Drawing on perspectives primarily from realist social theory, we suggest that student engagement may be shaped by extended, restricted and fractured modes of reflexivity and co-reflexivity. In this way student engagement in higher education is theorised as a form of distributed agency, with the impact of a learning environment on this agency mediated by reflexivity. Reflexivity itself is further influenced by the tasks and social relations encountered by students in a given learning environment. The role that social relations play in students’ responses to learning specifically offers a means to strengthen the moral basis for education. Our account provides an explanation as to why specific educational practices, such as those termed ‘high impact’, might lead to higher levels of student engagement within the wider context of a knowledge society. We thus offer insights towards new forms of educational practice and relations that have the potential to engage students more fully.
Higher Education Research and Development, Aug 16, 2013
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has yet to fully enter the mainstream of life in ... more The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has yet to fully enter the mainstream of life in higher education. In this case study, we consider a specific network focused on the reform of engineering education. The network involves global collaboration within the discipline of Engineering and is based around curricular activity that affects entire departments or groups of staff. We suggest that SoTL should pay greater attention to collaboration that addresses substantive disciplinary purposes, further embodying these purposes through spaces, motivations and capacities for action in the disciplinary and departmental setting. We frame our argument around a theoretical model of collaborative working in higher education and go on to offer a synoptic overview of ways to articulate common purpose around teaching and learning at large. Our account highlights potential drivers for such collaborative activity in other settings. In this way, we offer a means for others to develop the collective commitments, structures and understanding needed to mainstream SoTL within specific disciplinary or departmental settings.
Teaching in Higher Education, Mar 2013
Professionalism is a focus for student learning in many disciplines. It is known, furthermore, th... more Professionalism is a focus for student learning in many disciplines. It is known, furthermore, that interpersonal interactions between staff and students constitute an informal curriculum that has a significant influence on students. But the origins of this informal curriculum are not fully apparent. This article offers a multiple case study that explores the genesis of tutors' facilitation practices in small group medical teaching. Facilitation practices were seen to develop in response to a wide-ranging set of social, professional and critical concerns, affecting notions of professionalism promoted to students. Most tutors exhibited a mode of reflexivity that was extended in time and reach, with tutors also progressing mutual actions through communal deliberation. We thus identify ways in which the informal curriculum is grounded in both the primary agency and the corporate agency of tutors. In looking to promote professionalism, it is essential that curricula are staff- as well as student-centred.
International Journal of Researcher Development, 2012
Purpose – The complexities and challenges inherent in research often require collaborative rather... more Purpose – The complexities and challenges inherent in research often require collaborative rather than solitary or team-based forms of working. This paper seeks to open new perspectives onto the nature of collaborative research and onto strategies for developing the capacity of researchers to engage in it.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines a speculative model of collaborative working in higher education that is rooted in critical realist perspectives, using it to ground a conceptual analysis of a stage model of expertise for collaborative working taken from the researcher development framework (RDF) developed in the UK by the organisation Vitae.
Findings – The paper highlights the contribution that theory can make to the practice of researcher development, drawing out the relevance of personal engagement, professional dialogue and collaborative vehicles to support shared practice in pursuit of mutual goals. In this way, it identifies gaps within the stage model that pertain to relational, disciplinary, situational and other elements. The paper articulates insights for the development of the capacity of researchers for collaborative working that prioritise dialogue that is situated within given contexts for research. The analysis draws out implications for the development of collaborative capacity of such notions as corporate agency and collaborative reach.
Originality/value – This paper articulates a novel approach to conceptualising capacity for collaborative research and offers a theoretical critique of a given descriptor taken from Vitae's RDF. As such it assists in developing the scholarly basis for the field of researcher development.
'Higher education as if the world mattered' SRHE conference , Apr 2013
The role that higher education plays in educating professionals is continuing to grow in importan... more The role that higher education plays in educating professionals is continuing to grow in importance, given the development of knowledge societies across the world. We have also seen a trend for market and state to play a greater role in higher education. Analysis by the sociologist Donati suggests, though, that we cannot sustain what is distinctively human simply through resort to these institutions of market and state. He argues that social relations are an essential feature of what it is to be human, contending that relations frame the reflexivity (and thereby the agency) of the parties involved. This paper undertakes a theoretical analysis of why professional education might incorporate specific social relations, as between students and clients. We advocate a partial reframing of professional education around social relations to avoid increasing levels of alienation from clients, and to enhance professional practice.
Higher Education Research and Development, Jun 22, 2012
Theories of learning typically downplay the interplay between social structure and student agency... more Theories of learning typically downplay the interplay between social structure and student agency. In this article, we adapt a causal hypothesis from realist social theory and draw on wider perspectives from critical realism to account for the development of capacity to engage in reflection on professional practice in academic roles. We thereby offer a theory of professional learning that explores how social and cultural structures and personal emergent powers combine to ensure variation in the emergence of such reflective capacity. The influence of these factors on professional learning is mediated through reflexive deliberation and social interaction, with the exercise of one's personal powers specifically identified as a stratum of social reality. We consider further the role of concerns, intention and attention in professional learning, drawing together issues that are rarely considered within the same theory. We thus offer a comprehensive account of professional learning, showing how a focus on structure and agency increases the explanatory power of learning theory.
This report outlines a literature review of the role and effectiveness of specific approaches to ... more This report outlines a literature review of the role and effectiveness of specific approaches to reflective practice in programmes for new members of academic staff. Rather than focusing on a simple notion of ‘reflective practice’ we operate at a more detailed level by considering specific forms of reflective thinking as applied to given aspects of practice. This literature review has as broad aims to:
• Ascertain the role and effectiveness of specific approaches to reflective practice in programmes of initial professional development for new members of academic staff.
• Trial and evaluate a review methodology based around practitioner collaboration.
The review was funded by the Higher Education Academy between October 2005 and May 2006. The Academy clearly has an interest in the subject of this review, given its role in accrediting programmes for new academic staff and in framing national standards within the UK. It is clear also that the effectiveness of these programmes is an issue of wide interest within the sector.
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Research Papers by Peter Kahn
Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines a speculative model of collaborative working in higher education that is rooted in critical realist perspectives, using it to ground a conceptual analysis of a stage model of expertise for collaborative working taken from the researcher development framework (RDF) developed in the UK by the organisation Vitae.
Findings – The paper highlights the contribution that theory can make to the practice of researcher development, drawing out the relevance of personal engagement, professional dialogue and collaborative vehicles to support shared practice in pursuit of mutual goals. In this way, it identifies gaps within the stage model that pertain to relational, disciplinary, situational and other elements. The paper articulates insights for the development of the capacity of researchers for collaborative working that prioritise dialogue that is situated within given contexts for research. The analysis draws out implications for the development of collaborative capacity of such notions as corporate agency and collaborative reach.
Originality/value – This paper articulates a novel approach to conceptualising capacity for collaborative research and offers a theoretical critique of a given descriptor taken from Vitae's RDF. As such it assists in developing the scholarly basis for the field of researcher development.
• Ascertain the role and effectiveness of specific approaches to reflective practice in programmes of initial professional development for new members of academic staff.
• Trial and evaluate a review methodology based around practitioner collaboration.
The review was funded by the Higher Education Academy between October 2005 and May 2006. The Academy clearly has an interest in the subject of this review, given its role in accrediting programmes for new academic staff and in framing national standards within the UK. It is clear also that the effectiveness of these programmes is an issue of wide interest within the sector.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines a speculative model of collaborative working in higher education that is rooted in critical realist perspectives, using it to ground a conceptual analysis of a stage model of expertise for collaborative working taken from the researcher development framework (RDF) developed in the UK by the organisation Vitae.
Findings – The paper highlights the contribution that theory can make to the practice of researcher development, drawing out the relevance of personal engagement, professional dialogue and collaborative vehicles to support shared practice in pursuit of mutual goals. In this way, it identifies gaps within the stage model that pertain to relational, disciplinary, situational and other elements. The paper articulates insights for the development of the capacity of researchers for collaborative working that prioritise dialogue that is situated within given contexts for research. The analysis draws out implications for the development of collaborative capacity of such notions as corporate agency and collaborative reach.
Originality/value – This paper articulates a novel approach to conceptualising capacity for collaborative research and offers a theoretical critique of a given descriptor taken from Vitae's RDF. As such it assists in developing the scholarly basis for the field of researcher development.
• Ascertain the role and effectiveness of specific approaches to reflective practice in programmes of initial professional development for new members of academic staff.
• Trial and evaluate a review methodology based around practitioner collaboration.
The review was funded by the Higher Education Academy between October 2005 and May 2006. The Academy clearly has an interest in the subject of this review, given its role in accrediting programmes for new academic staff and in framing national standards within the UK. It is clear also that the effectiveness of these programmes is an issue of wide interest within the sector.
learning from student feedback and peer review; students as consumers and their expectations; building effective partnerships with students and colleagues; developing a teaching portfolio; choosing effective teaching practices; the challenges and benefits of securing an initial teacher qualification. A must-read for all those new to teaching in higher education, as well as more experienced lecturers looking to refresh and advance the quality of their teaching, this fully updated new edition is the ideal toolkit to support the development of teaching practice.
Readers will benefit from discussions on the role and place of theory in the process of learning to teach, whilst international case studies demonstrate the kinds of insights and recommendations that could emanate from the three approaches examined, drawing together contributions from Europe, Africa and Australasia.
Both challenging and enlightening, this book argues the need for theory in order to advance scholarship in the field and achieve goals related to social justice in higher education systems across the world. It draws attention to newly emerging theoretical perspectives and relatively underused perspectives to demonstrate the need for theory in relation to learning to teach.
This book will appeal to academics interested in how they come to learn to teach, to administrators and academic developers responsible for professional development strategies at universities and masters and PhD level students researching professional development in higher education.
Studying Mathematics and its Applications aims to bridge this gap by focusing on the essential skills needed by students, helping them to study more effectively and successfully. The book leads the student through tasks, demonstrating how to use examples and cope with symbols and encouraging them to use these tools to apply mathematics and construct proofs. Offering practical advice on assessment and modes of study, this book is an invaluable companion to any Mathematics or Applications of Mathematics course."
pertinent to reflective pratice for new academic staff (see under 'Papers' on here on my academia.edu site).