1. Philosophy and policy
in higher education
November 2011
George Roberts
Oxford Brookes University

3. That’s all very well in practice,
but how does it work in theory?
Do you use theory as a drunk might use
a lamp post:
more for support than illumination?

4. Objectives
By the end of this discussion, you should be able to:
• Elaborate a general “theory of theory”
• Explain some of the uses of theory for
understanding educational development and be
able to point the way to others
• Locate higher education in the context of the
wider institutions of society
• Apply the concept of a “hidden curriculum” to
explaining higher education practices

5. Reflective practice?
... learning can be enhanced through: a consideration of
the context and experience of others, familiarity with
received wisdom, reflection on these, and the use of the
first hand experience of the learner.
[however]
Discussions of reflection in learning often emphasise the
first hand experience of the learner rather than
- the role of formal theory,
- the importance of the broader social context
- and the experience of others
(Dyke 2006)

6. Why do people learn and teach differently?
How can we build on this observation and subsequent explanation to
develop our own learning and teaching practice?
LEARNING THEORY
A THEORY OF THEORY

7. 2 different orientations towards acquiring knowledge
& … 2 functions of theory
Inductive: from observation to theory
Theory building
explanatory
Theory attempts to answer the question: “Why?”
Deductive: from theory to observation
Theory testing
predictive
Theory attempts to answer the question: “What
happens next?”

8. another orientation towards acquiring knowledge
& … another function of theory
holistic
generative

9. So… theory is:
predictive
explanatory
generative

10. and, which reminds me… theory is:
Nomothetic
oops!
Typical
Or typifying
Or typologising
Or generalising
Here we are typifying “theory”

11. So, we have a typology of theory…
a nomothetic theory of theory
explanatory
predictive
generative
typifying

12. And the last bit?
Falsifiable
Theory vs.. ideology:
Ideology may well be predictive and explanatory,
but instead of generative it is restrictive, instead of
typical it is normalising and instead of falsifiable it is
enforced. (Popper, 1996)
• Theory “proves” nothing
• Things/the world/observation challenges theory

13. So, we have a typology of theory…
a theory of theory
Theory is:
explanatory
predictive
generative
typical
falsifiable

14. Theory
Systematic codification or abstraction of:
• Accumulated observations (or assertions)
• Beliefs
Conceptual framework
• Model
An attempt to answer the question, “Why...?”
An approach or a perspective, e.g.:
• Positivist
• Socio-cultural
See De-localized Production of Scientific Knowledge. (Galison 2007, October 7).
Retrieved from
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mediaberkman/2007/09/21/de-localized-
production-of-scientific-knowledge-2/

15. Learning Theory Discussion
• An attempt to answer the question, “Why...?” or
"How?" with a statement: "Because...”
• Why and how do we learn?
• How is it that we come to know things?
• How is it that we come to know things by or in
different ways?

16. Institutions of society
Hidden curriculum
Critical theory
HISTORY OF IDEAS
“PURPOSE”

17. Visual triggers
• The images on the next two slides are taken
from a discussion of higher education in South
Africa stimulated by the arts movement
Blackwash in the Journal Arts Review, “Africa's
Premier Arts And Culture Online Magazine” in
2009. (http://www.artsreview.co.za/)

20. Discussion
• In light of those pictures
• What [the heck] use is “A theory of learning”?
– Discuss on the VLE,
• By Friday 2 December, post (at least) one idea, that, for
you, is central to this question.
• Then, respond to at least one other idea posted by a
colleague.
• By Friday 9 December summarise the on-going
discussion in your own words: where did you get to
with this?

21. INSTITUTIONS OF SOCIETY

22. Institutions of society
• Institutions of production
• Institutions of reproduction

23. Institutions of production
• Primary
– Agriculture, mining, hunting, gathering, etc
• Secondary
– Manufacturing, transforming
• Tertiary
– Supply, distribution, marketing, banking

24. Institutions of reproduction
That is cultural reproduction
• The family
– kin, clan, folk, nation, etc
• Religion
• Education
• Defense and security
– Military, police, etc

25. • In the last 300 years or so, there has been an
inversion

26. – In the past (when? where?) institutions of
production were subordinated to institutions of
reproduction
• We enter into this endeavour “for the glory of God” or
the “defense of the nation”

27. – Recently (when? where?) institutions of
reproduction have become subordinated to
institutions of production
• The function of higher education is to serve industry
• The family provided the stable base from which
empolyability skills may be acquired

28. OECD Purpose of HE?
• Higher education institutions are expected to provide
education and training relevant to labour market
demands, conduct research activities that will build a
knowledge-based economy, as well as contribute to
social cohesion, regional development and global well-
being. They must also strive constantly to fulfil their
multiple missions, improve the quality of the education
provided, increase their efficiency and demonstrate
their contribution to society.
http://www.oecd.org/document/33/0,3746,en_21571361_47736552_
48511009_1_1_1_1,00.html

29. The real university?
• The real university has no specific location …
[it] is a state of mind. It is that great cultural
heritage of rational thought that has been
brought down to us through the centuries …
which is regenerated throughout the centuries
by a body of people who traditionally carry
the title of [academics] … The real university is
nothing less than the continuing body of
reason itself.
(Pirsig 1974: 143)

30. HIDDEN CURRICULUM

31. • Overt curriculum of the early modern age
– “3 Rs”: Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmatic
– Reproduction of these cultural goods, universal
literacy and numeracy, would benefit both the
individual as well as society

32. • Today’s overt curriculum (perhaps)
– Flexibility
– Community/team work
– Individualisation or personalisation

33. Industrial era covert curriculm
• Set against the “3 Rs”
– Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmatic
• Schools taught
– Punctuality
– Tolerance of repetition
– Subordination

34. Post industrial
“knowledge economy” covert curriculum
• Set against
– Flexibility, community and individualisation
• We see
– Piecework, precarity, competition
– Normalisation
– Surveillance

35. CRITICAL THEORY

36. Stephen Brookfield’s four “critical reflective lenses”
1. our “autobiography as teachers and learners”, i.e.
through our own eyes
2. through our students eyes
3. through our colleagues’ experience and peer
review
4. through the theoretical literature
Theoretical literature helps us to name our practice
and to find that it is not idiosyncratic

37. Critical theory
Expose hidden assumptions
Structured reduction of complexity
• What is left out of the model?
Indirect object of learning
• Hidden curriculum
Creative appropriation

38. Typical critical theory
• anti-essentialist/critical realist: the basic
givens of existence are fluid and unstable
• heteroglossic/dialogic: all thinking is largely
determined by prior cultural experience
• language is an actor (weak linguistic
determinism)
• meaning is characterised by ambiguity
• context is everything
• grand narratives v petits recipts

39. Positivism:
an orthodoxy?
• Anti-metaphysical/clericalist, accumulist
theory of knowledge based on observation
plus logic.
• Theory is simply the codification of
accumulated knowledge and not of particular
importance.
• Logic plus observation can lead to a grand
unification of all knowledge. (Galison, 2007)

40. Socio-culturalism:
the new orthodoxy?
Social constructivism
• The simplest utterance, far from reflecting a constant,
rigid correspondence between sound and meaning, is
really a process. … the inner relationship we were
looking for was not a prerequisite for, but rather a
product of, the historical development of human
consciousness. (Vygotsky)
• All observation is theory laden (Popper)
• Disciplines are like ships passing in the night (Kuhn)
• Cultures parse the world differently (Galison)

41. In Discussion: Consider this
Most academics - in the humanities and social sciences, particularly -
come at their subject these days from a relativist perspective: knowledge
is "in here"; there is no knowledge without the knower; knowledge is
"constructed" in cultural contexts; knowledge is not "given" or "out
there". There is no "absolute truth".
This position is quite different from the classical approach: knowledge is
"out there"; the "laws of nature" are independent from the mind of the
investigator; there is "truth" to be discovered. This approach depends on
the "independent, objective observer", who can stand aside from the
observed phenomenon and form an unbiased view.
This classical approach is the traditional position of many scientists, as
well the commonsense view of how knowledge is produced, which
(according to Scollon) is held by an international public discourse of
commerce and government.
(Scollon 2003: 71)

42. The classical approach
– Can you illustrate how this classical approach is
held by a “common sense”, “international public
discourse of commerce and government”?
– Or, perhaps, to rephrase the question, what is the
purpose of university?

43. APPROACHES TO TEACHING

44. Kolb’s Learning Cycle

46. Honey and Mumford
• Activitists (Do)
– Immerse themselves fully in new experiences
– Enjoy here and now
– Open minded, enthusiastic, flexible
– Act first, consider consequences later
– Seek to centre activity around themselves
• Reflectors (Review)
– Stand back and observe
– Cautious, take a back seat
– Collect and analyze data about experience and events, slow to reach conclusions
– Use information from past, present and immediate observations to maintain a big
picture perspective.
• Theorists (Conclude)
– Think through problems in a logical manner, value rationality and objectivity
– Assimilate disparate facts into coherent theories
– Disciplined, aiming to fit things into rational order
– Keen on basic assumptions, principles, theories, models and systems thinking
• Pragmatists (Plan)
– Keen to put ideas, theories and techniques into practice
– Search new ideas and experiment
– Act quickly and confidently on ideas, gets straight to the point
– Are impatient with endless discussion

47. Teaching Perspectives
• Transmission
• Apprenticeship
• Developmental
• Nurturing
• Social Reform
http://teachingperspectives.com/

48. Results
This is the second time I did this. The first time my Dv score was equal to my Nu score. Like all
these sorts of inventories, the results are not fixed nor do they represent any absolute
characterisation of the individual.

49. Wider aims:
a theory of good practice?
These items have been shown to explain and predict
successful learning outcomes
• student-tutor contact
• student-student co-operation
• active learning
• prompt feedback
• time on task
• high expectations
• diverse talents and ways of learning
(Chickering & Gamson, 1987)
independent of the mode of engagement

50. George Roberts
Senior Lecturer, Educational Development
OCSLD
Wheatley Campus
Oxford Brookes University
Oxford, OX33 1HX
groberts@brookes.ac.uk
http://www.google.com/profiles/georgebroberts
THANK YOU