Narratives of Academics' Personal Journeys in Contested Spaces provides theoretically-informed personal narratives of 11 emerging and established leaders in learning and teaching in Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and the USA. The academics' narratives focus on how the individuals have navigated to their current leadership role in learning and teaching whilst negotiating contested identities, such as gender, and physical and social marginalised spaces, such as interstitial (middle) leadership positions. These international narratives provide unique perspectives on the sense-making of academics as they reflect on their learning and teaching leadership journey and how these journeys are shaped by their contested identities and the marginalised spaces they inhabit. Often such identities and spaces are not recognised in higher education which may lead to even more isolating and challenging leadership journeys. The book contributes to our understanding of the subjective experiences that academics encounter in their leadership journeys. Further, the personal narratives included in the book capture how the contested identities and marginalised spaces influence the learning and teaching leadership practices in various educational, cultural and national contexts.

Narratives of Becoming Leaders in Disciplinary and Institutional Contexts provides theoretically informed personal narratives of nine emerging and established leaders in learning and teaching in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, the UK and the USA. The academics' narratives consider how individuals navigate the disciplinary and institutional context as emergent and established leaders in learning and teaching. These learning and teaching leadership narratives highlight the commonalities and differences in the struggles that academic leaders across the world encounter within their unique institutional and disciplinary contexts. The journeys of learning and teaching leadership are often fuzzy owing to lack of well-established structures and pathways which may be further complicated by the unique institutional and disciplinary contexts. This book contributes to our understanding of the impact of disciplinary and institutional contexts on the practice of learning and teaching leaders. It captures the subjective experiences of academics at various stages in their career, navigating their individual pathways of learning and teaching leadership within their national context.

This book examines the dominant discourses in higher education. From the moment teachers enter higher education, they are met with dominant discourses that are often adopted uncritically, including concepts such as teaching excellence, student voice, and student engagement. Teachers are also met with simplistic binaries such as teaching vs. research, quantitative vs. qualitative research, and constructivists vs. positivists. Kinchin and Gravett suggest that this may present a distorted view, contributing to the disconnect between the aims and observable practice of higher education. Rather than celebrating difference, dominant discourses tend to seek similarities in an attempt to simplify and manage the environment. In this book, the authors share their belief that teaching and learning should be a thoughtful endeavour. Thinking with a breadth of theories, the authors explore the overlaps between different perspectives in order to offer a richer and more inclusive interrogation of the dominant discourses that pervade higher education. Offering methodological approaches to explore these perspectives, the authors bring together academics working in different parts of the university and examine the concept of a ‘rich cartography’, considering how this can offer meaning within higher education research and practice.

This book explores student-staff partnerships through a breadth of co-authored research projects. There is a significant gap in current literature regarding student-staff partnerships, both in the sharing of examples as well as in the examination of partnership working and its impact. Organised into four thematic sections, the editors and contributors highlight the diversity of routes students and staff can take to work in partnership, as well as how research, learning and teaching can be co-created. Written by both university staff and student researchers, the chapters consider the benefits of student-staff partnerships as an antidote to consumerist visions of higher education, and a way of celebrating the potential of students and their voices. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of student-staff partnerships.

Academics' International Teaching Journeys provides personal narratives of nine international social science academics in foreign countries as they adapt and develop their teaching. The team of international contributors provide an invaluable resource for other academics who may be exposed to similar situations and may find these narratives useful in negotiating their own conflicts and challenges that they may encounter in being an international academic. The narratives provide a fascinating reference point and a wide range of perspectives of teaching experiences from across the world, including Europe, Australia, North America and the Caribbean. The book offers a timely spotlight on contemporary issues of globalisation that many higher education institutions around the world may encounter. It contributes to the originality of constructing new knowledge in the field of transnational higher education - a modern phenomenon which will be increasingly prominent in the current and next generation in the globalised higher education contexts.

This book examines the importance of exploring the varied and diverse perspectives of student experiences. In both academic institutions and everyday discourse, the notion of the 'student voice' is an ever-present reminder of the importance placed upon the student experience in Higher Education: particularly in a context where the financial burden of undertaking a university education continues to grow. The editors and contributors explore how notions of the 'student voice' as a single, monolithic entity may in fact obscure divergence in the experiences of students. Placing so much emphasis on the 'student voice' may lead educators and policy makers to miss important messages communicated - or consciously uncommunicated - through student actions. This book also explores ways of working in partnership with students to develop their own experiences. It is sure to be of interest and value to scholars of the student experience and its inherent diversity.

This book explores student-staff partnerships through a breadth of co-authored research projects. There is a significant gap in current literature regarding student-staff partnerships, both in the sharing of examples as well as in the examination of partnership working and its impact. Organised into four thematic sections, the editors and contributors highlight the diversity of routes students and staff can take to work in partnership, as well as how research, learning and teaching can be co-created. Written by both university staff and student researchers, the chapters consider the benefits of student-staff partnerships as an antidote to consumerist visions of higher education, and a way of celebrating the potential of students and their voices. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of student-staff partnerships.

This book examines the importance of exploring the varied and diverse perspectives of student experiences. In both academic institutions and everyday discourse, the notion of the 'student voice' is an ever-present reminder of the importance placed upon the student experience in Higher Education: particularly in a context where the financial burden of undertaking a university education continues to grow. The editors and contributors explore how notions of the 'student voice' as a single, monolithic entity may in fact obscure divergence in the experiences of students. Placing so much emphasis on the 'student voice' may lead educators and policy makers to miss important messages communicated - or consciously uncommunicated - through student actions. This book also explores ways of working in partnership with students to develop their own experiences. It is sure to be of interest and value to scholars of the student experience and its inherent diversity.

Academics' International Teaching Journeys provides personal narratives of nine international social science academics in foreign countries as they adapt and develop their teaching. The team of international contributors provide an invaluable resource for other academics who may be exposed to similar situations and may find these narratives useful in negotiating their own conflicts and challenges that they may encounter in being an international academic. The narratives provide a fascinating reference point and a wide range of perspectives of teaching experiences from across the world, including Europe, Australia, North America and the Caribbean. The book offers a timely spotlight on contemporary issues of globalisation that many higher education institutions around the world may encounter. It contributes to the originality of constructing new knowledge in the field of transnational higher education - a modern phenomenon which will be increasingly prominent in the current and next generation in the globalised higher education contexts.

This book examines the dominant discourses in higher education. From the moment teachers enter higher education, they are met with dominant discourses that are often adopted uncritically, including concepts such as teaching excellence, student voice, and student engagement. Teachers are also met with simplistic binaries such as teaching vs. research, quantitative vs. qualitative research, and constructivists vs. positivists. Kinchin and Gravett suggest that this may present a distorted view, contributing to the disconnect between the aims and observable practice of higher education. Rather than celebrating difference, dominant discourses tend to seek similarities in an attempt to simplify and manage the environment. In this book, the authors share their belief that teaching and learning should be a thoughtful endeavour. Thinking with a breadth of theories, the authors explore the overlaps between different perspectives in order to offer a richer and more inclusive interrogation of the dominant discourses that pervade higher education. Offering methodological approaches to explore these perspectives, the authors bring together academics working in different parts of the university and examine the concept of a ‘rich cartography’, considering how this can offer meaning within higher education research and practice.