Freedom to Learn

The threat to student academic freedom and why it needs to be reclaimed

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Education & Teaching, Higher Education
Cover of the book Freedom to Learn by Bruce Macfarlane, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Bruce Macfarlane ISBN: 9781315529431
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: August 12, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Bruce Macfarlane
ISBN: 9781315529431
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: August 12, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

The freedom of students to learn at university is being eroded by a performative culture that fails to respect their rights to engage and develop as autonomous adults. Instead, students are being restricted in how they learn, when they learn and what they learn by the so-called student engagement movement. Compulsory attendance registers, class contribution grading, group project work and reflective learning exercises based on expectations of self-disclosure and confession take little account of the rights of students or individual differences between them. This new hidden university curriculum is intolerant of students who may prefer to learn informally, are reticent, shy, or simply value their privacy. Three forms of student performativity have arisen - bodily, participative and emotional – which threaten the freedom to learn.

Key themes include:

  • A re-imagining of student academic freedom
  • The democratic student experience
  • Challenging assumptions of the student engagement movement
  • An examination of university policies and practices

Freedom to Learn offers a radically new perspective on academic freedom from a student rights standpoint. It analyzes the effects of performative expectations on students drawing on the distinction between negative and positive rights to re-frame student academic freedom. It argues that students need to be thought of as scholars with rights and that the phrase ‘student-centred’ learning needs to be reclaimed to reflect its original intention to allow students to develop as persons. Student rights – to non-indoctrination, reticence, in choosing how to learn, and in being treated like an adult – ought to be central to this process in fostering a democratic rather authoritarian culture of learning and teaching at university.

Written for an international readership, this book will be of great interest to anyone involved in higher education, policy and practice drawing on a wide range of historical and contemporary literature related to sociology, philosophy and higher education studies.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The freedom of students to learn at university is being eroded by a performative culture that fails to respect their rights to engage and develop as autonomous adults. Instead, students are being restricted in how they learn, when they learn and what they learn by the so-called student engagement movement. Compulsory attendance registers, class contribution grading, group project work and reflective learning exercises based on expectations of self-disclosure and confession take little account of the rights of students or individual differences between them. This new hidden university curriculum is intolerant of students who may prefer to learn informally, are reticent, shy, or simply value their privacy. Three forms of student performativity have arisen - bodily, participative and emotional – which threaten the freedom to learn.

Key themes include:

Freedom to Learn offers a radically new perspective on academic freedom from a student rights standpoint. It analyzes the effects of performative expectations on students drawing on the distinction between negative and positive rights to re-frame student academic freedom. It argues that students need to be thought of as scholars with rights and that the phrase ‘student-centred’ learning needs to be reclaimed to reflect its original intention to allow students to develop as persons. Student rights – to non-indoctrination, reticence, in choosing how to learn, and in being treated like an adult – ought to be central to this process in fostering a democratic rather authoritarian culture of learning and teaching at university.

Written for an international readership, this book will be of great interest to anyone involved in higher education, policy and practice drawing on a wide range of historical and contemporary literature related to sociology, philosophy and higher education studies.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Hermeneutics for Clinicians by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Psychology's Territories by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Re-Designing Teacher Education for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Friendship, Robots, and Social Media by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book A Cognitive Neuropsychological Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Aphasia by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Governance for Harmony in Asia and Beyond by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Pregnancy, Risk and Biopolitics by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Place and the Politics of Identity by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book The Interest Group Society by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Indian Literature and Popular Cinema by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book The Collapse of Communist Power in Poland by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book The Political Thought of Mori Arinori by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Forests and Globalization by Bruce Macfarlane
Cover of the book Trade Policy and Industrialization in Turbulent Times by Bruce Macfarlane
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy