The Power in Learning: Power Differentials, Learning Approaches and Market Orientations in Higher Education

Lead Research Organisation: Lancaster University
Department Name: Educational Research

Abstract

Research Questions:
1. With what intentions and in what ways do university actors attempt to engage their
students, and how do these relate to the subject positioning of students?
2. What regularities are evident in student perceptions of power differentials and how they
manifest at their study sites?
3. In what ways others than power differentials do partnership and market orientations
manifest themselves in sites of learning and teaching?
4. What linkages, if any, do students make between the above and their reported approaches
to study and learning?
5. What is the significance of the findings for concepts and theory associated with power,
student partnership, identity and ideologies in higher education contexts?

Publications

10 25 50

Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
ES/P000665/1 01/10/2017 30/09/2027
1865011 Studentship ES/P000665/1 01/10/2017 30/09/2019 Eloise Symonds
 
Description The findings illuminate a number of interesting insights. Firstly, they show a consistent trend of the expected behaviours of the traditional learner subjectivity and the traditional power relationship. Both academic and undergraduate interviews emphasised similar behaviours in relation to what they thought was a natural dynamic between learners and teachers and the analysis illuminated that this naturalness is based on the cogency of the social construction and its current status as an enduring relation in the social world. Secondly, the findings demonstrated the conflicting positioning of undergraduates within the three subjectivities of the traditional learner, the partner and the consumer. The data sets demonstrated a conflict between macro and micro positionings of undergraduates and this was shown to be causing confusion for both academics and undergraduates in relation to how they should behave and interact with one another. For example, some participants felt ambiguous towards exercising their rights as consumers and questioning their academics because the traditional learner subjectivity is characterised by deference to an academic's authority. The findings also emphasised the conflicting dispositional power of the three subjectivities and the confusion surrounding the resulting power relationship between undergraduates and academics. For example, undergraduates and academics were reluctant to share power in a partnership relationship because of the cogency of the traditional power relationship; teachers are the social roles with the ability to exercise power in sites of learning and teaching and partnership models require a reversal of that characteristic. But the strength of the system of belief surrounding the traditional power relationship and its appropriateness for educational contexts led participants to treat partnership power relationships either with reluctance and scepticism or complete refusal. The findings illuminate that the traditional learner subjectivity and the traditional power relationship that results is not just a barrier to partnership, as it is so often considered in the literature, but a powerful structural constraint that requires more than a set of practical projects at the micro level to overcome.
Exploitation Route The current university climate is in a state of flux. Numerous changes have occurred in the past decade or so, creating a state of instability in what people know about what constitutes learning within higher education. This research is important because it examines that flux through a lens that has not been considered before; it gives emphasis to theoretical concepts that have not been applied to an understanding of the changes happening in universities. It provides insight into concepts that are often overlooked in favour of practice and policy, which are equally as important, but grounding practical research in a theoretical understanding is important for understanding the bigger picture. My work is relevant to a number of people and fields. It is relevant to those interested in theories and issues in higher education contexts, particularly those interested in the sociology of educational contexts. It is relevant to those who are interested in the theory of power within educational contexts, and the theoretical framework of power is even relevant to those applying the theory of power to alternative contexts. The work is relevant to the management of higher education institutions, particularly those with an active encouragement of partnership models. It is relevant to government policy because it provides a foundation for understanding the theoretical implications of national policy on the positioning of undergraduates and their relationships in the learning process. It is relevant to policy makers seeking to implement partnership models because, again, it provides a theoretical understanding of the barriers and challenges that exist for implementing partnership dynamics in higher education institutions. Although the research is contextualised for higher education, the findings are relevant to anyone in the field of education, at different levels, because it illuminates the cogency of the traditional learner subjectivity, its formation and perpetuation through interpersonal relationships, discourse and spatial configurations and would be significant for people seeking a better understanding of student behaviours in educational contexts. The relevance of the research is very broad because it furthers the development of theory and concepts rather than very specific practical implications and therefore, can be applied to different people seeking different perspectives and understandings in different contexts.
Sectors Education