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The policy unconscious : educational labor, the research-and-teaching relationship and the unquestioned meaning of higher education

Paulsson, Alexander LU and Macheridis, Nikos LU (2023) In Critical Policy Studies 17(2). p.241-257
Abstract

Recent developments in higher education have shown that policies that promote employability tend to be at odds with policies that aim to ensure a close relationship between teaching and research. In this article, we explore how university teachers enact a policy demanding a close relationship between research and teaching. Based on a conceptualization of educational labor practices as policy enactment, we show that teachers enact the policy by using scientific papers in class; by teaching students how to attain a ‘scientific attitude’; by drawing upon one’s own research experiences; and finally, by emphasizing formal competence. As the policy is enacted through educational labor practices, and those practices give higher education its... (More)

Recent developments in higher education have shown that policies that promote employability tend to be at odds with policies that aim to ensure a close relationship between teaching and research. In this article, we explore how university teachers enact a policy demanding a close relationship between research and teaching. Based on a conceptualization of educational labor practices as policy enactment, we show that teachers enact the policy by using scientific papers in class; by teaching students how to attain a ‘scientific attitude’; by drawing upon one’s own research experiences; and finally, by emphasizing formal competence. As the policy is enacted through educational labor practices, and those practices give higher education its meaning, the policy enactment is enabled by what we term the policy unconscious. This term denotes not only the educational labor practices by which the policy is enacted, but also the dialectics between the particular labor practices and the general meaning ascribed to higher education.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
educational labor, higher education, policy enactment, policy unconscious, Research and teaching relationship
in
Critical Policy Studies
volume
17
issue
2
pages
241 - 257
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85129168524
ISSN
1946-0171
DOI
10.1080/19460171.2022.2064889
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
id
f7c60930-5b69-4fc4-b966-6bb26cfe4517
date added to LUP
2022-06-28 08:56:42
date last changed
2023-10-26 14:58:26
@article{f7c60930-5b69-4fc4-b966-6bb26cfe4517,
  abstract     = {{<p>Recent developments in higher education have shown that policies that promote employability tend to be at odds with policies that aim to ensure a close relationship between teaching and research. In this article, we explore how university teachers enact a policy demanding a close relationship between research and teaching. Based on a conceptualization of educational labor practices as policy enactment, we show that teachers enact the policy by using scientific papers in class; by teaching students how to attain a ‘scientific attitude’; by drawing upon one’s own research experiences; and finally, by emphasizing formal competence. As the policy is enacted through educational labor practices, and those practices give higher education its meaning, the policy enactment is enabled by what we term the policy unconscious. This term denotes not only the educational labor practices by which the policy is enacted, but also the dialectics between the particular labor practices and the general meaning ascribed to higher education.</p>}},
  author       = {{Paulsson, Alexander and Macheridis, Nikos}},
  issn         = {{1946-0171}},
  keywords     = {{educational labor; higher education; policy enactment; policy unconscious; Research and teaching relationship}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{241--257}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Critical Policy Studies}},
  title        = {{The policy unconscious : educational labor, the research-and-teaching relationship and the unquestioned meaning of higher education}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2022.2064889}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/19460171.2022.2064889}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}