Purchase this article
USD $22.00
'A place where open minds meet': The constraints of alignment and the effects of compulsory teacher training on teaching and learning in higher education
in Learning and Teaching
Author:
Paulina Mihailova
Paulina Mihailova
Search for other papers by Paulina Mihailova in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Paulina Mihailova in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
USD $0.01
All currencies in US Dollar
The article investigates how university lecturers taking part in the compulsory teacher training at Stockholm University (SU) conceive of the effects of standardised and formalised training on their teaching. The study explores the emotions and responses evoked among academics when everyone is required to embrace the same pedagogic philosophy of constructive alignment (Biggs 2003), adopt the language of learning outcomes and assign the same standards to diverse academic practices. The article attempts to shed light on different conceptions of the quality of teaching and learning in higher education and the interplay between the lecturers' values of academic freedom, collegiality and disciplinary expertise and the university leadership's values of efficiency, accountability and measurability of performance. The article considers how these conceptions coexist and are negotiated within the university as an organisation.