The paper presents an analysis of the forms of meaning making in "Teaching in Higher Education" between 2005 and 2013. Unlike other papers which have reviewed higher education journals the analysis was based on reading full papers. Previous analyses of journals have commented on the a-theoretical nature of much research into higher…

This article addresses the problem of how we theorise in writing about higher education through a reconstruction and interrogation of my previous work. I argue that theorising is messy, incomplete and a non-reductive process. Using C. Wright-Mills' notion of craft and Val Hey's insights into theorists who come to haunt us, I retrace the steps…

This paper calls into question the idea that we can simply think about higher education as a research field and explores different meanings of the term field. It asks whether there are related fields: research into higher education, academic development and disciplinary teaching research, rather than one. The approach of the paper is conceptual,…

This paper discusses the ways in which mature students orientate themselves towards the future in making decisions to access higher education (HE). Their narratives connect their past, often difficult, educational and personal lives to their future aspirations and to their current experiences in further education (FE) and HE. The research was part…

This paper explores some of the unresolved tensions in higher education systems and the contradiction between widening participation and the consolidation of social position. It shows how concepts of capital derived from Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam provide a powerful basis for critique, but risk a deficit view of students from less privileged…

Academic development has emerged as an important new site of practice in higher education internationally over the past 40 years, and has been influential in shaping the terms of debate about teaching and learning in higher education. Academic development has shifted its focus from the individual teacher to strategic interventions at institutional…

Academic development has played a significant role in creating university "learning and teaching" as an object of policy scrutiny and intervention. While academic development is a new field, its practices have been productive of new learning and teaching regimes in both the global "north" and "south". This paper…

In this article I argue that qualitative research that focuses attention on how change is being understood and experienced on the ground can contribute to broader theoretical insights. In recent research I have been exploring how lecturers apply their understandings of learning outcomes and personal development planning. At one level, these…

This article argues that we need richer conceptions of students as affective and embodied selves and a clearer theorisation of the role of emotion in educational encounters. These areas are currently under-researched and under-theorised in higher education. The first part of the article explores the literature on emotion. The second reports on a…

The importance of employability in higher education and increasing numbers of students working while studying led leaders on a social science degree to introduce work experience modules. This paper reports on an in-depth case study based on the analysis of staff and student interviews, the students' reflective assignments, and a focus group…

Progress files represent a major policy initiative involving the use of Personal Development Planning (PDP) aimed at the production of autonomous learners who are capable of planning for their own career and personal futures. The paper is organized in three parts and argues for a more critical approach, which locates PDP as part of broader shifts…

This article explores the meanings involved in the development and implementation of learning and teaching policies in higher education through a single institution case study in an English university. It draws on interview data collected from middle manager-academics, located in Schools, who are charged with implementing learning and teaching…