Drawing on the perspectives of scholars and researchers from around the world, this book challenges dominant constructions of higher education students. Given the increasing number and diversity of such students, the book offers a timely discussion of the implicit and sometimes subtle ways that they are characterised or defined. Topics vary from the ways that curriculum designers ‘imagine’ learners, the complex and evolving nature of student identity work, through to newspaper and TV representations of university attendees. Reimagining the Higher Education Student seeks to question the accepted or unquestioned nature of ‘being a student’ and instead foreground the contradictions and ‘messiness’ of such ideation. Offering timely insights into the nature of the student experience and providing an understanding of what students may desire from their Higher Education participation, this book covers a range of issues, including:
Impressions versus the reality of being a Higher Education student
Portrayals of students in various media including newspapers, TV shows and online
Generational perspectives on students, and students as family members
It is a valuable resource for academics and students both researching and working in higher education, especially those with a focus on identities, their importance and their constructions.
Author(s): Rachel Brooks, Sarah O’Shea
Series: Society For Research Into Higher Education Series | 5
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge | Taylor & Francis Group
Year: 2021
Language: English
Commentary: TruePDF
Pages: 281
Tags: College Students: Psychology; College Students: Attitudes; Education, Higher: Aims And Objectives; Identity (Psychology
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Editors
List of Contributors
Series Editors’ Introduction
Chapter 1: Reimagining the higher education student: An introduction
The value of exploring constructions of students
Dominant constructions of the higher education student
Students as learners
Students as consumers
Students as citizens
Students as (current and future) workers
Students as socialites
The contribution of this book
References
Chapter 2: On becoming a university student: Young people and the ‘illusio’ of higher education
Introduction
Forming an interest in the field: The ‘illusio’ of higher education
Research design
Work-oriented illusio
Scholastic illusio
Social illusio
Emancipatory illusio
Quixotic illusio
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: ‘She’s like, “you’re a uni student now”’: The influence of mother–daughter relationships on the constructions of learner identities of first-in-family girls
Introduction
Working-class transitions to higher education
Families, working-class motherhood and education
Working-class feminine subjectivities
Methodology
Findings
Discussion
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 4: Constructions of náksèuk-săa : Tracing contested imaginings of the Thai university student
Introduction: Dèk sà-măi née (young people these days)
Historical review: Shifting constructions of the náksèuk-săa
Early historical period (pre-1889)
Early modernisation period and the post-revolution period (1889–1949)
Development planning period (1950–present)
Methods: Analysing Thai HE policies
Analysis: Dominant constructions of náksèuk-săa
Background
Náksèuk-săa as future workers (who contribute to national development)
Náksèuk-săa as preservers of Thai culture
Náksèuk-săa as customers
The ‘new gen’ náksèuk-săa
Discussion and conclusion: náksèuk-săa as a complex figure worthy of consideration
Notes
References
Chapter 5: The shifting subjectification of the ‘widening participation’ student: The affective world of the ‘deserving’ consumer
Introduction
Widening participation – what, why and with whom?
Theorisation
Methods
Discussion
The affective worlds ‘behind’ postcode data
The positivity industry of WP
Complex lives/idealised targets
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 6: Dispelling the myth of the ‘traditional’ university undergraduate student in the UK
Introduction: Problematising the myth of the traditional student
Methods
More than traditional demographics: How student traditions function as notions of legitimacy
Tradition as an ideal: Measuring up to the myth
Idealised traditions: Students’ role in reproducing the myth
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: Imagining the constructivist student online: Actively engaged learner or vulnerable student in need?
Introduction
The rise of the constructivist learner
Examining constructions of the student via a case study of an online ‘constructivist teaching’ initiative
Constructions of students in the online learning initiative design and rationale
Constructions of students by academics and learning advisors
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: Dominant higher education imaginaries: Forced perspectives, ontological limits and recognising the imaginer’s frame
Introduction
Forced perspectives in higher education
The cunning of ‘ employability’
Fabricating ‘economic fatalism’
Agency, ontological limits and responsibility
Concluding thoughts
Note
References
Chapter 9: Reframing the ‘traditional learner’ into the ‘partner’ in higher education: Conflicting subjectivities and behavioural expectations of the undergraduate ‘student’ in UK universities
Introduction
Conceptualising the ‘traditional learner’ and the ‘partner’
The ‘traditional learner’ subjectivity
The ‘partner’ subjectivity
Research design
Findings
Managing dual roles
Taking responsibility for learning
Actively participating in the learning process
Sharing authority within reciprocal relationships
Conclusion
References
Chapter 10: Constructing the university student in British documentary television
Introduction
Approach
‘At risk’ or ‘a risk’
‘Cash cows’ and ‘bogus students’
Dumbing down
Skint or flush?
Stress and vulnerability
Institutional failures
Conclusion
References
Chapter 11: Constructing students as family members: C ontestations in media and policy representations across Europe
Introduction
Background
Comparative studies of the family
Different types of family support and involvement
Research methods
Dominant constructions with media and policy
Students as integral family members: Spain and Ireland
Students as independent actors: Denmark
Students in position of ambivalence: Germany and England
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Notes
References
Chapter 12: Student millennials/Millennial students: How the lens of generation constructs understandings of the contemporary HE student
Introduction
Millennials and the HE landscape
The millennial cohort and the shifting fees and loans landscape
Student debt
Graduate employment and the diminishing returns to education
Imagining the millennial, imagining the student
Passive consumers, entitled learners
Fragile Snowflake, PC Warriors
Conclusion
References
Chapter 13: Exploring spaces in-between: Reimagining the Chinese student in a transnational higher education context in China
Introduction
Liminality and identity in the hybrid spaces of transnational HE in China
Methodology
Transnational higher education in China
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University: The case study context
Findings and discussion
Identity negotiations in the hybrid space of XJTLU
Conclusion
Notes
References
Chapter 14: Between international student and immigrant: A critical perspective on Angolan and Cape Verdean students in Portugal
Introduction
International students: Multiple understandings
Methods and participants
Student, foreigner or immigrant? Hierarchies in the classroom and in employment
Mobile class positions
Student, no matter what
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Notes
References
Chapter 15: Conclusion
Introduction
Conflicts in the ‘making’ of university students
Players in a global setting: Students within the international realm
Delineating the field: What can this book offer?
Tensions in depictions of studenthood
Diverse methodologies and foci
Diversity of conclusions drawn: Final thoughts
References
Index
