Winter 2013 SSCE MA Colloquium Ⅱ (March 19 1PM-2PM)

Topic:Widening Participation: rich pedagogical opportunities, complex challenges

A dissemination of findings from the 2010-2012 United Kingdom Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship Scheme “Formations of Gender and Higher Education Pedagogies (GaP)” project and its UK Fulbright expansion, “Gender and Higher Education Pedagogies in a Comparative Perspective”

Time: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 1PM-2PM

Place: Reading Room (Moore Hall 3340)

Speaker: Lauren Ila Jones Misiaszek, PhD

 (GSE&IS Social Science and Comparative Education alumna)

2012-2013 United Kingdom Fulbright Scholar, Centre for Education Research in Equalities, Policy and Pedagogy, Department of Education, University of Roehampton, London; Assistant Director, Honorary Founder, Paulo Freire Institute, UCLA; Associate, Paulo Freire Institute-United Kingdom, Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER) at the School of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

Abstract: Policies in the United Kingdom aiming to increase equity within and access to higher education (HE) fall under the national policy domain known as  “widening participation” (WP).The WP agenda has raised questions about pedagogies in HE and the ways they might be further developed to address issues of inclusion, equity, participation and diversity (David et al, 2008). Further, concerns with WP have drawn attention to a gender gap in HE participation, with women now outnumbering men in a range of subject areas. This has led to claims of the feminization of HE, including the feminization of teaching and learning. Feminist scholars have critiqued such claims, highlighting the dangers of an oversimplification of gender and inequalities in higher education, and emphasizing the need for nuanced research that draws out the complexities of gendered formations, learner identities and pedagogical experiences (Burke and Jackson, 2007; Leathwood and Read, 2009). 

This talk draws on research that aims to develop a detailed understanding of the relationship between formations of gender, and its intersections with other social identities, and pedagogical practices and experiences. I will first discuss findings from a major national project (2010-2012), funded by the Higher Education Academy’s National Teaching Fellowship Scheme, “Formations of Gender and Higher Education Pedagogies (GaP)(Principal Investigator: Professor Penny Jane Burke, University of Sussex, Director, Paulo Freire Institute-UK).  I will then discuss an expansion of GaP through my Fulbright Scholar research in Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United States. This work highlights that as higher education becomes increasingly diverse, policy-makers and universities must support HE lecturers in developing inclusive pedagogical practices that are sensitive to gender differences as well as other social inequalities and exclusions in higher education.

Audience:

This talk will be of interest to anyone (interested in) exploring feminist and/or critical pedagogies in higher education theory and practice, equity within and access to higher education, (comparative) education policy in England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and/or the United States, and/or student/faculty identity issues in HE. In addition, it may be of interest to anyone considering a Fulbright Scholar award.