Abstract
This chapter explores ways in which educational developers in higher education settings might transcend a role which is frequently characterised by hovering on the borders of disciplines and departments. Critical thinking and theoretical underpinning is used to analyse and evaluate a case study account of in-depth discussions between one educational developer and four early career academics in the natural sciences which focuses on initiatives seeking to fill the space between natural science pedagogies and educational development work. The emergence of an adaptation of a framework based on Carper’s (Nurs Adv Nurs Sci 1(1):13–24, 1978) ways of knowing illustrates how in the words of Nicolescu (The transdisciplinary evolution of learning. http://perso.club-internet.fr/nicol/ciret, 1999) “a new vision and a new lived experience” might be forged.
This collaboration between early career natural science academics and an educational developer has enabled meaning and actions to be extracted from joint work that, in turn, will influence understanding of transciplinarity practices.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnett, R. (2011). Being a University. London: Routledge.
Becher, T., & Trowler, P. (2001). Academic tribes and territories. Buckingham, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
Boud, D., & Brew, A. (2013). Reconceptualising academic work as professional practice: Implications of academic development. IJAD, 18(3), 208–221.
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Brew, A. (2010). Transforming practice through scholarship. Journal of Academic Development, 15(2), 105–116.
Budge, K., & Clarke, A. (2012). Academic development as a creative act. International Journal for Academic Development, 17(1), 59–70.
Carper, B. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing. Nursing Advances in Nursing Science, 1(1), 13–24.
Davis, C. (2013). New thinking on teaching observation: Develo** academics for the future. Unpublished professional doctorate, Middlesex University.
European Commission. (2013). Report to the European Commission on Improving the quality of teaching and learning in Europe’s higher education institutions. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Fortuin, K. & Van Koppen, K. (2013). The value of a conceptual model of transdisciplinary to enhance students reflexive skills – Theory framework and experimental design. Engineering Education for Sustainable Development, September, Cambridge.
Holmes, T., et al. (2012). The impossibilities of neutrality: Other geopolitical metaphors for academic development units. International Journal for Academic Development, 17(3), 197–202.
Klein, J. T. (2000). Voices of Royaumont. In M. Somerville & D. Rapport (Eds.), Transdisciplinarity: Recreating integrated knowledge (pp. 3–13). Oxford: E0LSS.
Krishnan, A. (2009). What are academic disciplines? Some observations on the disciplinarity vs. interdisciplinary debate. ERSC National Centre for Research Methods. NCRM Working Paper Series 03/9.
Little, D., & Green, D. A. (2011). Betwixt and between: Academic developers in the margins. International Journal for Academic Development, 17(3), 203–216.
Marshall, J. (2015). Transdisciplinarity and art integration: Toward a new understanding of art-based learning across the curriculum. Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research, 55(2), 104–127.
Nicolescu, B. (1997). The transdisciplinary evolution of the University Condition for Sustainable Development. Talk at the International Congress, “Universities’ Responsibilities to Society,” International Association of Universities, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, November 22–14, 1997.
Nicolescu, B. (1999). The transdisciplinary evolution of learning. http://perso.club-internet.fr/nicol/ciret
Nicolescu, B. (2015, July). The need for transdisciplinary in higher education. A symposium on rethinking postgraduate higher education from transdisciplinary perspectives, Hendon Hall Hotel.
Rowland, S. (2000). The enquiring University Teacher. Milton Keynes, UK: OUP/SRHE.
Success as a knowledge economy. (2016). Government white paper: Success as a knowledge economy: Teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice. London: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.
Timmermans, T. A. (2014). Identifying threshold concepts in the careers of educational developers. International Journal for Academic Development, 19(4), 305–317.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. M. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Davis, C.L. (2017). Working in Corners, Spaces, Bends and Turns: How Transdisciplinary Approaches and Attitudes Might Challenge and Shape the Practices of Educational Developers and Early Career Academics. In: Gibbs, P. (eds) Transdisciplinary Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56185-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56185-1_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56184-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56185-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)