Forms of knowledge, types of tertiary education
& their implications for universities of technology
Leesa Wheelahan
Curriculum transformation at universities of technology:
Towards the development of new generation universities
4th Annual SATN Conference, Bloemfontein, Central University of Technology, 27 – 29 November 2011
Argument
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Universities of technology have a central role in developing the knowledge
base of practice
Preparing people for work, but also transforming work
Universities of technology – 2 foci
– Boyer’s scholarship of application – reflects orientation to practice
– Boyer’s scholarship of teaching – reflects nature of students
Constructing curriculum requires a theory of knowledge – Basil Bernstein
– Increasing access not enough – access to what
– Distinguish between everyday & theoretical knowledge
– Distinguish between academic & ‘vocational’ curriculum
– Theorise the relationship between theoretical knowledge & learning for
work
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Overview
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The retreat from knowledge in curriculum
Why knowledge matters – social justice
Difference between theoretical & everyday knowledge
Difference between academic, occupational/ intermediate & professional
qualifications
Knowledge base & social relations underpinning vocational practice
What do universities do? Boyer’s four models of scholarship
The scholarship of application
The scholarship of teaching
Implications for curriculum
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The retreat from knowledge in
curriculum
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Paradox: ‘knowledge economy’ but •
a retreat from knowledge in
curriculum
Mistakes the contents of
disciplinary knowledge with
structured systems of meaning
Disciplinary knowledge associated
with elitism
Retreat: the Australian cricket team
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Why knowledge matters
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Basil Bernstein argued for access
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to theoretical knowledge as
grounds for democracy
Social justice – access to ‘society’s
conversation’
Used to think the unthinkable & not
yet thought in work & society & is
means used to debate nature of
field of practice
Matters more in ‘knowledge society’
Key way individuals participate in
controversies & debates in their
field of practice
Increasing access not enough –
access to what
Connects past, present & future
Difference between
theoretical & everyday knowledge
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Different systems of meaning – one •
organised vertically, the other
horizontally
Theoretical – general principled
knowledge - (vertical discourse)
Every day – particularised
knowledge (horizontal discourse)
Education & workplace as different
sites of learning provide access to
each type of knowledge – boundary
important, both essential & cannot
be traduced
Students need to be able to
distinguish each as basis for
selecting, integrating &
synthesising each
Classification & framing of
knowledge – render it visible
The distinction between academic &
occupational/ intermediate/ professional qualifications
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Induction to a field of knowledge vs.
field of practice
Principle for selection & translation
to curriculum different
Different orientation to knowledge
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Issues for same occupations,
intermediate occupations &
professions – a continuum
Regions are occupationally
recontextualised disciplinary
knowledge – applied disciplinary
knowledge
Double process of
recontextualisation
Strongly classified & framed
applied disciplinary knowledge
has similar features to strongly
classified academic disciplines
Has implications for curriculum
Knowledge base & social relations
underpinning vocational practice
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Classification & framing related to complexity of knowledge underpinning
practice & social relations of communities of interest
New & old regions differ in knowledge demands of practice & social relations
Knowledge demands vary in contextual & conceptual coherence (Muller)
+Contextual/ -conceptual
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-Contextual/ +conceptual
Broadly speaking – 3 types of programs
– Academic qualifications – face one way - field of knowledge
– Professional qualifications – stronger orientation to knowledge as basis for
practice
– ‘New’ professions, intermediate occupations – stronger orientation to
practice, need growth of knowledge – challenge for UoT
What do universities do?
Boyer’s model of scholarship (1990)
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Institutional frameworks to provide
different types of programs
contingent
Scholarship of discovery,
integration, application, teaching
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All universities must encompass all
4 forms of scholarship, but the
emphasis & combination will vary
depending on the type of university,
its mission & its students
Universities of Technology
– Emphasis on scholarship of
application (nature of
occupations, applied focus)
– Scholarship of teaching (nature
of students)
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Scholarship of application: building knowledge base of
practice, transforming work, preparing for work
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“The scholarship of application, as we
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define it here, is not a one way street.
Indeed, the term itself may be misleading if
it suggests that knowledge is first
‘discovered’ and then ‘applied.’ The
process we have in mind is far more
dynamic. New intellectual understandings
can arise out of the very act of application whether in medical diagnosis, serving
clients in psychotherapy, shaping public
policy, creating an architectural design, or
working with the public schools. In activities
such as these, theory and practice vitally
interact, and one renews the other.”
"How can knowledge be
responsibly applied to
consequential problems?”
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Scholarship of teaching
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Increasing emphasis in Australia
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Who your students are, how they
learn in your field, how you teach,
how you remain at the cutting edge
of your field (knowledge &
teaching), researching & improving
student learning in your
discipline/field,
reporting/disseminating results,
supporting colleagues to improve
teaching
Major issue for universities of
technology – given who your
students are
Need strategies at sectoral,
institutional, departmental &
individual level
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Implications for curriculum
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Qualifications need to face both
ways – to the field of knowledge &
the field of practice
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For a qualification to qualify as a
higher education qualification, it
must contain a base of
systematically organized
knowledge (Muller)
Students need recognition &
realisation rules
Recognise difference between
workplace & institution as distinct
sites of learning
Importance of social partnerships
with employer, professional bodies,
unions & the FET sector
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