Higher Education and Hope: Institutional, Pedagogical and Personal Possibilities

Description

Around the world, the landscape of Higher Education is increasingly shaped by discourses of employability, rankings, and student satisfaction. Under these conditions, the role of universities in preparing students for all facets of life, and to contribute to the public good, is reshaped in significant ways: ways which are often negative and pessimistic. This book raises important and pressing questions about the nature and role of universities as formative educational institutions, drawing together contributors from both Western and non-Western perspectives. While the editors and contributors critique the current situation, the chapters evince a more humane and compassionate framing of the work of and in universities, based on positive and valued relationships and notions of the good. Drawing together a wide range of theoretical and conceptual frameworks to illuminate the issues discussed, this volume changes the debate to one of hopefulness and inspiration about the role of higher education for the public good: ultimately looking towards a potentially exciting and rewarding future through which humanity and the planet can flourish. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxxv Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Resources of Hope: Truth and Reason (Jon Nixon)....Pages 3-19 Pedagogies of Hopefulness and Thoughtfulness: The Social-Political Role of Higher Education in Contemporary Societies (Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen)....Pages 21-48 A Public University’s Balancing Act: Institutional Possibilities, Pedagogical Advancement, Individual Benefit, and State Economic Development (Rebecca Watts, Gabriel Swarts, Leslie Rush, Cynthia Brock)....Pages 49-69 Hygge, Hope and Higher Education: A Case Study of Denmark (Marianne A. Larsen)....Pages 71-89 Front Matter ....Pages 91-91 Is Caring Pedagogy Really So Progressive? Exploring the Conceptual and Practical Impediments to Operationalizing Care in Higher Education (Caroline Walker-Gleaves)....Pages 93-112 The Pursuit of Compassionate Hope: Repurposing the University Through the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda (Paul Warwick, Alun Morgan, Wendy Miller)....Pages 113-134 Folds, Fractals and Bricolages for Hope: Some Conceptual and Pedagogical Tactics for a Creative Higher Education (Craig A. Hammond)....Pages 135-155 The Enchantment of Social Theory: Engaging Equity Imaginaries in the Neoliberal Academy (Linda Muzzin)....Pages 157-176 Cultivating Confucius’ Ren in Hong Kong Higher Education (Cindy Sing Bik Ngai, Rita Gill Singh)....Pages 177-196 Front Matter ....Pages 197-197 A Hope to Believe in: A Transition Programme to Support Mature Students’ access to Higher Education (Angela Scollan)....Pages 199-221 Is Higher Education Inherently Good, Educative Practices Intrinsically Good and Universities Instrumentally Good? What Should We Hope For? (Paul Gibbs)....Pages 223-239 Centering Humanism Within the Milieu of Sustained Student Protest for Social Justice in Higher Education Within South Africa (Labby Ramrathan)....Pages 241-257 Working in the Neoliberal University: Other-Regarding Virtues and Hope (Andrew Peterson)....Pages 259-274 Back Matter ....Pages 275-286