Values in Higher Education Applying a disciplinary lens Photo: Wonderlane CC BY 1

Overview What do we mean by values and why do they matter in HE? Case studies (as methodology and example) Articulating participants’ own values/ethical principles Personal, institutional and disciplinary perspectives Values, teaching and curriculum design Locating values in practice: further work 2

Why explore values? Photo: Andrei Ceru. CC:

Activity 1: What do we mean by values? Please make some notes about what you understand by the term ‘values’. Please identify about 3 values that you feel are inherent in higher education. Discuss these ideas in groups of 3 or 4. 4

Why address values in HE practice? Values are at the heart of our identities as academics, and they shape our decisions as teachers and researchers. Yet, values and ethics in university teaching feature less frequently than we might expect in professional development courses for academics. Bruce Macfarlane, suggests that there is a dearth of literature on the topic of 'managing the ethical implications of teaching in modern higher education', and he calls for the bridging of the gap between a professional competency approach to teaching in HE and the 'ethical complexities' of being a university teacher. (Macfarlane, 2004) Gap between teaching of ‘techniques’ in HE CPD courses and engaging in ethics, values, politics and social context for higher education. (Malcolm and Zukas, 2001) 5

Case studies and dilemmas Photo: DioramaSky. CC BY-NC-ND

Case studies Case study as method for exploring topics with groups: A number of researchers in the field (Macfarlane, Smith, Harland and Pickering) advocate a case study approach to exploring ethics in HE. Case studies can be fictionalised or historical accounts which present real-life events or dilemmas. Case studies are often participant-led. A workshop leader can present a ‘case’ or ‘dilemma’ and participants then lead the conversation about the issues arising. Case studies are a useful way of presenting complex material that may not have a single solution. Macfarlane,

Activity 2: Working with case studies Please see the handout entitled ‘Values in HE case studies’ and select 2 cases to consider. Please consider the cases from a disciplinary perspective. Photo: Molly Ali. CC BY-NC

Activity 3: Developing a case study or dilemma Please think of an experience that you have encountered in your practice that has posed a sort of dilemma for you as a teacher. Please draft a rough case study from this material. Please share your rough draft with others in the group: To what extent is this dilemma specific to your discipline? To what extent could the thinking around this case study usefully involve people from other disciplines? 9

Examining and articulating values Photo: Frederic della Faille. CC BY NC SA 10

UKPSF statement of professional values source: UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education Professional Values V1 Respect individual learners and diverse learning communities V2 Promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners V3 Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and continuing professional development V4 Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates recognising the implications for professional practice 11

Activity 4: Examining value statements Please listen to Dr Holly Smith interrogating the HEA 2006 values: Please consider the 2011 HEA value statements: How would you amend these values? Are there values you would like to add? This is a generic set of values. What discipline-specific values would you add to the list? Please discuss your amendments in pairs. (adapted from an exercise developed by Holly Smith) 12

Disciplinary values Please find a set of values articulated by your discipline. Sources for such a set might include Professional disciplinary bodies HEA – subject repositories Faculty or departmental statements Law Society 2010 Manifesto 13

Activity 5: Critically examining disciplinary values The aim of this activity is for participants to develop a critique of the disciplinary values that you have identified. Here are some questions that might help: What assumptions are made in the statement(s) you’ve found? Who benefits from your acceptance of them? Who might disagree with them? Are there any contradictions between them? What are the implications for academic practice? To what extent are these values in accordance with the HEA value statement that we’ve just considered. What might you amend or add? (Adapted from Smith, H. 2011) 14

Examining practice through a ‘values’ lens Curricular perspective (teaching content) Where are the values of your discipline present in the curriculum? Would you like to foreground values in your curricula? Pedagogical perspective (teaching practice) How are your values realised in your teaching? Are there ways of further grounding your teaching practice in your values (personal, professional and/or disciplinary)? 15

References Harland, T. and Pickering, N. (2011) Values in Higher Education Teaching London: Routledge. Macfarlane, B. (2004)Teaching with Integrity London: Routledge. Malcolm, J. and Zukas, M. (2001) ‘Bridging pedagogic gaps: conceptual discontinuities in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 6 (1), pp Smith, H. (2011) ‘Audio Commentaries: HEA Values’ - MP3 produced for the CPD4HE project: Smith, H. (2011) ‘Values in HE’. OER module produced for the CPD4HE project: 16

Learning Resource Metadata Field/ElementValue: TitleDisciplinary Thinking – Values: Workshop slides DescriptionPresentation slides for a workshop on values in HE teaching and academic practice ThemeValues SubjectHE - Education AuthorColleen McKenna & Jane Hughes: HEDERA, 2012 OwnerThe University of Bath AudienceEducational developers in accredited programmes & courses in higher education. Issue Date24/05/2012 Last updated Date02/08/2012 Versionfinal PSF Mapping A1, A4, A5, K1, PV1, PV2, PV4 LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. Keywords ukoer, education, discthink, disciplinary thinking, hedera, university of bath, values, academic practice 17