Teaching and Learning > DISCOURSE
Disciplines and Progression
Author: David Mossley
Journal Title: Discourse
ISSN: 2040-3674
ISSN-L: 1741-4164
Volume: 9
Number: 1
Start page: 4
End page: 5
Return to vol. 9 no. 1 index page
Welcome to the eighteenth edition of Discourse. You will no doubt have noticed that this is a bumper edition; we have included the normal range of papers and reports together with presentations from our successful summer conference, 'A-Level Above? Progression to Undergraduate Studies in Philosophy' (St Anne's College, Oxford, 2-3 July 2009).
We are entering a period of uncertainty and change: the full fall-out from the banking crisis and recession will be felt across the public sector very soon; there is much discussion about how the REF will capture and measure 'impact' in research, particularly in the humanities; and the publication of Higher Ambitions and Skills for Growth by BIS gives an indication of how teaching in the UK HE sector will be expected to address expectations in a globalised market producing graduates of the future. But we do not know in any detailed way how diversity and disciplinarity fare in this future.Will we be asked to promote and enhance the distinctiveness of the disciplines that provide our current academic identities, or are we to embrace an increasingly inter- and transdisciplinary world where differences are eroded? A rain forest contains more diversity and supports a greater number of individuals than a monoculture, and once it is destroyed it cannot be regenerated; so defending and promoting our distinct contributions to the UK's HE landscape may be more pressing now than ever before.
Here at the Subject Centre we hope the range of pedagogical research and evidence informed practice that we have funded, encouraged, initiated and published over the last nine years and continue to develop will provide a significant grounding for your own demonstrations that learning and teaching in our disciplines is unique and worthy of future development and enhancement.
This issue of Discourse opens with an interview with George MacDonald Ross who retired as Director of the Subject Centre this summer. George's vision and insights have guided the Subject Centre from its inception and his own commitment to subject-specific teaching practices has long been recognised and widely appreciated.There are three pieces on Subject Centre related projects including a report on our Student Focus Group work.
The conference papers begin 'Wot u @ uni 4?' which also explores student expectations of philosophy. Many of the papers highlight difficulties and challenges faced by the diverse range of students now coming to study philosophy at university, and how their experiences in a changing school and FE context affect their studies.We hope that the outcomes of this conference, although specifically for philosophy, will be of value to others. We hope 2010 is a fruitful year for you.
Best wishes, David
Return to vol. 9 no. 1 index page
This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.
