‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function
Attention has been drawn to reduction of universities’ purposes to serve economic interests only. This dissatisfaction has provoked thinking about how to reclaim a critical, moral role for universities in society. Inspired by contemporary utopian studies this paper brings together traditional ideas...
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| Format: | Article |
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University of the Western Cape
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31782/ |
| _version_ | 1848794272124370944 |
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| author | McLean, Monica |
| author_facet | McLean, Monica |
| author_sort | McLean, Monica |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Attention has been drawn to reduction of universities’ purposes to serve economic interests only. This dissatisfaction has provoked thinking about how to reclaim a critical, moral role for universities in society. Inspired by contemporary utopian studies this paper brings together traditional ideas about how transmitting university knowledge connects to universities’ critical-moral functions, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach adapted for education, and Basil Bernstein’s theories about knowledge distribution. Focusing on the educative function, the aim is to develop a theoretically-informed and practical vision of a university education which is both personally transformative and able to produce critical citizens and workers. Research evidence from two projects on university education reveals ‘promising spaces’ (Cooper, 2014) in which to realise these aims. I conclude that there is reason to believe that the transmission and acquisition of knowledge and understanding in specific fields is key to preserving and recreating a critical-moral mission for universities wherever they are in the world, even though current conditions are inclement and unequal. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-31782 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:13:33Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-317822020-05-04T20:06:08Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31782/ ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function McLean, Monica Attention has been drawn to reduction of universities’ purposes to serve economic interests only. This dissatisfaction has provoked thinking about how to reclaim a critical, moral role for universities in society. Inspired by contemporary utopian studies this paper brings together traditional ideas about how transmitting university knowledge connects to universities’ critical-moral functions, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach adapted for education, and Basil Bernstein’s theories about knowledge distribution. Focusing on the educative function, the aim is to develop a theoretically-informed and practical vision of a university education which is both personally transformative and able to produce critical citizens and workers. Research evidence from two projects on university education reveals ‘promising spaces’ (Cooper, 2014) in which to realise these aims. I conclude that there is reason to believe that the transmission and acquisition of knowledge and understanding in specific fields is key to preserving and recreating a critical-moral mission for universities wherever they are in the world, even though current conditions are inclement and unequal. University of the Western Cape 2015-12 Article PeerReviewed McLean, Monica (2015) ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function. Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning (CriSTaL), 3 (2). pp. 1-22. ISSN 2310-7103 Basil Bernstein capabilities approach knowledge university teaching utopian studies. http://cristal.epubs.ac.za/index.php/cristal/article/view/52/102#.VsxATbiLSCg doi:10.14426/cristal.v3i2.52 doi:10.14426/cristal.v3i2.52 |
| spellingShingle | Basil Bernstein capabilities approach knowledge university teaching utopian studies. McLean, Monica ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| title | ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| title_full | ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| title_fullStr | ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| title_short | ‘Promising Spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| title_sort | ‘promising spaces’: universities’ critical-moral mission and educative function |
| topic | Basil Bernstein capabilities approach knowledge university teaching utopian studies. |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31782/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31782/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31782/ |