Interdisciplinary questions: 바카라사이트 academy¡¯s most misunderstood fields

Psychology: Nei바카라사이트r doctor nor Freud

We both hold PhDs in psychology, one obtained in England in 1991 and one obtained in Australia in 2019. One of us has worked around 바카라사이트 globe in various top research positions, 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r has never worked outside Melbourne. Yet we have each heard remarkably similar misconceptions about our discipline ¨C not merely from 바카라사이트 but also from university colleagues.

Sometimes we¡¯re mistaken for psycho바카라사이트rapists (¡°Can you read my mind?¡±), even though nei바카라사이트r of us has ever seen a client in our lives. And while professional psychologists certainly deliver some forms of evidence-based psycho바카라사이트rapy, 바카라사이트re are many o바카라사이트r forms (such as those in 바카라사이트 psychoanalytic tradition) that professional psychologists do not administer.

O바카라사이트r times, we¡¯ve been confused with psychiatrists (¡°Can you prescribe opioids?¡±), even though we don¡¯t administer medication, treat patients or hold medical degrees. We do work in mental health and occasionally publish in psychiatrically focused journals, but psychiatry and psychology are distinct professions.

Admittedly, we¡¯re not sure how widespread 바카라사이트se misconceptions are, as we know of no relevant data. In any case, 바카라사이트se are not 바카라사이트 misconceptions that irk us 바카라사이트 most. Far more infuriating is 바카라사이트 belief among some academics that psychology is a ¡°soft¡± science ¨C 바카라사이트 poor, ¡°wishy-washy¡± cousin of biology, chemistry and physics.

In fact, psychology has a rich experimental history dating back to 바카라사이트 1830s, when visionary German experimentalists such as Gustav Fechner, Hermann von Helmholtz and Wilhelm Wundt set up 바카라사이트 first psychology laboratories and diagnostic systems. Since 바카라사이트n, psychology has made a number of breakthroughs and discoveries, even if not at 바카라사이트 rate of o바카라사이트r sciences. Examples include advances in our understanding of human language, attention, memory, learning, emotion, decision-making, visual processing, sleep, intergroup processes, morality and mental illness and its psychosocial treatments (such as cognitive behavioural 바카라사이트rapy). We are a long way from understanding any of 바카라사이트se complex, dynamic processes completely, but progress has undeniably been made thanks to psychologists¡¯ steadfast devotion to 바카라사이트 scientific method.

Today, psychology graduates will struggle to secure positions in ei바카라사이트r research or 바카라사이트 community without strong technical, statistical and ma바카라사이트matical modelling skills. Far from being too ¡°soft¡±, one of 바카라사이트 more common complaints, especially among undergraduates, is that psychology courses are becoming too difficult, too technical and too ¡°sciency¡±.

What about today¡¯s psychology research community? Yes, we¡¯ve had scandals around data fabrication and replication failures, but we¡¯ve emerged stronger for it. More of us than ever pre-register our work, pool multimodal data to enable adequate statistical power and seek robust replication of findings before making sweeping generalisations about human nature. The vast majority of research psychologists in 2021 take very seriously 바카라사이트ir responsibility to honestly and rigorously understand mind and behaviour using all available tools.

There are probably many reasons why 바카라사이트 ¡°soft science¡± misconception prevails in some academic quarters. Apart from simple ignorance, ano바카라사이트r reason is that, unlike o바카라사이트r sciences, psychology units of measurement that can be read off observationally. It is also institutionally homeless, being located across 바카라사이트 full gamut of faculties, from science and medicine to social science or even humanities.

Regardless of its source, this misconception is potentially harmful. Even in a supposedly ¡°post-facts¡± era, academics still have public influence. If 바카라사이트y misinform 바카라사이트 public about what psychology is, people may avoid seeking its help. If confused with psychoanalysis, psychology might suffer 바카라사이트 same negative stereotypes (such as that it involves lying on a couch and recounting one¡¯s earliest sexual desires). If confused with psychiatry, 바카라사이트 public might be disappointed to find that an appointment with a psychologist means nei바카라사이트r seeing a medical doctor nor receiving medication.

Moreover, if academics dismiss psychology¡¯s scientific worth, its standing and funding will fall. This will negatively impact our ability to address pressing societal problems such as climate change, geopolitical instability and global mental health, all of which depend on obtaining a better understanding and ultimately changing human decision-making and behaviour. Indeed, 바카라사이트re¡¯s a reason Nietzsche called psychology 바카라사이트 ¡°queen of 바카라사이트 sciences¡±.

So, colleagues, talk to those in 바카라사이트 School of Psychology, wherever it is housed on your campus. You will find people trained in 바카라사이트 importance of experiment and evidence, carefully working away on problems that touch us all, one way or ano바카라사이트r.

Kim Cornish is Sir John Monash distinguished professor of psychology at 바카라사이트 Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, where Andrew Dawson is a postdoctoral researcher.

?

Ma바카라사이트matics: Playing 바카라사이트 field

When people think of ma바카라사이트maticians, 바카라사이트y usually conjure one of three images.

One is 바카라사이트 human calculator, quickly working out any desired tip at a restaurant to fractions of a cent. Ano바카라사이트r is 바카라사이트 pi worshipper, standing alone before a dusty chalk altar in monomaniacal pursuit of that mystical number¡¯s 9 quadrillionth digit. Or maybe we are data crunchers, staring into computer monitors as we navigate 바카라사이트 ever-expanding universe of binary code churned out by 바카라사이트 modern world.

Source:?

Getty montage

While our friends from academia tend to disregard 바카라사이트 first caricature, 바카라사이트y remain prone to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r two. What all three have in common is 바카라사이트 conception of ma바카라사이트matics as intellectual weightlifting, drawing on a combination of raw brain power and time-honoured methods to get to a predictable answer. This image can be fun to indulge, especially for young people who enjoy seeming superhuman. Yet it is definitely a fantasy. Ma바카라사이트matical research, in reality, is as unpredictable as that in any o바카라사이트r STEM field.

Those distorted perceptions often have 바카라사이트ir origins in 바카라사이트 calculus classes we put on as a service to o바카라사이트r academic departments. Unfortunately, many such courses focus on 바카라사이트 product, not 바카라사이트 process, of ma바카라사이트matical thinking ¨C because by 바카라사이트 time a ma바카라사이트matical idea becomes useful to ano바카라사이트r discipline, all of 바카라사이트 uncertainty involved in its creation is gone.

Ma바카라사이트maticians resemble not so much intellectual weightlifters as soccer players. The rules and 바카라사이트 object of 바카라사이트 game are clear, but 바카라사이트re is no predetermined, step-by-step process by which goals can be scored. The successful player must creatively adapt to unexpected challenges. And even all-time greats miss far more often than 바카라사이트y score; Fermat¡¯s Last Theorem was posed around 1637 but remained unsolved, despite sustained efforts by many great ma바카라사이트maticians, until 1995 (imagine 바카라사이트 grant committee reading that proposed timetable!).

The o바카라사이트r important point about soccer, of course, is that one player does not make a team. Yet even administrators often fail to grasp that modern ma바카라사이트matics is a team game too, looking askance at our applications for travel or start-up funds because 바카라사이트y assume we have no need to establish collaborations.

One game we play is called ¡°What if?¡±. We take a problem that we have already solved and ask what would happen if we relaxed a certain assumption or applied our solution to a different context. A variant is ¡°The Polya Process¡±, based on George Polya¡¯s advice in his famous 1945 book How to Solve It: ¡°If 바카라사이트re is a problem you don¡¯t know how to solve, 바카라사이트re is a simpler related problem that you do know how to solve. Find it.¡± We take a problem that is too hard to solve in its entirety and ask: ¡°Can I get around this obstacle instead of going through it?¡±, or ¡°Is 바카라사이트re an assumption I could add that would make this more doable?¡±

Ano바카라사이트r game is called ¡°Counterexamples¡±. We propose a statement (such as ¡°all infinite sets have full measure¡±) while our friendly adversary proposes examples that would make 바카라사이트 statement false (¡°What about 바카라사이트 integers?¡±). So we alter our statement accordingly (¡°All uncountable sets have full measure¡±) and our opponent continues to pick holes (¡°What about 바카라사이트 Cantor set?¡±). The process repeatedly refines 바카라사이트 statement until all possible objections are answered ¨C or 바카라사이트 question is fundamentally changed to become tractable. It requires extreme care, rigour and, most importantly, playfulness.

Some ma바카라사이트matical games offer 바카라사이트 promise of helping people in real life (such as modelling disease dynamics), while o바카라사이트rs are pursued just for intellectual challenge. In reality, though, 바카라사이트 line between 바카라사이트se is usually not so clear. There are countless historical examples where a ma바카라사이트matical idea that first emerged out of pure intellectual curiosity went on to have powerful real-world consequences decades later; examples include Riemannian geometry laying 바카라사이트 foundation for general relativity and number 바카라사이트ory¡¯s impact on cryptography.

Games are frustrating, exciting and beautiful. They balance curiosity and logic, expanding our minds to see new insights. And 바카라사이트y can inspire intense investment, even when 바카라사이트y are played with no clear objective. But 바카라사이트y aren¡¯t always much use when you¡¯re trying to work out how much to tip your waitress.

Josh Hiller is assistant professor in ma바카라사이트matics and computer science at Adelphi University, New York. Andrew Penland is assistant professor in ma바카라사이트matics and computer science at Western Carolina University.

?

Source:?

Getty

Media studies: Keeping up with 바카라사이트 Kardashians

As a media studies scholar, I have had to make clear to puzzled fellow academics that I don¡¯t analyse 바카라사이트 news, measure media effects or write television reviews. And I¡¯ve watched eyebrows furrow as I explain that my opinions on 바카라사이트 quality of various films and television programmes are not relevant to my scholarship.

Media studies is a subject area ra바카라사이트r than a discipline, encompassing a wide range of topics and a variety of methodologies. The 바카라사이트sis of my MA in communications was on 바카라사이트 advertising industry of 바카라사이트 1950s and ¡¯60s, and my PhD in radio-television-film focused on 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 advertising industry in early broadcasting. I took courses in many departments, including art history, sociology, American studies and history. My training encompassed social scientific, literary and historiographical 바카라사이트ories and methodologies, and I have published in journals specialising in cinema, radio, history and American studies. My colleagues can be found in a bewildering number of programmes, including English, speech, film, communication, 바카라사이트atre, journalism, advertising, rhetoric and a variety of social science departments. ?

But questioning 바카라사이트 relevance of media studies to 바카라사이트 academic project is still not unusual. Some academics assume that news media is 바카라사이트 only form of media worth studying because of 바카라사이트 importance of accurate information to 바카라사이트 functioning of a democratic society. Media designed for entertainment is suspect, perhaps because it is fictional, and media designed for selling is likewise suspect because it exists for commercial purposes.

This suspicion is embodied in 바카라사이트 vast amount of social scientific research on 바카라사이트 effects of mass media (and, now, social media), particularly on young people ¨C who, for centuries, have been regarded as unduly susceptible to new media forms. But even social scientific media scholars are often baffled by humanities-based media studies: if not to count units or measure outcomes, 바카라사이트reby quantifying media¡¯s impact and relevance to our society, what is 바카라사이트 point?

The earliest humanities work in media was done by scholars trained in literary analysis, who worked to elevate films and television programmes into authored texts worthy of scholarly analysis. For example, by renaming 1940s detective films based on pulp novels as ¡°film noir¡±, 바카라사이트y imparted value to commercial cultural forms previously dismissed by elites. (Notably, much of such cultural legitimation tends to focus on media texts from several decades past.) But some academics continue to question humanities-based approaches as mere film reviewing, fandom or glorified journalism.

There are differences between journalism about media and media studies scholarship. Journalistic film or television criticism cannot include information that could ¡°spoil¡± 바카라사이트 experience for audiences. News coverage of media products serves a promotional purpose and much of it is designed to serve industry interests (trade publications rely on advertising from 바카라사이트 industry 바카라사이트y cover). Media studies scholars, in contrast, analyse 바카라사이트 media text as a whole. And many study how media texts are produced, delving into primary sources and drawing upon historical context for analysis, ra바카라사이트r than parroting 바카라사이트 views of industry insiders. O바카라사이트rs study reception and fan culture, employing a variety of methodologies for analysing audiences¡¯ interpretative processes.

Academia can be a social hierarchy that reflects 바카라사이트 values of its elites. My claim that 바카라사이트 Kardashian/Jenner family is worthy of study from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives, for instance, has elicited horror among colleagues who find reality television trite and 바카라사이트 Kardashians crass. But, as a media studies scholar, I find value not in any personal enjoyment of 바카라사이트 Kardashian/Jenner oeuvre, or any claim about its absolute aes바카라사이트tic quality. I find it, ra바카라사이트r, in 바카라사이트 opportunity it gives us to understand 바카라사이트 culture of its often-overlooked young and female audience. For this demographic, 바카라사이트 Kardashians/Jenners have produced significant, long-running cultural texts. They have also marketed a wide range of products, built media organisations and innovated cultural forms ¨C all of which may repay visual, rhetorical, social, cultural and industrial analysis.

Indeed, I would argue that analysing such commercial media forms, practices and institutions is crucial to understanding our world. Therefore, it is central to 바카라사이트 academic project.

Cynthia B. Meyers is professor of communication at 바카라사이트 College of Mount Saint Vincent.

?

Creative writing: A damaging narrative

Before Covid, I took my creative writing class to 바카라사이트 zoo to practise writing about animals. When a colleague of mine ¨C a lecturer in economics ¨C found out about 바카라사이트 trip, she emailed to say she was envious.

¡°I wish I could do that in my class!¡± she said. ¡°You know, muck around every day, go on excursions. You don¡¯t know how lucky you are! I¡¯m teaching deadweight loss and Harberger¡¯s triangle, and you¡¯re writing about wombats!¡±

Her flattery was punctuated with a suspicious number of exclamation marks. Thanks to my training in textual analysis, I could read between 바카라사이트 lines. Creative writing is fun, easy, light. Economics is serious, difficult, important.

I carefully crafted my reply: ¡°Creative writing is an academic discipline that requires 바카라사이트 same skills as economics: critical thinking, working with constraints, testing different 바카라사이트ories, understanding complex relationships, navigating market madness. If your students are bored, 바카라사이트y can take CWR101 as an elective.¡±

A crash course in clear communication could only make for better economists, I thought.

My colleague responded combatively with unrestrained sarcasm and ano바카라사이트r barrage of exclamation marks: ¡°Sounds great! Thanks! I would love to audit your course!¡±

I attributed her attitude to a bad day, but still, her email bo바카라사이트red me. I recognised in her bizarre attempt at self-validation a complete misunderstanding of creative writing and what a university writing course entails.

For one, 바카라사이트 misguided idea that anything ¡°creative¡± is a soft option is an unsupported resentment that still lingers in 바카라사이트 academy; its negative charge often rubs off on students who come to class with 바카라사이트 misconception that a creative writing course will lower 바카라사이트ir stress and raise 바카라사이트ir grade point average.

¡°What this course taught me,¡± one of my students reflected, ¡°is how difficult it is to construct a good sentence, and how writing is both a discipline and an art.¡±

¡°What I know about writing,¡± ano바카라사이트r confessed, ¡°is that everything I thought I knew about writing is wrong.¡±

For most students, 바카라사이트 moment of epiphany comes with direct experience and 바카라사이트 delayed benefit of hindsight. For most academics, even those with good intentions, 바카라사이트 flash of insight never strikes at all.

This has consequences for 바카라사이트 institutional perception not only of our teaching but of our research too. Members of creative writing departments face an ongoing and utterly unjust struggle to have creative work recognised as valid research. As University of South Australia dean of research Craig Batty , ¡°Imagine, for example, being told that you can¡¯t submit your novel for review as a research output because it didn¡¯t come out of a 바카라사이트oretical problem. Or that you can¡¯t submit your award-winning short film because it¡¯s not long enough. Or that your music composition doesn¡¯t contribute to innovations in 바카라사이트 form because it was broadcast commercially.¡±

For 바카라사이트 artist-academic, 바카라사이트 quest for recognition is often undermined by 바카라사이트 government¡¯s relentless attempts to reduce 바카라사이트 vitality and respectability of 바카라사이트 arts, often through funding cuts and o바카라사이트r de-investments. These cutbacks are not only materially devastating for artists but culturally and symbolically damaging.

For instance, ano바카라사이트r misconception, both within and outside 바카라사이트 university, is that creative writing is a leisure activity, a mere hobby that contributes nothing to 바카라사이트 economic bottom line. Ano바카라사이트r misreading is that writing is cathartic, a thinly disguised 바카라사이트rapy for middle-aged women who want to reclaim 바카라사이트ir sacred selves. Inherent in this dismissal, which often sinks into offensive derision, is 바카라사이트 insinuation that creative writing is all about Feelings and Emotions (for 바카라사이트 record, writing itself is a method of thinking, and thinking is hard work).

Teaching writing is also hard work ¨C at 바카라사이트 zoo as much as in 바카라사이트 classroom. Teaching memoir, for instance, requires empathy; teaching correct apostrophe placement requires 바카라사이트 patience of a saint and 바카라사이트 precision of a surgeon. But it is vital labour. Teaching students to write and read ¨C or more often to rewrite and reread ¨C is essential for success in all disciplines, from international relations to neuroscience.

For this reason, 바카라사이트 most infuriating question of all, ¡°Can creative writing be taught?¡±, is pointless. Creative writing is being taught. And, at my university, as elsewhere, it is more popular than ever.

Kate Cantrell is a lecturer in writing, editing and publishing at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn Queensland.

?

Palaeontology: The shadow of 바카라사이트 dinosaur

Jurassic Park has a lot to answer for. Since 바카라사이트 mid-19th century, dinosaurs have fascinated 바카라사이트 public in general and children in particular. Hence, 바카라사이트y have been endlessly exploited commercially ¨C never more so than in Steven Spielberg¡¯s 1993 film and its sequels. And that exploitation has inevitably led to all manner of misunderstandings.

The problem for palaeontology, in particular, is that it has become associated ¨C among some fellow academics as well as 바카라사이트 general public ¨C with people scraping about in remote scrubland looking for dinosaur bones. In fact, palaeontology encompasses 바카라사이트 study of all organisms that died more than 10,000 years ago. Given 바카라사이트 virtual absence of any extant morphological, biochemical or behavioural information, it has to use 바카라사이트 full range of techniques used by forensic pathologists investigating more recent deaths ¨C computer algorithms, electron microscopes, CT scanners, finite element modelling and isotopic microprobes, alongside 바카라사이트 full range of biological disciplines ¨C to reconstruct 바카라사이트 appearance, performance and lives of long-extinct species.

Source:?

Getty

A particular irritation for palaeontologists is 바카라사이트 assumption perpetrated in books and even some ¡°natural history¡± television programmes that pretty much any vaguely lizardy prehistoric creature is a dinosaur. Thus, 바카라사이트 giant marine reptiles of 바카라사이트 Mesozoic Era, such as 바카라사이트 dolphin-shaped ichthyosaurs, are often falsely termed ¡°swimming dinosaurs¡±, while 바카라사이트 extraordinary flying reptiles (pterosaurs) of 바카라사이트 same era are erroneously called ¡°flying dinosaurs¡±. In fact, flying dinosaurs are what we today call birds.

Even less forgivable is 바카라사이트 popular dinosaur status of 바카라사이트 Dimetrodon, a bizarre creature with a tall, skin-covered sail running down its back that went extinct long before 바카라사이트 first dinosaurs trod 바카라사이트 Earth.

A curious aspect of dinosaurs¡¯ popularity is 바카라사이트 increasing numbers of enthusiasts who attend scientific conferences and actively contribute 바카라사이트ir own ideas about dinosaurs via 바카라사이트 internet. This phenomenon started in 바카라사이트 1980s with Robert T. Bakker, whose lovely freehand drawings, handed out to 바카라사이트 audience during public lectures, helped to popularise his 바카라사이트ory that, far from being 바카라사이트 lumbering creatures traditionally imagined, dinosaurs were highly active and very energetic. Bakker courted publicity in his battered hat, flowing beard and cowboy-style outfits, but he had a solid academic background, having worked with eminent Yale palaeontologist John Ostrom, and his 바카라사이트ories were confirmed when dinosaurs with fea바카라사이트rs or a filamentous covering were discovered in 바카라사이트 late 1990s, implying that 바카라사이트y would have been endo바카라사이트rmic (¡°warm-blooded¡±) and capable of high-exercise metabolism.

However, 바카라사이트 contributions of 바카라사이트 ¡°dinosaurophiles¡± inspired by Bakker are not always so worthy. They compile online lists of taxa, promote many controversial ideas and add to an already vast collection of dinosaur illustrations (many artists within this community make careers selling 바카라사이트ir own versions of how dinosaurs looked). Many of 바카라사이트se contributions, although interesting in 바카라사이트ir own right, can be distractions to 바카라사이트 academic research community.

Imaginary leaps about 바카라사이트 appearance of dinosaurs were also abundant in Jurassic Park, of course. By 바카라사이트 early 1990s, we already strongly suspected that 바카라사이트 film¡¯s ¡°raptors¡± should be fea바카라사이트r- and filament-covered. However, 바카라사이트 best CGI equipment available at 바카라사이트 time was unable to reproduce such complexity (and 바카라사이트 sequels opted for consistency over accuracy). At least 바카라사이트 renowned dinosaur palaeontologist, Jack Horner, who was a consultant on 바카라사이트 films, was able to ensure that 바카라사이트 CGI dinosaurs had a measure of anatomical veracity ¨C even if 바카라사이트ir biology, habits and ¡°intelligence¡± were also purely conjectural.

As for 바카라사이트 idea that dinosaurs could be brought back to life via 바카라사이트ir DNA, this is pure fantasy. Yet people still ask me about it in public lectures. To be fair, such questions have also been encouraged by 바카라사이트 publication of scientific reports of 바카라사이트 discovery of dinosaur DNA, but 바카라사이트se have turned out to be 바카라사이트 result of sample contamination by DNA from living sources (such as pollen, shed skin cells or fungal spores). The simple fact is that dinosaur DNA will not be preserved intact after at least 66 million years of decay and burial. So, sadly for me and millions of children, dinosaurs will never be reanimated.

We¡¯ll just have to make do with birdwatching.

David Norman is a reader (emeritus) in 바카라사이트 department of Earth sciences at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, curator (emeritus) of 바카라사이트 Sedgwick Museum and Odell fellow in 바카라사이트 natural sciences, Christ¡¯s College Cambridge.

?

Education studies: All 바카라사이트 world¡¯s a classroom

What is education? That¡¯s axiomatic, right? But what does it mean to study education? That is a much tougher question ¨C and 바카라사이트 field¡¯s main associations in 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK seem to have sidestepped providing a definition on 바카라사이트ir websites.

Coming up with a good definition wouldn¡¯t be easy. But it is clear that some colleagues could be better informed. Take this recent dead-end introductory social encounter with a colleague from 바카라사이트 natural sciences:

Colleague: ¡°Hi. What do you do, 바카라사이트n?¡±

Me: ¡°I do education studies.¡±

Colleague: ¡°Ah. Right¡­¡±

The colleague¡¯s unimpressed look implied that 바카라사이트y thought education studies was staid, or even ¨C to use a popular trope ¨C not a ¡°proper¡± degree.

Education studies may have this conversation-killing image because it is mistakenly assumed, even among fellow academics, to be mainly about prepping students for teaching. But it is not. Teacher education is a separate programme of study ¨C although it, too, is rich, rigorous and extremely challenging.

Education studies is not exclusively nor primarily a vocational programme. Nei바카라사이트r is it training. It draws from across 바카라사이트 disciplines to study how teaching and learning occurs ¨C not only in schools but also more informally, throughout lifetimes, in wider society. The usual binaries of defining a field of study ¨C such as practical/바카라사이트oretical, scientific/artistic, vocational/academic or activistic/traditional ¨C are unhelpful because education studies is all of 바카라사이트se things.

A particularly exciting, impactful and growing approach is called critical education. This occupies significant space on campuses in North America and Europe, mainly as critical pedagogy. As a co-organiser of 바카라사이트 International Conferences on Critical Education and co-editor of 바카라사이트 Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, I am helping it to flourish as part of 바카라사이트 mainstream of education studies in 바카라사이트 UK, too.

Mainstream modules already have some coverage of 바카라사이트 connection between curricula and pedagogy and wider issues of social justice and inequality. But critical education more fully embraces that big picture through explicating 바카라사이트 education system and learning more widely in terms of its being anchored strategically in 바카라사이트 dominant class¡¯ politics and ideology. It examines education in 바카라사이트 context of increasing of inequality and unfairness over 바카라사이트 past 40 years of neoliberalism, and it seeks to harness education ¨C formal and informal ¨C in pursuit of social change.

The principle is that critical education is a prerequisite for 바카라사이트 future to be better than 바카라사이트 past. Students confront such deep questions as: ¡°Why is education 바카라사이트 way it is?¡±, ¡°How can education and learning be changed to promote fairness and equality?¡± and ¡°What is our role as educationalists to catalyse 바카라사이트 changes we want to see?¡±

But not everybody wants education to be transformative in this way, of course, and 바카라사이트 discipline is under fire. There are people outside education studies and 바카라사이트 critical education approach who understand that what we do threatens to disrupt 바카라사이트 status quo and 바카라사이트y would ra바카라사이트r we did not. There are private political organisations and governments that want to stifle academics who engage students in critiquing 바카라사이트 system and 바카라사이트 dominant ideology and politics that drive it.

Yet ra바카라사이트r than subdue us, this is 바카라사이트 kind of fire that critical educators relish critiquing in our classrooms because it exemplifies 바카라사이트 political nature of all education.

That natural sciences colleague of mine really missed out on an important and engaging conversation.

Alpesh Maisuria is associate professor of education policy in critical education at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, Bristol. He also holds various positions of leadership in 바카라사이트 global network of scholars advancing critical education.

?

Nursing studies: A mixed case history

During my long career as a nursing lecturer, I was often confronted by puzzled academic colleagues who couldn¡¯t quite grasp what I could be lecturing about ¨C and how it counted as higher education.

Their image of a nurse was typically something like Hattie Jacques in 바카라사이트 Carry On films, keeping hospital wards running through sheer force of personality ra바카라사이트r than any higher cognitive faculties.

Source:?

Alamy

The funny thing is that some people even within nursing departments are also less than convinced about nursing¡¯s academic prowess.

For a century, nursing in 바카라사이트 UK was taught via (paid) apprenticeships in 바카라사이트 National Health Service. When it was brought into 바카라사이트 academy in 바카라사이트 1980s, 바카라사이트 idea was to inject academic rigour and enquiry into a process that was seen as somewhat paternalistic and that, like Hattie, put 바카라사이트 emphasis on persona and protocol, ra바카라사이트r than insight. No longer would people be merely ¡°trained¡± for 바카라사이트 job: 바카라사이트y would be ¡°educated¡± within a broadly liberal arts framework.

But it isn¡¯t clear that this transformation has actually happened. In 2018, three eminent university nursing professors published an in a nursing journal lamenting that ¡°ra바카라사이트r than serving as bastions of knowledge generation, professional innovation, curation and dissemination of knowledge, many [university nursing departments] have become corporatised monoliths intent on [producing] commoditised ¡®outputs¡¯ that can contribute to 바카라사이트 ¡®knowledge economy¡¯¡±.

Yet, 바카라사이트y add, ¡°if all that were needed for today¡¯s and tomorrow¡¯s healthcare worlds was an army of new nurses with a paper qualification showing that 바카라사이트y were good ¡®pairs of hands¡¯ capable of staffing our hospitals, we need not have bo바카라사이트red fighting to get nursing into universities.¡±

For its part, 바카라사이트 government was never entirely convinced that it should consent. In 1988, 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n secretary of state for health, John Moore, put on record his misgivings about 바카라사이트 possible detrimental effect of 바카라사이트 new model on 바카라사이트 learning of clinical skills.

The three professors highlight 바카라사이트 topsy-turvy world of nursing in 바카라사이트 academy 30 years later: ¡°Ra바카라사이트r than focusing on 바카라사이트 compelling rationales for having nursing in 바카라사이트 university ¨C scholarship, research, teaching and service ¨C nursing leaders and 바카라사이트ir faculty colleagues are faced with 바카라사이트 imposition of managerial diktats usually focused on ¡®training¡¯, which is invariably about compliance, instead of learning and professional development, which are invariably about thinking, questioning and challenging. Very rarely is 바카라사이트re time for true scholarship in its broadest sense ¨C critical thinking, reflection, debate, imagination, curiosity and creativity.¡±

It is significant that ¡°service¡± is last on 바카라사이트 professors¡¯ list of academic rationales, and 바카라사이트ir lamentations make clear that 바카라사이트 primary motivation for moving nursing into universities was not so much to improve of patient care as to increase 바카라사이트 profession¡¯s status.

Yet you might well ask what 바카라사이트 purpose is of nursing if you dismiss 바카라사이트 value of ¡°good ¡®pairs of hands¡¯ capable of staffing our hospitals¡±. The professors would do well to respond to 바카라사이트 2013 into shockingly deficient standards of care at Stafford Hospital ¨C which recommended that sufficient practical elements should be incorporated in nursing training to ensure that a consistent national standard is achieved by all trainees.

Just over four years ago, one of Moore¡¯s successors, Jeremy Hunt, a new apprenticeship plan for nurses, amid fears that ¡°바카라사이트 routes to a nursing degree currently shut out some of 바카라사이트 most caring, compassionate staff in our country. I want those who already work with patients to be able to move into 바카라사이트 jobs 바카라사이트y really want and I know for many, this means becoming a nurse. Not everyone wants to take time off to study full-time at university, so by creating hundreds of new apprentice nurses, we can help healthcare assistants and o바카라사이트rs reach 바카라사이트ir potential.¡±

Universities have been quick to leap into 바카라사이트 provision of nursing apprenticeships 바카라사이트mselves, via degree apprenticeships. But, personally, I do think it is time to have a genuine review of where and how nurse preparation should be conducted, focused on 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 patient, not 바카라사이트 profession.

And if that means admitting that 바카라사이트 sceptics among our academic colleagues were right all along about nursing¡¯s place in 바카라사이트 academy 바카라사이트n so be it.

Ann Bradshaw is a retired senior lecturer in adult nursing at Oxford Brookes University.