Identity and Pedagogy in Higher Education: International Comparisons is an intricate attempt at finding neutral territory for the concepts of identity, race and otherness, the highly faceted notions of Blackness and Whiteness, and the ways in which they are understood and conceptualized in the field of higher education, which is prominently dominated by White values and perspectives.
Impartiality is an underlying theme in this book, and is a direct attempt at exploring acceptance within multiculturalism. Emphasis is placed upon the idea that success can only be achieved once it is aimed at all practitioners and students. However, it is acknowledged that this is highly complex due to the fact that ethnicity and race exist primarily through a homogenous approach to boundary formation, which is heavily intertwined with economic and political connotations. According to the book, this naturally paves the way for discrepancies within the scope of higher education.
Essentially, this is expressed through the empirical research conducted and through a range of literature which has conveyed concepts such as hyphenated nationality as a solution to the rigidity of such boundaries. Moreover, the book draws on comparisons between the mismatch of the ethnic identity of the teaching population versus the student intake, as well as the relationship of power between researcher and researched within the context of the United Kingdom and Australia.
The responsibility of equality behoves us all, and this is certainly implied by the exploration of the extent to which education is considered a vehicle for change within barriers related to the intersection between identity and pedagogy for ethnic minority groups. Not only does such a book encourage readers to examine their roles as educators, but also the extent to which they can transcend their preconceived ideas regarding their identity and the identity of their students within the context of higher education.
Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon
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© 2017 Mariam S. Hammoud
https://doi.org.10.1080/00131911.2017.1314418