The transformative effects of higher education are well understood in the sector and in society, more broadly There are clear links between university education and better health, more innovative societies and a deeper commitment to social justice. That said, universities around the world are under pressure to justify their existence, be more accessible, and to find ways to be more inclusive of different knowledges and experiences. The call for transformation in higher education has become a global phenomenon. Epitomized with the #RhodesMustFall movement in South Africa in 2015, the idea that universities need to change how they relate to the knowledge project and how they structure and treat teaching and learning has gained momentum and has featured prominently all over the world.
In this moment where calls are being made to transform university spaces this special issue, spread over issues 28(3) and 28(4), seeks to build theorized understandings of what transformation means in a pedagogical sense by highlighting a series of scholarship and practice from university teachers from across a range of disciplinary and geographical contexts.
To do this, we tackle some of the meanings and conceptions associated with transforming higher education in relation to national and global demands on the one hand and touching on pedagogic possibilities on the other hand. Thus, this special issue contributes to a growing body of work on teaching and learning in higher education and how to effect social change, or what we call Socially Just Pedagogy. Through this special issue, a range of ideas from across different parts of the world articulate the possibilities of working towards university classrooms in which university teachers are engaging in and with socially just pedagogies. Different papers encompass investigations of particular models and examples of socially just pedagogies across a range of subject disciplines and fields (teacher education, social work, political studies), as well as theoretical and methodological issues, approaches and critiques.
Contributions offer insights and experiences of engaging with the idea of socially just pedagogies and the university classroom. This is meant to contribute to an emerging debate, therefore, we hope that the experiences and ideas expanded on here provoke the making of new knowledge, encourage those interested in the social mission of higher education to advocate for changing the way we engage with how we teach and how students learn.
We are particularly keen to return to the idea that higher education and social justice are inherently intertwined and can be achieved through adopting appropriate pedagogical strategies and stances, acknowledging at the same time that pedagogy is but just one dimension of a multi-dimensional project of education for social justice. The contradictory and sometimes opposing ideas unleashed by engaging in pedagogy of this nature, indicate all too clearly that there is little that is straightforward about the possibilities that such practices open up for universities, and for those who teach in them. In all likelihood, we have just begun to see the early indicators of a socially just pedagogy and what it could mean for a transformed university and society.
The special issues begin with a contribution by Osman and Hornsby which lays out the conceptual contours of the notion of socially just pedagogies. In particular, the authors root the special issue in where the literature on this idea is and offer new considerations arguing that to adopt socially just pedagogies it is important that teachers consider the personal dimensions of pedagogy, the politics of difference, and the relationship between pedagogy and agency. In doing this, the chance that universities remain places of possibility, rather than turning into divisive spaces, becomes more plausible.
Summerlee argues that the current higher education system is neither accessible nor socially just and requires a change in approach. Advancing his experience and work around Inquiry Based Learning, he considers that not reforming teaching and learning practice in higher education will “result in even greater inequality and will curtail the diversity of the very populations that should benefit the most from the enhanced educational opportunities. It will leave some students disillusioned about, and excluded from, the promise of higher education and the university’s ability to serve as agents of change.”
Wright and Osman consider the issue of socially just pedagogies through a Phenomenographic and Variation Theory of Learning lens. They offer a framework for transforming pedagogy in higher education that focuses on ‘what is to be learnt?’ in relation to, educational contexts and educational purposes, rather than generic processes of teaching, learning, teacher education or generic skills, such as thinking skills, teacher competencies, teaching styles and methods. This paper calls for a consideration of what needs to be transformed in higher education.
Pillay, Pretorius, and Canham provide evidence of their interventions in the field of Social Work in South Africa. They acknowledge a relationship between social justice and active learning by engaging students emotionally, cognitively and behaviorally as socially responsible citizens. They note that “socially just pedagogy, which infuses content, morality and integrity was used to underpin the field education course to achieve learning outcomes of critical thinking, reflection, reflexivity and an acute understanding of difference and cultural diversity.” Adopting a qualitative approach they explore the impacts of an anti-drug campaign with ten students and five external field supervisors.
Schuhman and Dube connect pedagogy, teaching and learning, and universities as spaces that maintain standards of behavior in the form of governance structures. They argue “that the university as a whole: its curriculum, the class-room and its dynamics, the intellectual spaces of knowledge production and sharing, the methodologies – in other words, the pedagogical theories and practices of the university – including the governance structures of higher education in general, all need to be questioned.” They reflect on their experiences of lecturing in a political studies context during and immediately after the #FeesMustFall protests that gripped much of South Africa.
Petersen and Henning introduce a relationship between social justice and service learning. They argue that service learning can provide practical experience of caring and serve the promotion of the ideals of social justice. They root this position in an examination of two initial teacher education programmes based in South Africa and establish that service learning can act as a platform for social justice. Whilst the results may show that the efforts did not result in the intended outcome, what the authors note is how efforts to inculcate notions of social justice into the thinking of teachers requires a curriculum-wide effort and cannot simply be embedded into one course. This provides for some important thinking around socially just pedagogies as a coherent set of practices infused across a curriculum rather than a once-off intervention.
The final paper in the special issue is by Agherdein and Pillay and looks to a first-year health and well-being course connected to a Social Work programme. The authors consider that adopting critical pedagogical strategies is a necessary underpinning in efforts to infuse social justice with the classroom. This is because critical pedagogies enable power relations and hegemonic ideas to be challenged in ways that get the lecturer and the student to reflect and reconsider. By focusing on the links between theory, practice, social thought and social change – the authors seek to understand the tensions and oppressive ideas and practices that abound in the higher education system.
This special issue and the articles in it present a collection of theories and interventions written up in response to the global challenge of making education more relevant and more just for those who receive it in varied contexts. It offers critical insights on the complexity associated with thinking about and implementing socially just pedagogies, and on the ways in which teachers are thinking about ameliorating the complexity albeit in just one area, ie pedagogy, teaching, and learning.
This compilation of articles points to three important issues if teaching for social justice is to take root in higher education. While small case studies, based on particular disciplines in a variety of geographic spaces is of great value for building the knowledge field about socially just pedagogies, longitudinal studies that assess the impact of such pedagogies over time may assist in drawing conclusions that can cut across disciplines, countries, and universities.
Secondly, while we may have many small-scale projects that attempt to disrupt unthinking practices and pedagogies, we cannot assume that the university is innocent and its culture beyond question. A deep engagement with institutional cultures and practices is vital if socially just pedagogies are to thrive and take root more broadly across the university.
This then is related to the final point, i.e., of structural change and the structural drivers for social justice through education. Pedagogy is the lifeblood of a thriving university and the basis for engagement between teacher and student. How then can we scale this up for effecting change more broadly, and through society? Is this a moment that recognizes that some of the societal solutions are indeed possible inside the university?
The social justice through transformation discussion as taken up in this special issue aims at considering how pedagogy can be used as an act of change that fundamentally reshapes how students and teachers engage and interact with society. It is fundamentally about returning higher education to its social justice roots, where the teaching, learning, and research environment orient students and their teachers towards a path of societal betterment through promoting equal and just practices. We are grateful to the authors in this special issue for helping us to advance thinking in this respect, in addition to Michael Sherr, the editor of the journal and the anonymous reviewers who helped strengthen these papers.