Identity Work in the Contemporary University : Exploring an Uneasy Profession / / edited by Jan Smith, Julie Rattray, Tai Peseta, Daphne Loads.

• Superior document: Educational Futures, Rethinking Theory and Practice , 1
• HerausgeberIn: Smith, Jan.; Rattray, Julie.; Peseta, Tai.; Loads, Daphne.
• Place / Publishing House: Rotterdam : : SensePublishers :, Imprint: SensePublishers,, 2016.
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Edition: 1st ed. 2016.
• Language: English
• Series: Educational Futures, Rethinking Theory and Practice , 1
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (224 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

"Academic identities research is a growing area of scholarly enquiry especially as academics themselves question the evolving nature of their roles in rapidly-changing university environments. Performative frameworks in many countries around the world reflect these changes and this volume brings a number of disciplinary perspectives to bear on how we understand the lived experiences of academic life in a global context. Contributors explore the power of conceptual tools drawn from Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Politics to challenge increasingly instrumental neoliberal political approaches to higher education, supported by empirical evidence. Worthwhile teaching, learning and research require significant personal investment, and the book pays particular attention to the deeply affective dimensions of current academic practices. In Part One, tools to conceptualise academic identity-work drawn from foundational academic disciplines are applied to contemporary higher education practices. Part Two foregrounds how working in universities today proceeds, with a particular focus on how academics respond to the multiplicity of institutional demands. The most pressing perceived demand, supported by contributions in Part Three, is publication: the need to be ‘visible’ to ‘count’ is now a global imperative, with the affective dimensions not yet well-understood at policy level. In Part Four, those who support colleagues negotiating a reconfigured academic terrain explore productive approaches towards this task to ensure that academic practice remains rooted in the values previously outlined. This book will be of interest to those working in universities globally who seek a deeper appreciation of the contextual drivers that shape academic work.".

Table of Contents

Preface: Mapping the Terrain of Identity-Work Research -- Part I: On Conceptualising Academic Identities Work -- From Professional Educational Values to the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs – A Sequence of Ideas -- Forging Academic Identities from within: Lessons from the Ancient World -- A Labour of Love? Curiosity, Alienation and the Constitution of Academic Character -- The Mechanics of Identity Formation: A Discursive Psychological Perspective on Academic Identity -- Part II: On Researching Academic Identities -- Uneasy Academic Subjectivities in the Contemporary Ontario University -- On the Conduct of Concern: Exploring How University Teachers Recognise, Engage in, and Perform ‘Identity’ Practices within Academic Workgroups -- Finding a Tūrangawaewae: A Place to Stand as a Tertiary Educator -- Part III: On Writing Academic Identities -- Writing of the Heart: Auto-Ethnographic Writing as Subversive Story Telling – A Song of Pain and Liberation -- Doctoral Induction Day: An Ethnographic Fiction on Doctoral Emotions -- Doctoral Supervisor and Student Identities: Fugitive Moments from the Field -- Toil and Trouble: Professional and Personal Expectations and Identities in Academic Writing for Publication -- Part IV: On Supporting Academic Identity Development -- Creative Research Strategies for Exploring Academic Identity -- Recognising Ourselves and Each Other in Professional Recognition -- The Metanoia of Teaching: Translating the Identity of the Contemporary Academic -- Epilogue: Continuing the Conversation -- Notes on Contributors -- Index. .