Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Policy Discourses and the Illusion of Best Practice

This book explores the discourses in learning and teaching policy in UK higher education, traces how these ideas are recontextualised at institutional level and reveals the differences between policy discourses and lecturers’ and students’ experiences. The author argues that policy ideas around learning and teaching are not simply value-free ‘best practice’ but reflect the socio-political context of higher education. The study uses an innovative conceptual framework of critical discourse studies (CDS) and Bernstein’s sociology of pedagogy to provide critical lenses to uncover the underlying messages of policy. The book will interest a wide academic audience including anyone involved in higher education globally.