Higher education has been (re)shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic in ways which have left both indelible and invisible marks of that period. Drawing on relevant literature, and informed by an exchange catalysed through a visual narrative method, authors from four European universities engage with two reflective questions in this article: As academics,…

This research was prompted by a perceived lack of meaningful interaction between home and international students in one UK university that has a long history of internationalisation. The study sits within an interpretative paradigm, and it explores the perceptions and experiences of academics and home students. Five focus groups were held with…

This study investigated the beliefs and practices of university lecturers around assessment theories and their links with teaching practices. Given the discrepancies in the literature, the research explored the gap in theoretical understandings of summative and formative assessment and the relationship between them, as well as the relationship…

In this article, we examine our own doctoral supervisory dialogue as it has been institutionally interrupted due to Ahmad's application for asylum in the UK. As we find ourselves lacking the conditions of recognisability required for our actions to be institutionally understood (or made intelligible) as part of a doctoral supervisory relationship,…

Conditions of mass displacement and other complex crises create a need for widely accessible teacher professional development opportunities. This article reports on the forms of value created for participants through a scaled-up collaborative online peer-sharing experience developed to support teachers in challenging environments to become…

This article explores how academics in a higher education institution (HEI) make sense of the challenges that they encounter in a neoliberal context typified by an increasingly globalised curriculum landscape. Two key questions are explored: What are the contours of the shifting boundaries which define the 'global curriculum' in HEI contexts? How…

This article discusses the current challenges faced by the two authors--both participants on a professional doctorate (PD) programme in education at a leading UK university--in gaining legitimacy as higher education (HE) professionals. By: (1) reflecting upon their own professional experiences in HE and as PD students; (2) utilizing…

Although there is increasing interest in how learning to become a researching professional is understood by students undertaking a professional doctorate of education (EdD), the topic remains under-researched and under-theorized. In this article, we provide a set of theorizations, starting with the purpose and distinctiveness of the professional…

The doctoral viva voce examination has existed in Britain since the PhD (or DPhil) was introduced at Oxford University almost a hundred years ago. However, despite some recent research studies, it seems that the viva remains somewhat under-researched and that viva voce examinations continue to take place according to largely unchanged and…

This paper will present a study that explored the perceived impact of spatial practice in "Second Life" (SL) on teaching and learning from the point of view of participants in higher education (lecturers, developers and researchers). Narrative inquiry was used to access stories and experiences of space and spatial practice from staff…

Many organisations are under increasing pressures to recruit and retain creative individuals as a core asset in the emerging knowledge economy. In universities, such people are often academics who focus on high impact, innovative and interdisciplinary research. Yet, instead of feeling supported, many of these academics face structural,…

This paper presents a study that used narrative inquiry to explore staff experiences of learning and teaching in immersive worlds. The findings introduced issues relating to identity play, the relationship between pedagogy and play and the ways in which learning, play and fun were managed (or not). At the same time there was a sense of imposed or…

Australian higher education increasingly relies on flexible modes of delivery as a means of attracting and retaining students in a highly competitive global education market. While education is among those disciplines that have been most actively involved in the shift from face-to-face to online learning and teaching, the transition for many…

This paper examines the changing landscape of higher education from the perspective of teaching academics. Critical thinking has been seen as one of the central facets of the academic identity and so this paper uses the notion of critical thinking as a lens through which to explore this changing identity. It argues that the professional identity…