Structure and agency in learning
A Critical Realist Theory of the Development of Capacity to Reflect on Academic Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8104166 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Kahn (0000-0003-1609-7540, University of Liverpool, corresponding author), Anne Qualter (University of Liverpool), R A Young (0000-0002-1513-797X, Staff Development Unit, Newcastle University), Richard F Young (0000-0002-3691-9073), Richard Young (0000-0002-1409-4584, Staff Development Unit, Newcastle University) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 859-871 |
| Publication date | 2012-06-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Higher Education Research & Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0729-4360 • E-ISSN: 1469-8366 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07294360.2012.656078 |
| OpenAlex | W2071194716 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 35 |
Theories of learning typically downplay the interplay between social structure and student agency. In this article, we adapt a causal hypothesis from realist social theory and draw on wider perspectives from critical realism to account for the development of capacity to engage in reflection on professional practice in academic roles. We thereby offer a theory of professional learning that explores how social and cultural structures and personal emergent powers combine to ensure variation in the emergence of such reflective capacity. The influence of these factors on professional learning is mediated through reflexive deliberation and social interaction, with the exercise of one's personal powers specifically identified as a stratum of social reality. We consider further the role of concerns, intention and attention in professional learning, drawing together issues that are rarely considered within the same theory. We thus offer a comprehensive account of professional learning, showing how a focus on structure and agency increases the explanatory power of learning theory
Agency (philosophy · Critical realism (philosophy of perception · Deliberation · Epistemology · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Practice theory · Professional development · Realism · Reflective Practice · Reflexivity · Social learning · Social science · Social theory · Sociology · Structure and agency · Critical Realism in Sociology · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Innovative Education and Learning Practices · Psychology · Social Psychology
Assessment of agency or assessment for agency
Learner agency in the context of innovative learner environment
Conducive Environments for the Promotion of Quality Teaching in Higher Education in South Africa
Conducive Environments for the Promotion of Quality Teaching in Higher Education in South Africa
Learning to learn in higher education
People, personal projects and the challenging of social structures
Structure, reflexivity and their interplay
Theorising student engagement in higher education
Assessing agency of university students
Thought and language.
How we think.
The Culture of Education
Learning from other people in the workplace
Realist Social Theory
Structure, Agency and the Internal Conversation
Making our Way through the World
Reflection in teacher education
Constructing Images of Ourselves? A Critical Investigation into ‘Approaches to Learning’ Research in Higher Education
Being Human
Theorising the mundane
The development of agency in first generation learners in higher education
Staying Critical
Dictionary of Critical Realism
Linking Ways of Knowing with Ways of Being Practical
On Qualitative Differences in Learning
Effective Reflective Practice
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2023 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |