In this presentation, we will analyze and discuss student participation in higher education as we see it as scientists and lecturers, and how it may look from a student perspective.
Participation as a concept can be defined in several different ways. We will use the terms horizontal, vertical and abstract participation (Jonsson, 2010). To participate horizontally is to participate with others on the same hierarchical level, whereas to participate vertically is to participate on different hierarchical levels. Abstract participation means sharing and understanding goals and visions with an activity or an organization. These different ways of understanding participation can be used as tools for analyzing pedagogical relations and processes.
This presentation is based on a case study. As lecturers and scientists in the field of “pedagogik”, we believe that participation is key to developing independence and an ability to reflect individually as well as collectively, with other students and with the lecturers. Because of this, we spend a lot of time trying to create possibilities for students to participate in their own education and learning, and more often than we would like we are unsuccessful. We will take our point of departure in our own experiences as an empirical material, and put them in perspective using the theoretical concepts outlined above.
In conclusion, we aim to make a theoretical contribution to understanding student participation and why it can be so difficult to achieve.
Relevance for Nordic Educational Research:
As stated above, participation is key to furthering reflection and independence, and is a critical part of creating a good learning environment. Lecturers’ work in higher education is one not often theorized or analyzed, and we maintain that this subject matter is of importance for NERA.
2017.