This seminal volume delves into some of the doctoral research and pedagogical experiences within an African higher education context, making a case for the transformative potential of education and the integration of African indigenous philosophies into global educational practices. Through a collection of vivid narratives, the book situates philosophy of higher education by embodying the doctoral researcher and their initiation into academic life, revealing how doctoral pursuits in African higher education are not simply academic endeavours but deeply philosophical adventures that challenge, critique, and reimagine the role of education in society. Chapters advocate for a dynamic educational system that, rooted in African philosophies, nurtures democratic citizenship, embraces critical engagement, and fosters social justice. A call to action for researchers, students, and policy makers alike to view doctoral research as a powerful catalyst for change, the book offers fresh perspectives on addressing the continent's unique challenges, contributing to a more just and inclusive world. Ultimately considering the potential of academic research to shape the future of societies, both within Africa and globally, the book will appeal to researchers, academics and postgraduate students involved with the philosophy of education, higher education, and citizenship education, as well as these areas in African contexts specifically.

This timely volume conceptualises and applies the philosophical notions of wonder, wander, and whisper, serving as evaluative paradigms for objective assessment of quality doctoral research work and supervision in South African higher education. Written by one of the foremost academics in the field, the book combines the normative philosophical, educational, and moral notions of wonder, wander, and whisper with academic life and studies, focusing on doctoral work and supervision not just as cognitive or scientific processes, but also as existential, ethical, and political shaping of the self. By reflecting on three decades of doctoral supervision, the author gives an account of how his students have been initiated into moral discourses of democratic citizenship education and the intellectual adventures they have embarked upon through scholarly texts. The book also presents itself as a decolonial venture that repositions and resituates doctoral education in resistance to the hegemony of colonisation, inhumanity, inequality, unfreedom, and injustice in Southern Africa. Ultimately arguing for the relevance of wonder, wander, and whisper in academic culture, the book will appeal to scholars, researchers, and postgraduates in the fields of higher education, philosophy of education, and sociology of education as well as African education and doctoral studies more broadly.

This book delves into the impacts and consequences of the policy of co-residence at the University of Oxford, investigating why and how women were kept at the periphery of the university and how Oxford responded to the growing demand for women’s higher education. The book further examines how the admittance of women into men’s colleges and vice versa ultimately shaped the identities of both the University and the student population. The author draws upon identity theory to explain the existence and persistence of single-sex colleges at the University, and the theory of social epidemics or cascades is used to explain the rapid embrace of co-residence by the remaining men’s colleges after its adoption by the first five men’s colleges. In addition, the author uses both quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluate claims about the impact of co-residence on undergraduate women, women dons, and women’s colleges. Unearthing and providing a sustained and in-depth analysis of a quiet, yet revolutionary, undertaking at one of the world’s most renowned institutions, it will appeal to scholars, faculty, and upper-level students with interests in gender in education, educational inclusion and diversity, history of education, international education, as well as sociology of education and social theory.

This edited volume showcases first-hand accounts of crafting and handling feedback during the peer review process from early career researchers (ECRs), journal editors and experienced reviewers to develop the concept of ‘feedback literacy’ in academic peer review contexts. This novel collection of research uses personal reflections, disseminations of good practices, research syntheses and small-scale primary studies to highlight implications for feedback practices, demonstrating how academics’ capacity, disposition and skills in providing and engaging with constructive, professional and actionable feedback are crucial to ensure a comprehensive and worthwhile process. Chapters draw attention to the need for academics to develop feedback literacy, both at the ECR level and for more experienced peer reviewers, journal editors and authors, furthering discussion on improvement strategies and solutions to current feedback practices. Reimagining journal peer review as an inclusive and sustainable participatory system, this book will appeal to scholars and researchers working in higher education and educational assessment. There will be particular interest among postgraduate students and ECRs across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines for whom journal peer review has a particular relevance.

Posing fundamental questions around the worth of knowledge creation and the social value of in-depth research, this volume offers a novel approach by exploring why impact is important in academic research, rather than explaining how it should be conducted. Using qualitative data to unpack what research impact really constitutes, this book foregrounds the practicalities of achieving impactful, high-quality academic research, and argues for the importance of best practice in instilling public and reputational value of research for wider societal gain. Chapters unpack the concept of impact, and discuss how it can be made more tangible and realisable, particularly in the context of theoretical or pure research where research outcomes are often obscure. Calling for greater clarity in how to articulate the value of impact within research strategies, the book will ultimately argue for the central role of impact in core research processes and support the development of career researchers in their practical roles and identity formation. The book will be of interest to academics and postgraduate students involved with research methods, research policy, and higher education more broadly. Despite the predominantly UK-based context of the research, the volume will have resonance in countries where knowledge economy concepts have impacted on higher education policy and practice, and so research managers and higher education policy advisors may also find the book of interest.

The sheer variety of socio-political events and technological advancements which affect modern society, and the speed and intensity at which these events occur around the world, delivers change known as epistemic and social transformation. Within this context, the question of justice for all is a poignant one. It is a cognitive revolution challenging humankind to consider whether or not the already contested meaning of philosophy can remain unchanged. The contributions to Contrasts and contests about philosophy address this challenge from a variety of different, and even contending, perspectives. This book was originally published as a special issue of the South African Journal of Philosophy.

The central argument in this book revolves around the significance of an African philosophy of higher education. Such a philosophy is geared towards cultivating democratic iterations, co-belonging, and critique within human encounters. Together, these actions can enhance intellectual activism within and beyond the encounters. A philosophy of higher education is constituted by a philosophical act of reflexivity according to which (how), freedom (both autonomous and communal), cosmopolitanism (learning to live with differences and otherness), and caring with others (ubuntu) can be rhythmically practised. What makes an African philosophy of higher education distinctive and realisable is that practices ought to be based on iterations, co-belonging, and critique. If intellectual activism were not to become a major act of resistance on the basis of which educational, political, and societal dystopias can be undermined, such a philosophy of higher education would not have a real purpose. An African philosophy of higher education is an intellectually activist endeavour because of its concern to be oppositional to constraints in and about higher education. In conversation with such an understanding of this philosophy, contributors to this volume offer responses to why human freedom, cosmopolitanism, and caring with others (ubuntu) can be rhythmically enacted.