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    Making a mess of academic work: experience, purpose and identity

    Malcolm, J. and Zukas, Miriam (2009) Making a mess of academic work: experience, purpose and identity. Teaching in Higher Education 14 (5), pp. 495-506. ISSN 1356-2517.

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    Abstract

    Within the policy discourse of academic work, teaching, research and administration are seen as discrete elements of practice. We explore the assumptions evident in this 'official story' and contrast it with the messy experience of academic work, drawing upon empirical studies and conceptualisations from our own research and from recent literature. We propose that purposive disciplinary practice across time and space is inextricably entangled with and fundamental to academic experience and identity; the fabrications of managerialism, such as the workload allocation form, fragment this experience and attempt to reclassify purposes and conceptualisations of academic work. Using actor-network theory as an analytical tool, we explore the gap between official and unofficial stories, attempting to reframe the relationship between discipline and its various manifestations in academic practice and suggesting a research agenda for investigating academic work.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): academic work, discipline, actor-network theory, managerialism
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
    Research Centres and Institutes: Birkbeck Knowledge Lab
    Depositing User: Administrator
    Date Deposited: 15 Nov 2010 12:10
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 16:53
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/2847

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