Please join us at 12.30 BST on 2nd October, in person or online, for this seminar, presented in collaboration with the University of Glasgow Initial Teacher Education Research Network:

Towards a Pedagogy of Higher Education – On Teaching Beyond the Banality of Constructive Alignment

by guest speakers Gunnlaugur Magnússon, Uppsala University and Johannes Rytzler, Mälardalen University, Sweden

See attached and below for more details.

Date: Thursday, 2^nd October, 2025, 12:30-1.30pm

Join in person:: Room N307, St Andrews Building, 11 Eldon St, Glasgow G3 6NH

Join online: using the Zoom meeting link and details below:

https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/j/87505179904?pwd=wILjNRCwadDelat65hbZbDE1mtrkxF.1

Meeting ID: 875 0517 9904

Passcode: 216970

 

Abstract

In the past decades, the role of higher education has changed, not the least as result of the Bologna Process and the establishment of the European Higher Education Area. Higher education is increasingly conceptualized through a market-rationality, including a standardization, commodification, and learnification. The focus on learning outcomes has led to a limited number of teaching models becoming hegemonic, models that are aligned with the overarching policy-framework and which are instrumental in the conception of teaching and learning.

This presentation by Gunnlaugur Magnússon and Johannes Rytzler describes the contributions of their book Towards a Pedagogy of Higher Education (Routledge 2022) which aims to formulate a theory of teaching in higher education which is grounded in educational theory, contributes to a critical perspective on current ideals forms of higher education and a deeper understanding of the pedagogical role of the university. It illustrates how international policies affect conceptualizations of the purpose of higher education, critically examines the pedagogy of higher education, and develops a comprehensive educational theory for teaching in higher education.

The presentation touches upon the field of higher education and higher education teaching due to its combination of policy analyses, curriculum theory, and educational theory. It illustrates the consequences of discursive ideals of education on teaching practices and provides a theoretical framework for new thinking on higher education and teacher education.

 

About the speakers

Gunnlaugur Magnússon is associate professor (reader) at Uppsala University, Sweden. His research has revolved around education policy and reform, media and debate as policy forums, inclusive education as a policy, professions of education, and the philosophy of teaching in higher education and of teacher education.

Johannes Rytzler is associate professor (reader) in education. His primary interests regard educational philosophy and theory and his research examines didactics and pedagogy as specific ways of thinking and understanding the interpersonal and formative dimensions of teaching and learning.