Revisiting the notion of critical thinking in higher education: theorizing the thinking-feeling entanglement using affect theory

Zembylas, Michalinos

doi:10.1080/13562517.2022.2078961

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Yet, in practicing reflexivity scholars must be cautious not to overgeneralize from their own experience. Instead, educators should practice critical reflexivity as an inter-relational praxis drawing on critical thinking, affect/emotions, and their reflexive interactions with others (Zembylas, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher education peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies: beyond the good/bad binary

Kester

Abura

Sohn

et al. 2022

IJCED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThis comparative case study looks towards the diverse approaches of higher education to support peacebuilding, from policy and philosophy to pedagogical practices, in conflict-affected and post-conflict settings. The achievement of global development goals is dependent on addressing access to quality education in conflict-affected contexts, including higher education. However, in settings affected by conflict, higher education is often perceived to be a luxury, not a necessity. This study, then, explores whether and how higher education might support peace and development through the unique perspective of the “three faces” of higher education in conflict contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is designed as a qualitative comparative case study. The research examines the work of university educators in two institutions in Afghanistan and Somaliland, highlighting the challenges and opportunities they face working in conflict-affected societies and their pedagogical responses to conflict. Data for the research were collected through in-depth interviews, documents, and digital artifacts with 12 university educators across the two institutions. The faculty teach a wide variety of subjects in the social sciences and humanities, subjects including and in addition to those specific to peace and development studies. To strengthen the interpretation of data, multiple coders were involved and intercoder reliability was conducted.FindingsFindings indicate a number of challenges and opportunities that university lecturers and their institutions face in teaching for peace in conflict-affected contexts, particularly as it relates to the “three faces” of higher education to support, impede, or reveal the complicated nuances of peacebuilding in conflict settings. Member-checking was employed with participants to enhance the reliability of the analysis.Originality/valueIn the end, the paper contributes new empirical insights into higher education in conflict-affected contexts, particularly from the standpoint of faculty. Critical perspectives and implications for curriculum, pedagogy and research are offered.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher education peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies: beyond the good/bad binary

Kester

Abura

Sohn

et al. 2022

IJCED

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Specifically, the performativity of speech‐act is based on the notion that language serves not only as a tool for conveying information but also as a means of enacting emotional actions (Anwaruddin, 2015). While Anwaruddin's work (2015) focuses specifically on speech acts, Zembylas (2022) extends the discussions to sociopolitical actions in general, such as student activism in movements such as Black Lives Matter in the US. Foregrounding the affective dimension of social action, Zembylas (2022) stresses that affect is a potent force that operates not solely through cognition, logical argumentation, or material incentives but also at a deep and subconscious level within the body.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While Anwaruddin's work (2015) focuses specifically on speech acts, Zembylas (2022) extends the discussions to sociopolitical actions in general, such as student activism in movements such as Black Lives Matter in the US. Foregrounding the affective dimension of social action, Zembylas (2022) stresses that affect is a potent force that operates not solely through cognition, logical argumentation, or material incentives but also at a deep and subconscious level within the body. The cultivation of criticality requires “both reflection and action, both interpretation and change” (Zembylas, 2022, p. 12).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The framework of critical affective literacy offers a robust analytical lens for rethinking the teaching and design of digital storytelling projects. The affective turn (Leander & Boldt, 2012; Leander & Ehret, 2019; Lenters & McDermott, 2021; Zembylas, 2022) in language and literacy education further fuels scholarly engagement with the emotional and embodied experience in teaching and learning. Critical affective literacy emerges from the theoretical understandings of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970; Janks, 2010; Luke, 2012), which highlights the transformative power of education in addressing power inequalities in society, and affect theory (Ahmed, 2004; Clough, 2008; Massumi, 2015), which centralizes the cultural politics of emotions in mobilizing and producing social change.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite these current advances in digital storytelling, which is a form of multimodal pedagogy, relatively underexplored is students' affective experience with digital storytelling projects and the potential of these projects in sponsoring critical affective literacy, foregrounding the role played by emotions in enacting social action and attaining social justice. With the affective turn in language and literacy education (Leander & Boldt, 2012; Leander & Ehret, 2019; Lenters & McDermott, 2021; Zembylas, 2022), there is a growing understanding that students' sensory and emotional experience can be activated and mobilized through multimodal compositions, or practices that focus on various modes and media. Informed by critical affect theories, literacy researchers (Burgess & Rowsell, 2020; Rowsell, 2020; Smith, 2018) have begun to expand the scope of multimodal pedagogy, further envisioning multimodal composition as an affective event constituted and mobilized through a composite of human and material actors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

“Emotions are what will draw people in”: A study of critical affective literacy through digital storytelling

Jiang

2023

J Adolescent & Adult Lit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study explores the implications of critical affective literacy through digital storytelling projects produced by first‐year college writing students. The goal was to examine college students' affective and emotional responses to social justice issues, such as racial profiling, educational inequality, and animal protection, through the lens of digital storytelling. Pairing multimodal pedagogy with critical affective literacy, this study was carried out in two first‐year writing courses in the United States. The researcher who conducted this study also taught the class sessions. Employing the methodology of a qualitative case study, the author gathered information through conducting semi‐structured interviews with 11 students, observing the students' multimodal composition processes, and reviewing the students' digital storytelling videos. The analysis of the data showed that the participants performed critical emotional action when creating digital stories to draw the public's attention to social justice issues. This paper recommends that educators incorporate digital storytelling into social justice pedagogy and cultivate learners' critical affective literacy.

show abstract

Cultivating criticality in a neoliberal system: a case study of an English literature curriculum at a mega distance university

Knoetze

2023

High Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neoliberal practices such as managerialism and academic casualisation impact higher education systems globally. While these practices can constrain any curriculum aimed at enabling transformative learning, this paper shows that they place particular limitations on arts and humanities curricula intent on cultivating criticality and a sense of social responsibility. I draw on data from an English literature curriculum study at a mega distance education institution in South Africa and use Legitimation Code Theory to take a close-up look at how two neoliberal practices: managerialism and academic casualisation cause misalignments between the underpinning values of the curriculum and the kinds of pedagogic and formative assessment practices that are employed. I conclude that decisions regarding administration, enrolments and staffing based on neoliberal values can frustrate students’ epistemological and ontological access to humanities disciplines and limit the potential of humanities curricula to offer a higher education in service of the social good.

show abstract

Revisiting the notion of critical thinking in higher education: theorizing the thinking-feeling entanglement using affect theory

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Higher education peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies: beyond the good/bad binary

Higher education peacebuilding in conflict-affected societies: beyond the good/bad binary

“Emotions are what will draw people in”: A study of critical affective literacy through digital storytelling

Cultivating criticality in a neoliberal system: a case study of an English literature curriculum at a mega distance university

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About