This fictional quote illustrates how a newcomer to a university department might observe differences in teaching practices compared to their previous institution. We might hear similar comments in other contexts. For example, when an international student reflects on their study experiences at a different university, or when a visiting researcher notices that research practices differ from those at their home institution or country.
In this text, I will discuss these experienced differences in new educational settings, framing them as teaching and learning cultures in higher education. Specifically, I will explore what these cultures are and why they matter for university teachers.
What do we mean by ‘culture’?
Everyone knows what culture means, right?
Well, yes and no. Culture is a tricky concept that can be defined in many ways. We often use the term when talking about the beliefs, values, and common practices of a particular group. It relates to feelings of belonging and community. However, not all members of a group share the same beliefs, values, or practices – which means multiple cultures can coexist within a single university department.
There is a rich body of scholarship on culture in higher education. Besides studying the cultures of academic disciplines, researchers have examined universities as organisations with unique cultural characteristics. In this line of research, culture refers to ‘the way we do things around here’ (Trowler, 2008). For example, how courses are organised or how student learning is assessed.
But how does this ‘usual way of doing things’ develop and become established in a department? Who defines what is considered usual? The answer: we do – through negotiation.
Negotiating and changing teaching and learning cultures
Cultures can be understood as meaning-making processes (Geertz, 1973) in which communities negotiate their teaching practices and pedagogical understandings.
Informal conversations – such as coffee-break discussions about teaching experiences – are important spaces where teaching and learning cultures are negotiated and maintained. Although informal, these collegial conversations are significant arenas for culture-building (Roxå & Mårtensson, 2009).
Formal meetings about teaching and learning are equally important. For instance, curriculum development meetings often involve decisions about what disciplinary knowledge should be included in a degree programme and how students can best learn and practice that knowledge.
University pedagogy courses provide another space for negotiating teaching and learning cultures within and across faculties and programmes. While informal conversations enable implicit reflection, pedagogy courses often ask participants to explicitly reflect on their practices and articulate their teaching philosophy.
Both informal and formal arenas offer opportunities for cultural change. Such change can be initiated internally by individuals or groups seeking to improve educational practices. Sometimes, changes respond to external circumstances. For example, the rise of generative AI technologies has prompted shifts in assessment methods, moving away from traditional essay assignments.
Teaching and learning cultures – a useful thinking tool for university teachers
Cultural processes are often taken for granted, making them almost invisible to community members. We might metaphorically compare this to being a fish in water: we cannot always see or explain teaching and learning cultures, yet we learn to swim in their currents effortlessly.
Thinking in terms of teaching and learning cultures can help university teachers make cultural processes explicit and reconsider established practices.
For example:
Do I use group work (or exams, or essays, etc.) because I believe it is pedagogically appropriate for my students’ learning in this course? Or do I use it simply because it is the usual way of teaching in my department?
Vesna Holubek, Researcher and PhD Candidate, Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University
References
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. Basic Books.
Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2009). Significant conversations and significant networks – exploring the backstage of the teaching arena. Studies in Higher Education, 34(5), 547–559.
Trowler, P. (2008). Cultures and Change in Higher Education: Theories and Practices. Bloomsbury Publishing.