Candidates, supervisors and institutions: pushing postgraduate boundaries: an overview
Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SUN PRESS
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Academic boundaries are in some ways similar to national boundaries – they are
set up to colonise and govern, but at the same time are constantly challenged to
reaffirm their authority and meaning. The postgraduate environment has been and is
still colonised and governed by a variety of boundaries: inter/national, geographical,
cultural, institutional, disciplinary and paradigmatic; also those of knowledge and
relationships, and many more. The contributions to this book set out to explore and
challenge such boundaries as they exist within the postgraduate environment.
The work of Thomas Kuhn (1962) and others on paradigms set the scene for
establishing boundaries both within and between academic disciplines in terms of
research. The earlier work of Becher and Trowler (2001) on academic tribes and their
territories may also be useful to explain academics’ search for a scholarly identity in
the higher education environment. An academic tribe provides its members with an
identity and a particular frame of reference. The characteristic identity of a particular
academic tribe is developed from an early age – usually already at the undergraduate
level, where patterns of thought are imprinted. These ‘tribal’ associations are often
solidified at the postgraduate level.
Description
CITATION: Frick, L., Bitzer, E. & Albertyn, R. 2014. Candidates, Supervisors and Institutions: Pushing Postgraduate Boundaries: An Overview, in E. Bitzer (eds.). et al. Pushing Boundaries in Postgraduate Supervision. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 1-7. doi:10.18820/9781920689162/01.
The original publication is available from AFRICAN SUNMeDIA - www.sun-e-shop.co.za
The original publication is available from AFRICAN SUNMeDIA - www.sun-e-shop.co.za
Keywords
Academic boundaries, Postgraduate students, Postgraduate work -- Philosophy
Citation
Frick, L., Bitzer, E. & Albertyn, R. 2014. Candidates, Supervisors and Institutions: Pushing Postgraduate Boundaries: An Overview, in E. Bitzer (eds.). et al. Pushing Boundaries in Postgraduate Supervision. Stellenbosch: SUN PRESS. 1-7. doi:10.18820/9781920689162/01.