Browsing by Subject "Basil Bernstein"

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    Open Access
    Conceptualizing curriculum differentiation in higher education: a sociology of knowledge point of view
    (Taylor & Francis, 2012) Shay, Suellen
    Sociologists of education rooted in social realism have for more than a decade argued that knowledge matters in education, there are different kinds of knowledge, not all forms of knowledge are equal and that these differentiations have significant implications for curriculum. While this argument has made an important contribution to both theoretical and policy debate, the implications for curriculum have not been sufficiently addressed. In other words, a theory of differentiated knowledge has not translated into an adequate theory of differentiated curriculum. Drawing on Basil Bernstein's work on knowledge differentiation and Karl Maton's Legitimation Code Theory, this paper offers an empirically derived emerging framework for conceptualizing differentiated higher education curricula with a particular interest in occupationally and professionally oriented curricula. The framework illuminates the principles underlying curriculum differentiation, thus enabling a richer conversation about epistemological access and progression.
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    Open Access
    Does subject matter? A comparative study of framing and classification in the online and contact versions of two postgraduate management courses and the implications for student learning
    (2019) Karassellos, Lara Tracey; Wolmarans, Nicky; Luckett, Kathy
    This study is positioned in the context of the South African higher education landscape, which is currently grappling with issues of access and inequality. Online education is one of the potential approaches to expand access to South African students, but has often been met with skepticism as to its pedagogical quality, and has been perceived as an inferior alternative to traditional contact education. A comparative research design is followed in which two courses within a postgraduate marketing management qualification at a South African public university are compared. This qualification is offered in both contact and online format. The same courses within different modes of education are compared, as well as different courses within the same mode of education. A coding system was created based on Basil Bernstein’s concepts of framing and classification, and the courses were compared based on various dimensions of framing and classification. The study aimed to explore the affordances and limitations of both contact and online education. It was found that the ‘sequence’ and ‘pace’ aspects of framing are impacted by mode of education, with the online learning environment allowing students more agency in determining the pace and sequence of their learning. The ‘hierarchical rules’ aspect of framing is also impacted by mode, with the online courses offering an inherently non-hierarchical learning environment. It was found that weaker framing over these elements can present either an affordance or limitation, depending on the subject matter, with some types of subject matter being well suited to weaker framing over sequence, pace, and hierarchical rules, and others being constrained by it.