A participative workshop with Dr Stephen D. Brookfield

In conjunction with the

Learning and Teaching Academy (LTA)

and the Society, Identity, Landscape and Knowledge (SILK) Research Cluster

Outline

Open to university colleagues and external guests, in this dialogic session the internationally renowned educator and author Stephen Brookfield will lead a conversation on what it means to be a critical educator.

In the age of Brexit and Trump the need for the practice of critical thinking is crucial in stopping people retreating into fascism, racial hatred and cyber-shaming. How do we stop people from universalizing their own experience and ‘othering’ those different from themselves? How do we help ourselves, and others, understand how we internalize dominant ideology? What constitutes an ethical exercise of educational power? How can we democratize the environments in which we work? When does democratic practice end up legitimizing a repressive status quo? What’s the difference between authoritarian and authoritative pedagogy? These and other questions will be considered as we analyze the experience of becoming critical educators.

Programme

Participation is available in person at An Lochran, Inverness Campus or through Video Conferencing. Joining codes will follow.

09:30 Coffee/Tea

10:00 - 12:30 Presentation/discussion

12:30 Networking lunch (Please email any dietary requirement to lta@uhi.ac.uk

Following the networking lunch the afternoon will see the launch of a new Critical Education Network, to be coordinated through UHI’s Learning and Teaching Academy but open to anyone who is interested in becoming involved. The Critical Education Network will get underway in the new Academic Year, and will initially be focused around a series of workshops and webinars offering opportunities to further explore the challenges, issues and themes that Stephen will be exploring in the morning workshop.

Those who would like to learn more about the network, and possibly get involved, are invited to remain with us after the networking lunch. We expect to conclude 2pm.

Presenter

Dr. Stephen D. Brookfield is the Distinguished University Professor and John Ireland Endowed Chair at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

Since beginning his teaching career in 1970, Stephen Brookfield has worked in England, Canada, Australia, and the United States, teaching in a variety of college settings. He has written, co-written or edited nineteen books on adult learning, teaching, critical thinking, discussion methods, critical theory and teaching race, six of which have won the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education (in 1986, 1989, 1996, 2005, 2011 and 2012). He also won the 1986 Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education (AAACE) andthe Philip E. Frandson Award for Literature in Continuing Higher Education, (2013) awarded by the University Professional Continuing Education Association, (UPCEA). His work has been translated into German, Korean, Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Farsi, Danish and Albanian. In 1991, he was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree from the University System of New Hampshire for his contributions to understanding adult learning. In 2001, he received the Leadership Award from the Association for Continuing Higher Education (ACHE) for "extraordinary contributions to the general field of continuing education on a national and international level."

He currently serves on the editorial boards of educational journals in Britain, Canada and Australia, as well as in the United States. During 2002, he was a Visiting Professor at Harvard University. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree from Concordia University (St. Paul). In 2008 he was awarded the Morris T. Keeton Award of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning for "significant contributions to the field of adult and experiential learning." He was also awarded the Coin of Excellence from the General Army Staff Command College. In 2009 he was inducted into the International Adult Education Hall of Fame and in 2010 he received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Muhlenberg College.

After 10 years as a Professor of Higher and Adult Education at Columbia University in New York, he moved in 1992 to the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota where he holds the position of Distinguished University Professor and the John Ireland Endowed Chair. The university has awarded him the Diversity Leadership Teaching & Research Award and the John Ireland Presidential Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Teacher/Scholar.

At the present time he is working on his twentieth book: Creating an Anti-Racist White Identity to be published by Stylus Publishers.

Listen to Stephen’s band, The 99ers, at the99ersband.com.

Contact

Pleae contact Keith Smyth with any questions by emailing lta@uhi.ac.uk.

Accessibility

We want to make this a positive experience for all participants and hope we have met everyone's needs in joining this session. If you have particular access needs please contact us at lta@uhi.ac.uk so we can work together to get you as good an experience as we can.

Becoming a Critical Educator with Dr Stephen Brookfield