Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching

Revisiting Edward Said’s contributions toward decolonising higher education

Fadhil Ismail — 2024-11-17

The oxymoronic pursuit of pleasurable academic writing. An interview with Helen Sword.

Helen Sword — 2024-09-02

Helen Sword, Professor Emeritus at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, specialises in modernist poetry and academic writing. In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi for her ground-breaking scholarship on academic writing, which skillfully integrates theory and practice. Sword has inspired countless writers with her insightful and practical guides to becoming an accomplished and stylish academic writer, even within the constraints of academic conventions. Her notable books on academic writing include The writer’s diet (2016a; first published in 2007), Stylish academic writing (2012a), Air & light & time & space: How successful academics write (2017), and Writing with pleasure (2023).

In this multifaceted interview, Sword discusses her journey to becoming an expert on academic writing, the current state of academic prose, and strategies for writing more stylishly and pleasurably. She shares her unorthodox research methods, which draw upon her background in literary studies and poetry, and emphasises the importance of the behavioural, artisanal, social, and emotional dimensions of writing. Sword also addresses the challenges posed by academic conventions and the role of generative AI, such as ChatGPT.

Throughout the conversation, Sword discusses practical tips and exercises for academics seeking to enhance their writing, find their voice, and rediscover the pleasures of the craft. She encourages academic writers to experiment, take risks, and trust in their ability to communicate complex ideas with clarity and style. Sword’s insights will resonate with academics across disciplines who aspire to write more engagingly, creatively, and joyfully.

Book Review. Mollick, Ethan (2024). Co-intelligence: Living and working with AI. WH Allen.

Charlie Lim — 2024-09-12

Gratitude: Humanising pedagogy in higher education

Cheryl Chan Xuan Tong — 2024-08-29

Psychology has largely viewed human functioning from a deficit model in the past but has since turned to a more optimistic, positive psychological lens. Gratitude is a well-researched concept associated with a broad range of psychology theories, such as Fredrickson’s broaden and build theory and Algoe’s find, remind, and bind theory. Research studies revealed that gratitude is one of the strongest predictors of wellbeing and is strongly linked with better psychological and subjective wellbeing. However, gratitude is rarely studied in higher education contexts, making it critical to understand if and how gratitude can impact learners’ wellbeing positively, which, in turn, may lead to better performance in their studies and improvements in their overall wellbeing. This research study employs a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews to capture the experiences and perspectives of students and lecturers in higher education in relation to gratitude. Findings revealed that gratitude leads to positive emotions, better relationships, and prosocial behaviours. Additionally, gratitude was found to improve students’ wellbeing and increase their engagement and motivation levels towards learning. To integrate gratitude into the academic curriculum, discourses surrounding gratitude must be reconsidered, and intentional learning spaces for gratitude should also be developed.

Book Review of Daniel A. Bell (2023). The dean of Shandong. Princeton University Press.

John Hulpke — 2024-09-10

Editorial 7 (SI1): Kindness in higher education: Fostering the human(e) element of teaching and learning

Tania Aspland — 2024-08-13

This editorial introduces the Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching (JALT) 2024 Special Issue on Kindness in Higher Education. Following the tremendous success of the Kaplan Symposium of Learning and Teaching (SoLT) 2023, our issue continues exploring the essential aspects of Garrison’s (2016) Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, with a specific emphasis on the three forms of ‘presence’: social, cognitive, and teaching. This special collection features six research articles and one interview, each looking into the multifaceted role of kindness within scholarly contexts in higher education. The opening systematic literature review identifies key themes and proposes a research agenda for future studies. Subsequent articles examine students’ and teachers’ perceptions of social and cognitive presence, effective language teaching components, and innovative pedagogical practices. The final research article showcases a caring hybrid-flexible (HyFlex) pedagogy in initial teacher education. An insightful interview with Professor James Adonopoulos of Kaplan Business School (KBS) underlines the institutional commitment to student-centred approaches and integration of kindness into educational practices. Collectively, these contributions emphasise the significance of kindness in fostering inclusive, supportive, and effective learning environments, offering diverse insights and pragmatic solutions for educators, policymakers, and institutions.