Dr Jan McArthur
Senior LecturerResearch Overview
My research interests span two themes: education and social justice, and the nature of higher education. I am interested in inter-relationships between education and society, and between theory and practice. I have explored different interpretations of critical pedagogy, and particularly the ways in which conceptualisations of knowledge impact upon social justice. Much of my work is informed by critical theory, and I have a special interest in the work of Theodor Adorno. My recent work has looked at the nature of assessment and feedback the role of failure in learning including the relationship between conceptions of failure and social justice. My latest book Assessment for Social Justice explores the potential to further social justice within and through HE assessment and draws on the critical theory of Axel Honneth.
Current Teaching
I currently teach on the Doctoral Programme in Education and Social Justice and convene the module ED.S851 Understanding Social Justice Internationally: Issues, Theories and Approaches. I also teach on the Doctoral Programme in Educational Research and convene the module ED.S862 Researching Learning, Teaching and Assessment
Career Details
I am Editor of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education.
I have previously worked as a Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Edinburgh, but began my academic career many years ago at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
PhD Supervision Interests
I am interested in PhD supervision in the areas of social justice education, conceptualisations of social justice, critical pedagogy, the nature and purposes of higher education, assessment for learning and social justice, educational philosophy and critical theory.
Centre for Global Higher Education 2020-2023
12/11/2020 → 11/11/2023
Research
Social Justice and Quality in Higher Education
01/05/2019 → …
Research
Understanding Knowledge, Curriculum and Student Agency
01/10/2016 → 30/09/2020
Research
Assessment for Social Justice
20/02/2016 → …
Research
Embedding simulation in Medical Curriculum
20/02/2016 → …
Other
Assessment for Social Justice: a philosophical account of students' involvement in assessment
Invited talk
Towards a moral university: critical theory, social justice and a commitment to the vicissitudes of human fate
Invited talk
Beyond the public/private divide: critical theory and the implications of education as a social good
Invited talk
Assessment for social justice: realising the social justice potential of assessment
Oral presentation
Assessment for Social Justice: Insights from Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Invited talk
Assessment in Higher Education
Participation in conference
Letting Assessment Breathe: creating space and movement for learning
Invited talk
Disability Studies Conference 2018
Participation in conference
Higher Education Close-Up 9
Participation in conference
Assessment and Feedback: challenges from the research
Invited talk
Challenging the Binary of Success and Failure: Connecting Learning, Assessment and Social Justice’
Invited talk
6th International Assessment in Higher Education Conference
Participation in conference
Assessment, learning and knowledge
Oral presentation
Higher Education Close-Up 8
Participation in conference
International Assessment for Learning Conference
Participation in conference
HERDSA (Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia
Participation in conference
International Assessment for Learning Conference
Participation in conference
Assessment for Social Justice: implications of alternative theories of justice
Invited talk
50 Years on from Robbins: the emerging centrality of student engagement and partnership.
Participation in conference
Higher Education Close Up 7 Conference
Participation in conference
Higher Education As If the World Mattered
Participation in conference
- Centre for Higher Education Research and Evaluation
- Centre for Social Justice and Wellbeing in Education