Populism and Higher Education Curriculum Development: Problem Based Learning as a Mitigating Response

This book explores the challenges of populism and nationalism to higher education, using problem-based learning as a case study to examine how regional, national, and organizational perspectives emphasize different aspects of PBL. It questions whether PBL provides an effective response to external influences and a 'populist higher education agenda.'

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 446 pages
Publication date: 22 November 2021
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Against a backdrop of escalating inequality and a surging wave of nationalism and populism, this book raises concerns that the curriculum is being shaped by powerful non-academic, non-accountable forces, and that populism – and its manifestations – pose a grave challenge to learning. It explores the extent to which curriculum and learning methods in higher education should respond to this challenge. Using problem-based learning as a case study, it draws on cross-disciplinary studies to examine how regional, national, and organizational perspectives emphasize different aspects of PBL. It questions whether PBL provides an effective response to external influences and a 'populist higher education agenda.' In conclusion, the book poses an uncomfortable question whether graduates reflect the external forces shaping the curriculum and hence may be as vulnerable to populist rhetoric as non-graduates, precisely because the curriculum and learning methods do not engage with the challenges. This book will appeal to scholars of problem-based learning, as well as populism, and the role of higher education in society.

Weight: 630g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030473785
Edition number: 1st ed. 2020