Re-framing student academic freedom: a capability perspective
Re-framing student academic freedom: a capability perspective
The scholarly debate about academic freedom focuses almost exclusively on the rights of academic faculty. Student academic freedom is rarely discussed and is normally confined to debates connected with the politicisation of the curriculum. Concerns about (student) freedom of speech reflect the dominant role of negative rights in the analysis of academic freedom representing ‘threats’ to academic freedom in terms of rights which may be taken away from a person rather than conferred on them. This paper draws on the distinction between negative and positive rights and the work of Sen (1999) to re-frame student academic freedom as capability. It is argued that capability deprivation has a negative impact on the extent to which students can exercise academic freedom in practice and that student capability can be enhanced through a liberal education that empowers rather than domesticates students.
academic freedom, students, rights, capability
719-732
Macfarlane, Bruce
3e2b9eb0-1772-4642-bb51-ab49cc5b748c
2012
Macfarlane, Bruce
3e2b9eb0-1772-4642-bb51-ab49cc5b748c
Macfarlane, Bruce
(2012)
Re-framing student academic freedom: a capability perspective.
Higher Education, 63 (6), .
(doi:10.1007/s10734-011-9473-4).
Abstract
The scholarly debate about academic freedom focuses almost exclusively on the rights of academic faculty. Student academic freedom is rarely discussed and is normally confined to debates connected with the politicisation of the curriculum. Concerns about (student) freedom of speech reflect the dominant role of negative rights in the analysis of academic freedom representing ‘threats’ to academic freedom in terms of rights which may be taken away from a person rather than conferred on them. This paper draws on the distinction between negative and positive rights and the work of Sen (1999) to re-frame student academic freedom as capability. It is argued that capability deprivation has a negative impact on the extent to which students can exercise academic freedom in practice and that student capability can be enhanced through a liberal education that empowers rather than domesticates students.
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Student academic freedom HE PDF.pdf
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Published date: 2012
Keywords:
academic freedom, students, rights, capability
Organisations:
Southampton Education School
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Local EPrints ID: 373074
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373074
ISSN: 0018-1560
PURE UUID: 50c74dbb-2106-438a-b08b-927baf8557d0
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Date deposited: 06 Jan 2015 16:28
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:47
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Author:
Bruce Macfarlane
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