An ontological turn for higher education

TLDR

Conventional higher‑education programmes subordinate ontology to epistemology, emphasizing the transfer and acquisition of knowledge and skills. The article investigates the implications of foregrounding ontology for teaching and learning, challenging the focus on what students acquire and instead asking who they become. The authors employ a theoretical and conceptual exploration of a learning approach that integrates knowing, acting, and being, thereby undermining a narrow focus on intellect.

Abstract

In this article, the implications of foregrounding ontology for teaching and learning in higher education are explored. In conventional approaches to higher education programmes, ontology has tended to be subordinated to epistemological concerns. This has meant the flourishing of notions such as the transfer and acquisition of knowledge and skills, either generic or discipline‐specific. The authors challenge this emphasis on what students acquire through education by foregrounding instead the question of who they become. They do this through a theoretical/conceptual exploration of an approach to learning that undermines a narrow focus on the intellect by promoting the integration of knowing, acting and being.