Teaching Beyond the Curriculum
Abstract
The underlying assumption of the paper is that university teachers believe that they teach with students’ expectations in mind, i.e., that they teach independence in searching, evaluating and presenting information in addition to educational content. They teach to argue, to question, to think critically, and to use digital technologies effectively. They also believe that they motivate students, activate them, and lead them to teamwork. Survey of teachers’ perspective on this topic is therefore meaningless. Even by analysing documents (teaching materials or course curricula), it is not possible to find out what is behind the educational content. Therefore, it seems that the only way to find out how and what university teachers teach and what students gain besides the knowledge and skills declared in the curriculum, is to ask students directly. In the first part of the article, we briefly introduce the context of Czech higher education. In the second part, we will focus on the results of a questionnaire survey we conducted among a target group of students of Social Studies and Humanities in one department of one Faculty of Arts. The research question was: What do students learn in the class? Sub-research questions: 1. Do they gain the knowledge and skills declared in the curriculum? 2. Do their expectations of the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom match the curriculum? 3. Do students gain anything else from the learning experience other than the knowledge and skills declared in the curriculum?
Helena Kubátová teaches sociological theories and their development, sociological methodology, sociology of way of life and life style at the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University in Olomouc. In her research, she focuses on everyday life, the way of life and the rural settings, in particular, from the intergenerational perspective. She has published a scientific monograph focusing on the possibilities of linking phenomenology and social stratification. She contributes to monographs concerning sociological theory. She It also focuses on the transformation of Czech society.
Miroslav Dopita is a graduate of sociology and adult education and works as an associate professor at the Department of Sociology, Andragogy and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University in Olomouc. His professional focus is on professional adult education, sociology of education and work, which corresponds to his publications focused on the environment of education and work in higher education.