JOBNAME: No Job Name PAGE: 1 SESS: 12 OUTPUT: Mon Feb 10 16:57:10 2014 SUM: 7081A632 /Xpp84/wiley_journal/HEQU/hequ_v0_i0/hequ_12046 Dualisms in Higher Education: a Critique of Their Influence and Effect Bruce Macfarlane, University of Hong Kong, bmac@hku.hk Abstract Dualisms pervade the language of higher education research providing an over-simplified roadmap to the field. However, the lazy logic of their popular appeal supports the perpetuation of erroneous and often outdated assumptions about the nature of modern higher education. This paper explores nine commonly occurring dualisms: collegiality/managerialism, student-centred/ teacher-centred, deep learning/surface learning, academics/non-academics; research/teaching, old universities/new universities, liberal/vocational, public universities/private universities and higher education/further education. Illustrated by reference to a range of international contexts, it is argued that over-reliance on dualisms among higher education scholars has a number of adverse effects including narrowing the possibilities of research design and inhibiting intellectual advancement within the field. Introduction Academics lay claim to a nuanced understanding of the complexities of the world based on traditions of rationality and empirical evidence. To be ‘rational’ is one of the fundamental, underlying values of academic life while the pursuit of truth through research, which is often empirical in nature, is integral to this goal (Barnett, 1990). Yet, despite such lofty aspirations, simplistic dualisms play a significant role in the cognitive assumptions of the academic community. The field of higher education research contains a good number of sacred examples in the sense that they have become received wisdom and acquired the status of taken- for-granted knowledge. These dualisms represent the pillars of the interpretative framework of higher education researchers and are rarely questioned. However, despite their appeal few dualisms survive critical examination. They also have a distorting effect on the design of research and broader understanding of higher education. Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Journal Code: HEQU Proofreader: Mony Article No: HEQU12046 Delivery date: 10 Feb 2014 Page Extent: 18 Higher Education Quarterly, 0951-5224 DOI: 10.1111/hequ.12046 Volume ••, No. ••, •• 2014, pp ••–•• © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 1