Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 8 | Page 50

50 | JADE
ARTICLE #4 | 51
ACADEMIC TRIBALISM AND SUBJECT SPECIALISTS AS A CHALLENGE
TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN DUAL HONOURS SYSTEMS
DR. STEVEN L. ROGERS & DR. ALIX G. CAGE
We can consider academic tribalism in terms of the impact it has
on student learning (not just grades). Table 1 shows the three main
modes of learning. Ideally we want our students to adopt a deep
approach to learning, thinking critically and linking up thought and
ideas from different subject areas (e.g. Brockbank’s paradigm) and
for them to address threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge
(Meyer & Land, 2003). However, academic tribalism can often lead
to a surface approach to learning for the subject that they favour the
least. What we need to work towards is a transformative learning
approach (e.g. Taylor, 2008) for our dual honours students where
they are encouraged to critically reflect on their assumptions and
beliefs about the subjects and actively draw upon experiences and
knowledge to transform the way they synthesize and appraise their
academic approach to physical geography and geology. Better links
between the subject areas, maybe through the use of case studies or
collaborative fieldtrips (or for other disciplines, seminars) may help
facilitate the cultural change needed to break down those ‘tribal’
barriers.
Discussion: where now?
It is clear from our experiences that academic tribalism can occur
within the dual honours system in the GGE subjects. Considerations
should be given to the causes for this and whether it is a positive or
negative feature to the teaching and learning environment. Does this
also impact on the employability of students? Theoretically, Keele’s
dual honours degrees can produce graduates who can help facilitate
a societal need for an interdisciplinary approach to problem-
solving and its potential to put our students in a good place for
employability has been noted (e.g. http://www.independent.co.uk/
student/news/a-dual-degree-means-double-your-chances-in-a-
tough-jobs-market-8656183.html). Indeed, in 2016, Keele University
was ranked first for Graduate Employability by Higher Education
Statistics Agency (HESA, Destinations of Leavers from Higher
Education, 2016). Could this be attributed to students with strong
discipline identity, or with experience of working across different
discipline boundaries?
Using Keele’s dual honours system (and comparing dual honour with
single honour students, of Keele and other institutions, if possible)
the context and rationale of academic tribalism could be investigated
further. Discussion with both students and staff, weighing the
advantages and disadvantages of a combined curriculum is
needed. Would better understanding and appreciation of physical
geography from geologists and vice versa, and encouraging more
interdisciplinary teaching, lead to more synthesis and learning
potential between both staff and students in these tight cognate
disciplines? Or is academic tribalism ultimately responsible for the
identities and attitudes that make a person a discipline specialist?
We would welcome thoughts and experiences from other staff
working across the dual honours system, and we hope to explore
student and staff perceptions of academic tribalism in the future.
Acknowledgements
The main bulk of this work was carried out as a discipline-specific
group project on our TLHE training at Keele University. The authors
would like to express their thanks to Dr Sally Findlow for constructive
feedback and critique during the TLHE project.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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