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Managing the sublime aesthetic when communicating an assessment regime: The Burkean Pendulum

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

The importance of understanding students’ engagement is prominent in higher education. Assessment is a main driver of student engagement, a phenomenon known as backwash. I argue that students’ engagement with learning is often driven by an aesthetic motivation. I establish the connections between Burke’s (and Kant’s) conceptualisation of aesthetics as a dichotomy of beauty and the sublime (which I label the Burkean pendulum) to motivation. I explore the links between this aesthetic motivation and the assessment regime focusing on the Burkean/Kantian sublime and suggest four communication strategies to manage the sublime when it arises in students’ education journeys. My contributions are twofold:firstly, I introduce the Burkean Pendulum as a means for educators to reflect on the aesthetic aspects of their designed assessment regimes. Secondly, I propose a framework of communication strategy narratives (Thriller, Horror, Exploration, and Action) that could be used to manage the sublime of the assessment regime.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 204-221

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Management Learning (Volume 49, Issue 2)

Publication milestones

  • Accepted/In press - 02/10/2017
  • Published - 26/12/2017

Publication status

Published - 26/12/2017

ISSN

1350-5076

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/622338
  • Scopus: 85042359138

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