ABSTRACT

This study explores academics’ changing agency in curriculum work in higher education. Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus and capital, followed by the metaphor of game, are used as tools to analyse stability and change in agency. The interview data collection from 17 academics was implemented twice over 3 years after two different processes of curriculum change at one multidisciplinary research university in Finland. Through narrative analysis, two storylines were identified. The storyline with changes in agency included transformative, sidelined and divided narratives. The storyline with stable agency included development-oriented, autonomous and opposition narratives. The lived experiences create habitus as it is, as internalization of social structures but also as unconscious enterprises to maintain old or develop new forms of capital through curriculum change. While competing for the capital, the habitus and the ‘feel of the game’ are shifting. The different narratives show how academics as players in the field of curriculum change have different access to compete for different types of capital. The results raise a question: who can legitimately become an agent in the curriculum process, and what qualities make for an academic ‘fit’ with curriculum change?

摘要

本研究探讨了学者在高等教育课程工作中的变化机构。布迪厄的场域、惯习和资本概念，以及随后的博弈隐喻，被用作分析能动性稳定性和变化的工具。在芬兰一所多学科研究型大学进行了两次不同的课程变更过程后，在 3 年内两次实施了来自 17 位学者的访谈数据收集。通过叙事分析，确定了两条故事情节。代理机构发生变化的故事情节包括变革性的、边缘化的和分裂的叙述。具有稳定机构的故事情节包括以发展为导向、自主和反对的叙事。生活的经验创造了习惯，作为社会结构的内化，也作为无意识的企业，通过课程改革来维持旧的或发展新的资本形式。在争夺资本的同时，习惯和“游戏感觉”正在发生变化。不同的叙述表明，作为课程变革领域的参与者，学者如何以不同的方式竞争不同类型的资本。结果提出了一个问题：谁可以合法地成为课程过程中的代理人，以及哪些品质使学术“适合”课程变化？