Putting Knowledge at the Centre: The Uptake of Legitimation Code Theory in Higher Education Studies in South Africa

Abstract

In the context of rapid change in higher education, there is a great demand for powerful theory and methods to address key issues, particularly related to teaching and learning. This chapter traces the uptake of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) in higher education studies in South Africa to make sense of how and why this theory has become so popular. LCT draws on the works of Bernstein and Bourdieu to provide a powerful theoretical and analytical toolkit with which to analyse social practices. In the chapter, we argue that the attraction of this theory is that it attends to a ‘knowledge blindness’ whereby much higher education research, particularly that focussed on teaching and learning, fails to consider the nature and effects of the discipline or field being learned. The use of this theory is illustrated in the chapter by reference to a number of publications. In doing so, we illustrate the importance of conceptual tools that allow an interrogation of what we are teaching, who we are teaching and how this social practice takes place.

Citation

Wilmot, K. and McKenna, S. (2021), "Putting Knowledge at the Centre: The Uptake of Legitimation Code Theory in Higher Education Studies in South Africa", Huisman, J. and Tight, M. (Ed.) Theory and Method in Higher Education Research (Theory and Method in Higher Education Research, Vol. 7), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2056-375220210000007009