Contrasting contexts : An exploration of learning and teaching strategies within Higher Education

Griggs, Vivienne and Ashwin, Paul (2026) Contrasting contexts : An exploration of learning and teaching strategies within Higher Education. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis examines how universities position learning in three contrasting higher education (HE) contexts. Using international documentary analysis, it investigates 24 university strategy documents selected to represent national variations in HE systems: Norway, characterised by egalitarian values and state governance; an elite sample from the United States; and South Africa, marked by lower levels of participation. The analysis identifies differences in the documents showing context specific influences but more noticeably, substantial similarities in how universities describe their purpose. Across all three contexts, universities present a confident and aspirational narrative, positioning themselves through commitments to research, education, and societal contribution. Through a lens of learning theory, the analysis identifies that explicit references to learning theory or theorists are rare, but there is strong implicit alignment between the strategic discourse and recognised learning theory and contemporary debates. The thesis develops a classification of learning identities describing the varying levels of explicitness and coherence with which learning is represented. Ten institutions within the sample demonstrate a strong learning identity and it is proposed that this clear articulation of a learning identity within university strategies enhances transparency of ethos, clarifies institutional priorities, and supports differentiation in an increasingly competitive and diverse HE sector. The thesis argues for the value of prioritising learning and its transformative potential within universities. It argues that obscuring the position of 'learning' diminishes the essence of a university, and that reclaiming learning as central to strategic and operational thinking enables universities to fulfil their educational and societal roles in a global context. Implications for research and practice are discussed, making a claim that the research, and particularly the development of a typology of learning identities, is a significant contribution to extant research.