Universitetsundervisningens (u)mulige position i Akademia: mulige og umulige positioneringer for videnskabeligt personale mellem diskurser om forskning og undervisning på universitet

The outset of this thesis is the seeming fact that teaching and learning in higher education for a decade has received a much lower status both considering promotion, tenure and recognition in general compared to that of research. Believing that the existing educational research and policy „forget‟ the very academics who are conducting everyday teaching this thesis takes an interest in
the academics themselves and seeks to explore academics‟ lived experience concerning possibilities and impossibilities for prioritizing teaching and learning. From a poststructuralist theorist understanding this study uses positioning theory to analyse how six interviewed academics position themselves and others as right and wrong participants in Academia in relation to their teaching and research activities. My analysis shows that a dominant research discourse, driven by a harsh research-publishing obligation, distributes legitimacy to the actions of academics in a way that leaves „bad researchers‟ with no choice but to try and excel in „less
prestigious activities‟; teaching and publishing „pseudo-research‟. Concluding remarks consider the future development of teaching and learning at universities.