Applied strategies for educational development as cultural work

Abstract

This paper views cultural work as a threshold concept in educational development which helps to interpret institutional contexts and informs decisions on future practice. Three cases describe how the authors’ educational development work is nurtured by a cultural perspective. Specifically, we address making teaching a “community property” (Shulman, 1993, p. 6) at ETH Zurich; the analysis of microcultures at the University of St. Gallen (HSG); and the cultural role of brown bag lunches at the University of Bern.