Learning and the “Circuit Of Culture”: A Cultural Exploration and Reflection on the University as a Work Site

Abstract

The purpose of this opinion piece is to explore a cultural practice at a university work site and its subsequent impact on higher education and adult learning. We use a cultural studies framework, particularly the “circuit of culture,” to interpret a single element of one university’s instructor evaluation program, the Universal Student Ratings of Instruction (USRI), as a cultural text performed through processes of production, consumption, identity, regulation, and representation. While this program is specific to one site, we believe something similar can be found in colleges and universities across Canada and beyond. We also believe this paper is of particular interest to faculty engaged in the scholarship of adult education, embedded as it is in participatory traditions.