Teaching Politics Otherwise: A Pedagogy of Refusal
8 October 2026 · UCL Main Campus
UCL’s Centre for the Pedagogy of Politics (CPP) hosted this two-hour seminar with Claire Timperley and Kate Schick from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Drawing on their developing book project, A Pedagogy of Refusal, the speakers examined dominant approaches to education that emphasise objectivity, rationality, certainty and individualism. They considered how these ideals are reinforced by the market driven imperatives of contemporary higher education, which increasingly position students as consumers and degrees as forms of capital.
Timperley and Schick presented their conceptualisation of a pedagogy of refusal, building on their longstanding work on learning as a deeply contextual, relational and embodied process. Their approach identifies four strands of refusal that challenge dominant assumptions about teaching and learning, placing relationality, care, vulnerability and community at the centre of educational practice.
The seminar also introduced examples of how these ideas can inform alternative approaches to teaching politics.
Speakers
Claire Timperley, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
Kate Schick, Associate Professor of International Relations, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington