HigherEducationStrategyProposal.docx

HigherEducationStrategyProposal.docx

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HigherEducationStrategyProposal

HigherEducationStrategy-Proposal

Whatfollowsisnotopinion-based.ItisfoundedonscientificresearchfundedbythisInstitute,validatedexternallyandpublishedbyContinuumBooks.Detailsforauthorsreferencedinthisdocumentareavailableinthepublishedbook.

Introduction

StrategicPlanningalwaysinvolvesarootandbranchstudyofthecurrentsituationandaclearunderstandingofwheretheorganisationisheaded.Thestartingblockinthissituation,therefore,mustbeanagreedunderstandingofwhateducationmeans.

Skilbeck（2001）defineseducationas

systematicprocessesoflearningandteachingaimedatthecontinuinggrowthanddevelopmentinindividualsandsocietyofskills,knowledge,values,standardsofconductandunderstanding（p.19）.

Thornhill’s（2003）definitionsupportsthisview,

Animportantcorefunctionofeducationisitsroleinenhancingthecapacityofindividualstolivefulfilledlivesandtodeveloptheirownpotential,bothasindividualsandasmembersofcommunitiesandofsociety.

Currentsituationineducation

Theresearchreferredtoabove,revealsasystemwhereeducationdoesnotreflecttheviewsofSkilbeckorThornhill.Itshowsthatstudents,theirperceptionsshapedbytheeducationalexperiencetheyhaveundergone,vieweducationasaconsumerexperienceandrequirethatinformationbepackagedforeasyconsumption.Thereisoverwhelmingsupportfortheargumentthataqualification,now,isfrequentlynomorethanasimulacrumwhilepreviouslyitrepresentedknowledgeandcompetency.Thismeansthataqualificationisbasedonlittlemorethanamemorytest.Studentslearncapsulesofinformation,theytendtocramforexaminationsatthelastminute,learnpredeterminedanswerstopredeterminedquestionsandreceiveaqualificationforreproducingtheseanswersinexaminations.Attendanceisnotjustlow,butintermittent,andstudentstendtorelyonnotesratherthantexts.Textownershipandconsultationhasbeensubsumedintoarelianceoncoursenotes,specificallygearedtoexaminations.Thecurrentbusinessmodelofeducationseesthestudentascustomerandeducationasproduct.Thispolarisationofstudentandlectureroccasionedbythe‘student-as-customer’metaphor,placesthestudentontheoutsideoftheprocessasareceiverofaserviceprovidedbyacademicstaffratherthanaco-creatorinhis/herownlearning.Despiteareluctancetoread,studentshavehigherandhigherexpectationsoftheleveloftheiranticipatedaward.Becausetheyhavesuchadifferentoutlookfromtheoneheldbytraditionaleducators,studentstendtogettheblameasthesourceoftheproblemwhen,infact,theyaretheunwittingvictims.

Thetraditionalhighereducationmodelisfundamentallynarrativeincharacter.Thepictureisofanarratingsubject（educator）andpatient,listeningobjects（students）.

Thatmodelisnolongersuitable,fortworeasons.Firstly,thehighereducationsystemnowoffersmassprovisionwhichisextremelycostlyandcannotbesustained.Secondly,theplethoraofinformationpossibilitiesaffordedbyinternetaccessdisplacestheteacherasexpert.Handy（1996）assertsthatfivehundredyearsago,technology,throughtheprintingpress,allowedindividualstohavetheirownbibleathome,erodingthepowerofalicensedministertointerpretitforthem.Incontemporarytimestheinternetmakestheknowledgeoftheworldavailablewithoutthenecessaryinvolvementofateacheratalltimes.

Highereducationrequires,notjustchange,butaradicallydifferentmodel.Thecurrentrationalists’paradigmofeducationisaseductiveone–systematic,orderlyandapparentlycapableofbeingexteriorisedbyexaminations.However,researchhasshownthat,underpressurefromthedemandforoutcomeswhichcanbemeasured,educationhasmorphedintoasimulacrum.Thisisthemostsignificantfeatureofhighereducationtoday–thereisnonecessaryconnectionbetweenaqualificationandknowledge.

Thewidespreadintroductionofsemesterisationandmodularisationhastheeffectofannihilatinganypossibilityofleisurelyreflectionandabsorptiononthepartofthestudent（Armstrong2004）.Withsemesterisationstudentsareexposedtoanalarmingarrayofcourseswithnopossibilityofachievingdepth.Researchrevealsthatlecturersareencouragedtoavoidexaminingtopicsalreadytestedinacontinuousassessment;theeffectofthisistofurtherreducelearningtomemorisingevensmallerquantitiesforshorterperiods.Thecurrentheadlongrushtofinishandfileawaysubjectsinasfastatimeaspossiblenecessarilyexcludesrealdialogueandmeansthatmistakesandmisinterpretationsbystudentsarenotaddressed（Akbar2003,Marrington&Rowe2004）,thusperpetratingthestubbornerroreffect（Marx&Marx1980）.Coltonwarnsthatmisinformationhasmoreseriousconsequencesthannon-information–errorisbusierthanignorance.Thisispossiblyoneofthemostinsidiousfeaturesofcurrenteducationprovision.

Underthecurrentparadigm,studentsremainonthesecondstageofKember&Gow’s（1994）fivelevelhierarchyoflearning.This,accordingtoAinley（2000）,isafeatureofFurtherEducationratherthanHigherEducation.Assessmentcriteriaaremorallybarren,nocreditisgivenforeffort（Gibbsetal.2004）andingenuityissubtlybutactivelydiscouragedbythepreparationofexpectedanswerstoexaminationquestions.Studentswhogainmarksashighas80%duetotheproficiencyoftheirshort-termmemorymaynotbeawareofhowlittletheyactuallyknow.

Inthefaceofresourceconstraints,theloweringofstandardsandtheincreasingofstudent/lecturerratiosachievetheapparentlyimpossiblefeatofshowingnationalparticipationratesinapositivelightwhilestillincreasingtherateofreturnoninvestment.Ratesofreturnvaryfrom6.5%inItalyto17.3%inBritain.ShorteruniversitycoursesareonereasonwhyratesofreturnaresohighinBritain,asituationwhichpertainstoIreland,too,particularlyinthewakeoftheimplementationoftheBolognaAgreement.Largeclasssizesandreducedstudentcontacthoursalsoincreasetherateofreturn.Enrolment-drivenfundingmakesgradeinflationbureaucraticallyprofitable.Thereisastrongincentivefordilutedcriteriaandnofinanciallysoundbasisforfollowingrigorousgradingstandards.

WhymassprovisionofHigherEducation?

Althoughtheattemptatmassprovisionofhighereducationwasdemocraticinintent,ithasproventobeneitheraclasssolventnoradriverofmeritocracy.Ithassimplyaddededucationaltoclassrigidity（Halseyetal.1980）.Intheseventiesconcerncentredonwhyworkingclasschildrensooftenwentintoworkingclassjobs.Pugsley（1998）suggeststhatitmaybeappositetoenquirenowwhysomanyofthemgetworkingclassdegrees.ItisimportanttorememberBaudrillard’s（1998）warningthattheconsumptionofsocialsignifiers–including,inthecaseofeducation,paperqualifications–whichcreatestheillusionofdemocracyandachievement,simplyshiftsinequalitytoahiddenfieldwhere,functioningmoresubtly,itbecomesallthemoreirreversible.

Attemptsatchangetodate

Attemptstoimproveeducationprovisionhavetendedtoconcentrateontheactivityofteachingwhilepersistingtoignorethefactthatstudentsarenecessaryplayers.Althoughongoingprofessionaldevelopmentofteachingstaffisessential,noamountofitwillimprovethesituationwhilethefundamentalproblem–poorliteracyskillsonthepartofstudents-remainsunaddressed.Anyattempttoimprovedeliverybyteachers,whilenotfacilitatingstudentstolearn,istheequivalentofmobilephoneprovidersconcentratingonimprovingtheirtransmissioninasituationwherepeoplehavenoreceivers.Withoutstudentengagementeducationisnotpossible.AlthoughMoodleofferswonderfulpossibilitiesforelectronictransferofinformation,thatinformationmustbereceivedbystudentsinameaningfulwayandcannotbeimprintedontotheirbrains.

Strategyforchange

Theword‘strategy’respondstothequestion“Howcanweachieveourobjective?

”Thefollowingsuggestionsareanattempttoanswerthatquestion.

InviewofFoy’s（1994）injunctionthatitisthedutyofthelecturertoteachfromthelevelwherethestudentis,ratherthanfromthelevelfromwherethestudentmightbeexpectedtohavereached,thefollowingsolutionsmightbeusefullyapplied.

∙Achieverecognitionbythestudentofthelimitingnatureofthecapsuleapproach,whichistheonlyformofeducationtheyknow,anddevelopinthemanawarenessoftheconceptofindependentlearning.

∙Provideinformationliteracyeducationasanintegralpartofteaching.

∙Developpracticalcoursesinhowtothinkandpromoteengagementwithinwrittenandspokendiscourseathigherlevel.

∙ImposethestandardrecommendedbyFoythatnomorethanagrade‘D’beawardedtoanyexaminationcandidate,irrespectiveofthecontentofthepaper,ifgrammarandsyntaxarenotatahighlevel.

∙Ensurethatdecision-makersundertakesometeachingthroughouttheacademicyear.Dailyinteractionwithstudentswouldprovideadifferentperspectivefromthatperceivedfromamanagementviewpoint.

∙Developanorganizationalculturewheretheeducationofthestudentistheguidingprincipleforallactivitiesintheorganization,inthefullunderstandingthatfailuresofmethodologyarealwaysduetoideologicalerrors（Freire1972）.Ashiftinideologyisaprecursortothefacilitationofchange.Everyactionintheeducationalinstitutionshouldbeundertakenonlyforsoundpedagogicalreasons.

∙Awardallstudentsattendingthirdlevelinstitutionsapassdegree.Suchisthepostmodernaddictiontosigns,includingthesignsofe