Musings: Pedagogic alignment

Historically the concept of a University was very much in line with the idea of holistic development of the individual, they were places to experience the freedom of thought, to explore a myriad of disciplines, to be exposed to new ideas and to be able to be in a position to challenge the status quo in open fora with peers and teachers. Many such ideals are still apparent, but perhaps implemented in spirit rather than action. Today we talk of the need to develop ‘soft skills’, we provide extra curricula activities to facilitate this and go as far as to adapt our own modules in light of perceived ‘requirements’. We even offer a plethora of induction sessions; how to use the library, how to use a computer, how to write essays, where to find your research representative etc. The University has changed into a service led environment, offering customers the choice that suits them best, aiding them to attain their desired goals. A subtle but earth shattering change that has perhaps gone un-noticed, who was it that decided the University should become another Wal-Mart, offering everything under one roof to the disregard of smaller institutes. And now not only is bigger better, but alliances are essential for future proofing possible national and international opportunities. What are we suddenly selling and to whom?

European directives and a national plans call for the provision of more HE places, but populations are now declining, careers are ever changing, the insatiable need for education is across the board, we refer to it as life-long learning. In reality first world society is in the cusp of a major upheaval, on the one hand economies are more susceptible to e-commerce (and will continue to be so) offering new careers in areas yet defined, following on from this there is a need for constant re-training. On the other hand has society now reached a level of economic security whereby, individuals may choose to pursue further education, education that is often undertaken, not for a job specific reason, but for the pleasure, for the personal reward. If this scenario is true, than the current state of University behaviour, despite being overtly orientated to a ‘customer led’ theme is grossly out of step.

Re-training for new careers is not within the remit of HE in general, it is not providing a series of ‘how-to’s’ on the latest technologies or newly developed career paths, indeed specific courses may apply a level of this in any given instance, but never would it be considered its definitive learning outcome.

For the individual returning to education as an act of self improvement / reward they are presented with a bizarre scenario of technological asides (VLEs, web logs, e-journals etc), channelled information sessions (independent inductions series), and a programme of choice, where once they could focus on a discipline and acquire the skill sets necessary for knowledge construction, problem solving and information retrieval, now a series of choices (by ‘market design’) offers an eclectic approach to such a task. Although such a choice may seem effective in providing exposure to multiple disciplinary traits, are key skills being overlooked? Do the learners treat such a pic n’ mix as transitory, merely a progressive step in their education? Has the University managed to pull the wool over the consumers eyes and offer up a never ending scenario of for lifelong learning and future fee paying students?

Is this merely a symptom of a reactionary approach to educational technology and the demands of new student cohorts rather than a being able to have a forward-thinking approach?

The tribal approach to education suggests that the university allows for the collection of groupings of individuals with shared interests, passing knowledge to one another within that group and also ‘down the line’ to incoming generations. Does the onset of new communication technologies outstrip this societal need for a gathering, might there be a possibility of such groups being collectively large enough to demand or facilitate their own institutional needs vis a vis a university? (Fuller and So¨derlund, 2002). (see Maffesoli).