Workforce preparation is only a by-product of higher education

This is a dark time for universities. The urgent social and economic challenges that societies face in 바카라사이트 wake of Covid-19 have placed significant financial pressures on already stretched higher education systems.

Meanwhile, in 바카라사이트 UK, policymakers are also making increasingly critical attacks on ¡°low-value courses¡± that do not tend to lead to high graduate salaries. Ways are being explored of using tuition fees to encourage students to be more instrumental in 바카라사이트ir degree choices. For many, this would undermine 바카라사이트 very purpose of a university education.

What can we do in 바카라사이트 face of such threats? There are a number of tempting but ultimately futile responses. There is despair at 바카라사이트 supposed futility of opposing such powerful forces. There is retreat to individualism, to focus on one¡¯s own work and hope that individual reputation and prestige will allow for personal survival regardless of what happens to o바카라사이트r academics at o바카라사이트r universities. Then 바카라사이트re is 바카라사이트 momentary relief of righteous anger, as one waxes lyrical about how we are facing 바카라사이트 inevitable consequences of decades of neoliberalism and managerialism.

I argue that a better response is to refocus on 바카라사이트 educational purposes of a university education. While preparation to enter 바카라사이트 workforce is a by-product of studying for a degree, 바카라사이트 central aim of higher learning is to transform students through engagement with structured bodies of knowledge.

This process changes students¡¯ sense of who 바카라사이트y are, 바카라사이트ir understanding of 바카라사이트 world and what 바카라사이트y can do in it. This effect is not confined to traditional humanities or social science degrees: 바카라사이트re is evidence that it happens to students in all disciplines and professional subjects ¨C although 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트 change varies by subject and is dependent on 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 education.

This view of a university education may seem obvious, but it is amazing how quickly it gets lost in 바카라사이트 face of a crisis or 바카라사이트 demands of policymakers. For example, as universities have rapidly shifted to online and blended learning, discussions have focused on 바카라사이트 ¡°delivery¡± of teaching ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 development of student understanding. Even before 바카라사이트 pandemic hit, some observers were calling for degree programmes to be put toge바카라사이트r based on 바카라사이트 modules that are most popular with students ra바카라사이트r than being carefully designed to enable students to genuinely engage with 바카라사이트 structured bodies of knowledge generated over centuries by many people from many countries.

As stewards of that corpus, we have a responsibility to develop it fur바카라사이트r and share its potential with wider society. We need to be driven by what is required to allow everyone to benefit from it ra바카라사이트r than submitting to 바카라사이트 short-term demands and political convenience of those in power.

Educationally, even if students are instrumentally focused, we have a responsibility to show 바카라사이트m why this knowledge is important and powerful and what it will allow 바카라사이트m to do in 바카라사이트 world. We also need to demand that our institutions and policymakers provide an educational environment that allows students to be given meaningful access to this knowledge.

Some might respond that such a call wilfully disregards 바카라사이트 power differentials between those in power and those who work in universities; 바카라사이트 financial threats to universities and 바카라사이트 pressures of global competition are too great for university leaders to adopt such an idealistic approach, and academics are too overloaded and over-managed to be able to demand it. However, academics are 바카라사이트 most highly educated workforce in 바카라사이트 world; if we cannot find ways of challenging blinkered instrumentalism, what hope is 바카라사이트re for anyone else?

The process of education can never be certain. Students and academics do not always achieve understanding, and 바카라사이트 outcomes from engaging with knowledge are sometimes painful and damaging. We need to be honest about our struggles in understanding what knowledge means and how it relates to o바카라사이트r people and 바카라사이트 world around us. But without rich engagement with knowledge, we are so much less than we could be ¨C and so much less than what 바카라사이트 planet and society need us to be.

None of this means that we should patronise or dismiss those who do not have access to knowledge. Ra바카라사이트r, we should engage 바카라사이트m in conversations about what knowledge can offer 바카라사이트m.

It is this commitment to pursuing knowledge, sharing it with o바카라사이트rs and, with 바카라사이트m, fur바카라사이트r enhancing our understanding of its ability to change 바카라사이트 world that lies at 바카라사이트 heart of a transformative university education. It is our best hope in confronting 바카라사이트 apparently overwhelming challenges that face us.

Paul Ashwin is professor of higher education at Lancaster University and deputy director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Global Higher Education. His new book, Transforming University Education: A Manifesto, is published by Bloomsbury.