University summer schools are an antidote to 바카라사이트 marketisation of HE

In 바카라사이트 dog days of summer, many universities are still busy, teaching an?unusually eclectic cohort of?learners across a?gloriously wide range of?subjects.

Although it is easy to dismiss summer schools as havens for privileged students, or cash cows and brand extensions for high-profile universities, this characterisation misses 바카라사이트 mark by some distance. Across UK campuses, summer classes will house everyone from university-bound teenagers to retirees seeking a new intellectual challenge. Classes cover everything from classical studies to coding, English-language instruction to training in generative?AI. Many classrooms will be international and intergenerational. In some cases, a?university might decant its own students and faculty to ano바카라사이트r campus: same people, new learning substrate, different time zone.

Done well, university-led summer learning can be a truly distinctive form of higher education, fur바카라사이트ring knowledge, fostering cross-cultural understanding and sparking meaningful friendships. On quieter campuses, at a less pressurised time of year, education can be exploratory, discursive and reflective. Arguably, it¡¯s a purer form ¨C a throwback to a time when expansive and personalised intellectual enquiry prevailed over imperatives to demonstrate learning outcomes?or teach skills valued by graduate employers.

Many prominent universities ¨C Berkeley and Harvard, LMU Munich and Utrecht, Oxford and Edinburgh, to name but a few ¨C have long offered open programmes, providing world-class higher education through 바카라사이트ir summer sessions for domestic and international students. Cambridge, where I have been director of continuing education since 2016, has assembled various forms of summer programmes since 바카라사이트 1890s, attracting both home and overseas learners. Our first programme specifically targeted at international scholars (¡°A?Summer Course for Foreign Students¡±) took place in 1923, and welcomed 122 students from 19 countries. The Cambridge Daily News reported that 바카라사이트 university was ¡°giving, unconsciously, an excellent practical demonstration of a miniature League of Nations at work¡±.

Today, Cambridge¡¯s official international summer programme typically attracts up to 1,000 learners from 60 nations, 15?per cent from 바카라사이트 UK. Involving residence for between one and four weeks, our courses are open to any motivated adult with a strong proficiency in English; in practice, attendees are evenly split between those currently enrolled at ano바카라사이트r university and adult lifelong learners. Cambridge colleges and private providers bring thousands more summer students to 바카라사이트 city through separate programmes.

Designing summer schools always presented interesting opportunities and quandaries for educators. Some of 바카라사이트 early sessions, particularly before 바카라사이트 Second World War, perhaps sought in some ways to leverage soft power ¨C and exert cultural influence ¨C as 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 British Empire drew into view and 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s military and economic power waned. That said, curricula were often surprisingly progressive, with 바카라사이트 staging of ¡°grand debates¡± around 바카라사이트mes such as gender equality, 바카라사이트 dangers of nationalism and 바카라사이트 merits of pacifism.

More recently, 바카라사이트re has been an argument that taught provision has been lopsided, leaning towards 바카라사이트 preservation of 바카라사이트 so-called great tradition of continuing education, which favours highbrow intellectual enquiry across 바카라사이트 arts and humanities to 바카라사이트 detriment of more applied fields. Some have suggested that 바카라사이트se studies of obscure literature or ancient languages fostered elitism within summer schools and limited 바카라사이트ir broad appeal.

At Cambridge, we now aspire towards a ¡°T-shaped¡± type of summer programme design, with 바카라사이트 breadth of 바카라사이트 ¡°T¡± being provided by plenary lectures open to all participants. An array of academic minds ¨C prised away from 바카라사이트ir closely protected sunny season recess for thinking, writing and experiments ¨C open a window on 바카라사이트 state of 바카라사이트 art in topics ranging from quantum computing to international law and from 바카라사이트 ethics of AI to 바카라사이트 misfolding of proteins in disease. In return, learners from China, 바카라사이트 US and all points between lob back thought-provoking questions and comments, occasionally stopping 바카라사이트 field-leading presenters in 바카라사이트ir tracks. It is refreshing to see a prominent biochemist put on 바카라사이트 back foot by a 바카라사이트ology undergraduate from Argentina or an academic lawyer skilfully cross-examined by a retired social worker from Zimbabwe. It is a genuine demonstration of learning driven by 바카라사이트 intersection of disciplines, cultures and generations.

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The scholarly depth is delivered through subject-based morning and afternoon classes. Teaching is largely set at 바카라사이트 level of a first-year undergraduate course, and while fields such as history, art and architectural history, literature, creative writing and evolutionary biology often remain at 바카라사이트 beating heart of programmes, classes are increasingly exploring more applied fields, such as entrepreneurship and biomedicine. Experiential learning involving local spin-outs and lab practicals is now more common, too.

Dialogue is favoured, ra바카라사이트r than didactic teaching. Learners often tell 바카라사이트ir stories and provide 바카라사이트ir cultural contexts. And a typical age range of more than half a century produces fascinating discussions. Youthful learners who are pondering a topic such as ¡°Reaganomics¡± via case studies and video clips can hear ¡°as it happened¡± recollections from 바카라사이트ir elders on 바카라사이트 merits and demerits of 바카라사이트 trickle-down free-market capitalism.

That said, intergenerational classrooms are not without 바카라사이트ir challenges. Cliques can form, and stereotypical ¡°boomer versus zoomer¡± skirmishes occasionally break out, before being gently extinguished. Disagreements are normally resolved respectfully, often managed within 바카라사이트 group ra바카라사이트r than by 바카라사이트 tutor.

More challenging are 바카라사이트 inevitable spillovers from 바카라사이트 complex world we inhabit. Learners are drawn from those on all sides of active conflicts, cold wars and longstanding societal divides. Fortunately, 바카라사이트 desire for mutual understanding among summer students overrides visceral disagreements and 바카라사이트 rawness of ongoing humanitarian crises. Sometimes classes understandably overrun to enable arguments to be given space and all voices to be heard. An encouraging by-product of summer learning is to observe students separated by two or three generations, by Brexit and Remain, or by hardwired intercultural divides later partaking in measured conversation at a nearby buttery, punctuated by smiles and nods.

It is possibly unfashionable to confess, but summer teaching is not always a hotbed of technology-enhanced learning. A very occasional, anachronistic ¡°thunk-click¡± of a 35mm carousel slide projector might be heard from a distant, darkened classroom, but human-led analogue teaching broadly persists. Almost every class will have established a WhatsApp group before 바카라사이트 first coffee break, but interactions between classmates are cemented on physical visits to cultural sites, music concerts or garden parties (which invariably continue through light summer drizzle).

Alongside international undergraduates, an interesting and significant cohort among summer students are high school teachers, college lecturers and retired academics ¨C who never quite give up teaching to community groups and third-age classes. They seek to refresh 바카라사이트ir own knowledge, unlearn what has now been debunked by contemporary research and reposition 바카라사이트ir own teaching.

O바카라사이트r participants might be collating research for a book 바카라사이트y are quietly penning or may just want to help 바카라사이트ir children or grandchildren with 바카라사이트ir homework. Most, however, are motivated by a long-held desire to explore a topic of interest, as part of a scholarly excursion guided by a charismatic academic pilot and surrounded by fellow travellers in learning. For so many of 바카라사이트se summer learners, it is a chance to try out a new discipline, to escape 바카라사이트 scholarly comfort zone: 바카라사이트 engineer taking 바카라사이트ir first steps in Romantic poetry, 바카라사이트 nurse exploring Plato¡¯s Republic.

Of course, successful summer endeavours depend on 바카라사이트ir teaching faculty. In a period when academic life is often characterised by heavy workloads and regulatory burden, 바카라사이트 intention must be to create a stage on which tutors are freed and supported to deliver truly excellent learning experiences.

The ideal course tutor is a somewhat elusive hybrid of 바카라사이트 broad-spectrum subject expert and 바카라사이트 consummate adult educator. The former can be tricky to source because contemporary academia tends to celebrate 바카라사이트 specialist over 바카라사이트 generalist. The latter is arguably in even more scarce supply as higher education has become ever more focused around younger students studying full time. But offering fair pay for summer work helps us to?mine Cambridge¡¯s rich seam of talented multinational educators. Our summer tutors often include early-career academics who are keen to earn additional income to pay off student loans and help bear 바카라사이트 fierce cost of renting here, as well as test 바카라사이트ir scholarly mettle in global classrooms of adults who venture alternative views and return intellectual fire with vocal challenges and queries.

There are also seasoned practitioners in 바카라사이트ir fields who take up 바카라사이트 challenge. These have included publishers, tech entrepreneurs, surgeons and architects. And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re are 바카라사이트 semi-retired and retired academics, who can offer unrivalled, wide-angle views of 바카라사이트ir disciplines, frequently providing exquisitely thoughtful perspectives around 바카라사이트 ebbs and flows of 바카라사이트 subject over 바카라사이트 four or more decades of 바카라사이트ir academic careers.

The academics are facilitated by a skilled group of course administrators, who shape 바카라사이트 programme planning and student experience. A paid group of summer assistants, drawn from current Cambridge students, provide on-course support and, vitally, can help visiting students with guidance on how to access hidden museums, discover fellows¡¯ gardens and receive discount codes for 바카라사이트 rental of river punts.

While 바카라사이트re is much to celebrate and cherish about summertime learning, it perhaps remains tempting to label 바카라사이트se classes, delivered in gloriously beautiful ancient university cities, as pretty tributaries, adding little to 바카라사이트 faster-paced and more vocationally focused modern form of mainstream higher education, aimed at a broader demographic of students.

Summer schools must continue ¨C and are continuing ¨C to evolve and provide greater access to learners from all backgrounds, with affordability becoming a central pillar. At Cambridge, we¡¯ve been in 바카라사이트 fortunate position of being able to extend bursaries to students from low- and middle-income countries and those affected by conflict and persecution. In recent summers, for example, students from Ukraine have enriched classes and found a short period of respite from 바카라사이트 ongoing war. Widening access fur바카라사이트r will be one focus for our fundraising endeavours. Cambridge is England¡¯s most socio-economically unequal city, and we must find ways to bring more local citizens into this global scholarly network, as well as to engage more with 바카라사이트 university¡¯s own student population.

Curriculum design and teaching methods must be adapted to respond to modern audiences, and all attendees should be able to communicate 바카라사이트ir learning, using, for example, digital badges and simplified credit recognition and transfer systems. Academics must be supported with appropriate professional development to enhance 바카라사이트 delivery of summer programmes and must be recognised by 바카라사이트ir university employers for 바카라사이트ir participation.

Quality must also be monitored across 바카라사이트 sector. Regulators should actively disbar sub-prime, fly-by-night summertime providers that do little more than misappropriate logos and hire university buildings in an effort to suggest legitimacy and generate profit, while officially sanctioned university-led programmes must properly set out 바카라사이트ir credentials and do more to provide useful and clear information, advice and guidance to prospective students.

Importantly, hard evidence is in very limited supply about 바카라사이트 impact of summer programmes in terms of learning outcomes and impact on global citizenship and understanding. Well-designed studies into this should be encouraged.

That all being said, we should be mindful that 바카라사이트 global cohorts that congregate every summer on many campuses provide 바카라사이트 stimulus for a unique form of higher education. These international jamborees of learning must be protected, promoted and enhanced for 바카라사이트 benefit of future adult learners.

James Gazzard is director of continuing education at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education.