Future challenges in higher education

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Future challenges in higher education
Sub-brand to go here

• Ronald Barnett, Institute of Education, London
• QAA Subscribers meeting, Manchester, May 2008

Centre for Higher Education Studies
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Considerations

• Increasing diversity across institutions (eg
  presence of research but also mission)
• Easing of cap on fees so more differentiation
  there too
• Heightening of
• Market
• Use of interactive media
• Students having more control over their own
  learning
• Global competition
• Work orientation in curricula design
• Also, implementation of Bologna

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The new student?

• Self-reliant?
• Unattached?
• Tho NB the networked student
• Adept at multimedia the multimodal student
• Skilful the performative student, who can get
  things done
• Possessing a breezy self-confidence
• But lacking insight/ wisdom?
• Question can a quality system prompt fundamental
  thinking about the kinds of development we might
  look to encourage among students?

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The new curriculum?

• Interactive media
• Work orientation
• But talk of eg students as global citizens
• More interdisciplinarity?
• More branding promotion of the particularity
  of course offerings
• Question Can a quality system encourage
  fundamental thinking about curriculum

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The new pedagogy?

• The student being self-reliant
• The re-emergence of the student as autodidact?
• But greater collaboration among students?
• The onward march of the student as customer (with
  all that entails for the pedagogical
  relationship).
• Questions what is an appropriate pedagogical
  relationship for the twenty-first century?
• What, if anything, is the responsibility of the
  academic as teacher?
• Can a quality system help in these regards?

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Quality enhancement the new hope?

• What is it? What is it becoming?
• Danger of it being bureaucratised such that it
  becomes a form of quality assurance
• /or a form of educational busy-ness, eg in
  installing new forms of interactive e-learning
  and establishing work experience
• New forms of imposed framework that cabin and
  confine institutions
• Its potential may go unrealised
• Questions Can quality enhancement so work as to
  encourage institutions to engage with fundamental
  problems of student development, curriculum
  innovation, and pedagogical transformation?
• - and think the impossible?