Helping graduates to be workplace-ready in a constantly changing world (2/2)
An interview with Fiona Greig
[The first part of this interview can be found here.]
The true nature of education
“To do well in a traditional exam implies having a good memory, but this does not equate with intelligence, skills, or the acquisition of a true education. True education means introducing someone to a concept and firing them up to create their own take on things. Our academics develop learning resources that enable this approach, but they would never call them that.
“It’s undeniable, though, that in, for example, large Asian countries and at the more traditional institutions in the West, the old-fashioned kind of academic prestige still counts. And this extends to publishing, even if the cost of APCs is extortionate. To pay the APC for an article accepted by one of the top journals we must commit the whole of the fees paid by an undergraduate for one year. And as far as teaching goes, this creates a vicious circle: academics in some prestigious universities are not focused on teaching their students but about improving their publication record. No VC in this country will stand up and say he or she is not an active researcher, because research still represents the pinnacle of academia.
The economics of Higher Education
“Only a few universities are embracing the views I’m expressing at the moment. But more are going to be forced to consider the twin implications of the rise of Artificial Intelligence and the big stick the Government uses to beat us when we send people into graduate employment. Students must be fit to go into the workplace and their “destination” is tested fifteen months after appointment. If we don’t get good student outcomes, the Government can take away our ability to recruit students who would require student loans from the Student Loan Company.
“Resources can’t give people professional tools; and where useful professional tools exist, universities can rarely afford to pay for them. We can’t afford the one-to-one apps that paramedics and other NHS trainees need; yet a third of our medical courses consist of emplacements. We can’t give those students the right resources; or, for that matter, students training for a career in insurance or the stock exchange based on existing and emerging commercial models.
“It’s not about theory – we can always pick up on theory – but practice. We need simulations of labs, hospital wards, operations, immersive visits to places at different times in history. Across all universities, everyone is recording how to do a DNA test, because nothing available commercially is affordable.
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Today’s students have different ways of working
“We are now moving into a multi-sensory learning environment. Most students are still aged between 18 and 25 and they have lived in a world of sensory overload. We see students playing with their tablets and phones, watching television and conducting a conversation all at the same time. They respond better to the simulation of experience than reading. From primary school onwards, they spend much more time moving around, thinking and doing.
“This is reflected in our teacher training courses. Our library refurbishment is being completely reframed to support the need for self-directed practice. Trainee teachers are taught to break up the day, with more children walking around, engaging in group work, learning social skills. Teachers have to learn how to nurture without letting chaos reign. Of course children still have reading times, but often this involves sitting in class with a teacher or parent reader accompanying them. This makes the experience special – the book is explored together – and this matters as much as enjoying the story. And there is more work to do to encourage reading: there is a section of society that doesn’t see a value in young boys reading when they could be out playing football. That is why we sometimes encourage students to read by offering them Superheroes, Manga, etc.
“PhD students these days fall out of love with their subjects, because the expectation is that everything must be new and niche. Advanced research doesn’t look at what’s going on in the world overall: just one tiny bit of it. For students entering the workforce now, their jobs will be entirely different halfway through their careers. We need to help them build resilience as well as knowledge and skills. They need to be able to think through a situation and produce beneficial solutions. And publishers meantime are still repackaging “facts”, some of which are already dubious.
“I think that if publishers truly work in partnership with universities, working towards common goals, they stand a chance of succeeding if they are adaptable to students’ needs. However, we have to persuade academics that this is a good thing. Academics are nervous about the commercialisation of education. There is a joint need to understand what is and what isn’t above expectations.
“For the kind of courses we’re talking about, the technology is already good, but it’s still an emerging area. We must also safeguard against an American-style approach that supports the idea that every student in Psychology should be studying the same thing. Every course should be led as if by a great academic, and with the expenditure of more emotional intelligence than artificial intelligence. Students should be able to take control of their learning and at the same time fulfil their learning outcomes. I’m keen that students can say “I want to work towards …” and then achieve it individually.
Paying for sustainable, flexible learning
“I’m a realist. I know that all content will never be free and open; but I’m also aware of the straitened income streams that our universities must contend with. Several HE institutions in the UK are in a precarious financial condition. The Government has held tuition fees at the same price for another three years, which means by the end of that period they will not have changed for 13 years, even though costs have gone up. On the other hand, there are dangers attached to trying to make all resources home-grown. Take open source software: it can result in a mess, especially when the developers turn their attention to something else.
“We need to find a financial pathway to start a partnership that will allow something worthwhile to develop. I want to make sure that we lay the foundations for something that is still here in 15-20 years, so students are still getting the right resources – especially the intangible ones – to feed their learning.”
[the interview was conducted by Linda Bennett ]