Understanding Higher
Education
Lecture 1 :
The re-structuring of higher
education
Key features of UK higher education
before 1963
► Elite
participation - 8% of age group
► Small, homogenous university sector - just 24
► Narrow subject range
► Generous state funding via the Universities Grants
Committee
► Dual system of higher education
Robbins Report (1963): key
recommendations
► Expansion
of higher education - 8 to 17% of
young age group
► CATs to be converted into Technological
universities
► Broader first degree courses
► Need for more postgraduate provision
► Need for State to fund expansion
The post-Robbins transformation
► Crosland’s
Woolwich speech (1965)
► Creation of new universities
► CATs converted into universities
► Funded expansion
► Establishment of the Polytechnics and the Open
University
► Creation of the CNAA and a new DES
► Innovative nature of new institutions
The Polytechnic Experiment : success or
failure ?
► Impetus
from Crosland not Robbins
► Accountability and the CNAA
► Vocational orientation
► Curriculum innovation
► Participation
► Problems of parity of esteem and academic drift
► Corporate status (1988)
► Ending of the binary system (1992)
- sector convergence
- competition & deregulation
Dearing Report (1997):
recommendations
► Expanded
provision for all - sub-degree and
lifelong learning
► Widening participation a key goal
► more effective teaching and learning
strategies - ILT and staff devt.
► Beneficiaries of HE should pay part of the
costs (including students)
► value-for-money and cost effectiveness
► National qualifications framework and degree
standards maintained - QAA, benchmarking,
franchising control
Dearing Report (1997):
recommendations
► More
work experience for students
► Progress file
► Development of key skills
Post-Dearing changes
► Student
fees
► Establishment of ILT
► Subject benchmarking
► University college title
► Possibility of ‘Associate’ degrees
► Funding for teaching & learning
► Performance tables on social inclusion
Higher Education trends in the 1990s
► Massification
► ‘New’
managerialism
► Accountability
► Differentiation/stratification
► Globalisation
► Competition
Higher Education trends in the 1990s
► Modularisation
and semesterisation
► Access and Lifelong learning
► Vocationalism
► Feminisation
► Technology and learning
► Servitisation/McDonaldisation
Conclusions
► Rapid
transformation from elite to mass
► Higher education now part of the ‘global village’ knowledge society
► Robbins report internally focused - academic
community
► Dearing report externally focused - stakeholders,
wider society
► A new ‘binary’ divide ?
- research-access
- global-local
The pluralism of UK higher education
1. Oxford and Cambridge
2. University of London
3. The Victorian civics (eg Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool)
4. The Redbrick universities (eg Exeter, Hull)
5. Durham and Keele universities
6. The Technological universities (eg Aston, Brunel)
7. The Scottish universities
8. The Welsh universities
9. The Northern Irish universities
10. The Open University
11. The old ‘new’ universities (eg UEA, Essex, Kent)
12. The new ‘new’ universities (eg Anglia, Brighton)
13. Multi-faculty colleges (eg Bolton, Nene)
14. Liberal arts colleges (eg Bath)
15. Further/higher education colleges
16. Specialised colleges (eg KIAD)
Scott (1995: 43-53)
Key points from Scott (1995)
• Universities are thoroughly modern institutions
• Pluralism of British higher education
• Transition from elite to mass systems a global
phenomenon
• UK has a mass system but with ‘elite instincts’
• Binary divide was largely administrative rather
than philosophical
• Autonomy eroded by changing expectations not
state funding per se
The H.E. Agency jungle
Funding bodies
eg TTA, Health Authorities,
etc
Teaching
eg ESRC, MRC, Charities
HEFCE/SHEFC/
HEFCW/DHFET&ENI
Research
Teaching
Research
RAE
Reporting
HESA
Higher Education Institutions
ILT
Professional
accreditation
AUT,
NATFHE
CVCP,
SCOP
Representation
QAA, Ofsted, ENB, etc
Quality audit
British higher education has become a mass system in
its public structures, but remains an elite one in its
private instincts.
Scott (1995) p. 2
Universities are thoroughly modern institutions….the
ancient pedigree of the universities is largely a myth
Scott (1995) p. 11
The UGC was seen as an ingenious institution which,
uniquely, allowed British universities to be both
publicly funded and insulated from political pressure
Scott (1995) p. 15
The dominant reason for the shift to the ‘donnish’
university was the state’s growing stake in higher
education.
Scott (1995) p. 63
Systems of Higher Education
► University-dominated
(other post-secondary technical education seen as quite separate)
► Dual
(need for co-ordination recognised but universities seen as structurally
superior)
► Binary
(2 parallel HE systems but relationship drifting from complementarity to
competition)
► Unified
(comprehensive HE system, differences in status and reputation
emerging)
► Stratified
(missions of individual HEIs become differentiated)
The changing campus through fiction
• Lucky Jim (1954)
- A farce about a history lecturer, Jim Dixon, in a stuffy, bourgeois,
provincial university
• The History Man (1975)
- The adventures of a lecherous, left-wing History lecturer
• Nice Work (1988)
-
Temporary English lecturer, Dr Robyn Penrose spends ‘Industry Year’
shadowing Vic Wilcox, MD of Pringle’s Engineering, in a class and
culture clash
• The Men’s Room (1989)
- A successful female sociologist with a husband and 4 children becomes
a victim of sexual politics when she has an affair with her new H.O.D.
Understanding Higher
Education
Lecture 2 :
The aims of higher education
University traditions
► ‘Knowledge’
model
Humboldtian university in Germany
- research is at the heart
-
► ‘Professional’
model
France’s grande ecoles
- professional workers and public servants
► ‘Personality’ model
- centred on Oxbridge
- civilised gentlemen
- liberal intellectual culture
-
What is ‘special’ about higher education
?
► Is
‘higher’ education just another phase/branch of
education ?
► More of what has gone before (‘further’ education)
?
► Unique values/conditions necessary for a ‘higher’
education ?
Barnett’s value background to higher
education
► The
pursuit of truth and objective knowledge
► Research
► Liberal education
► Institutional autonomy
► Academic freedom
► A neutral and open forum for debate
► Rationality
► The development of the student’s critical abilities
Barnett’s value background to higher
education
► The
development of the student’s autonomy
► The student’s character formation
► Providing a critical centre within society
► Preserving society’s intellectual culture
(Barnett (1990) pp. 8-9)
Vocationalism and liberal education
► Classic
dichotomy of educational aims
Vocationalism
► Liberal
education is elitist
► Practical and useful knowledge is needed for
economic well-being
► Producing the right kind of citizen is important for
society (social relevance)
Liberal education
► R.S.
Peters three interpretations of a ‘liberal
education’
1 Pursuit of knowledge ‘for its own sake’
2 As a general education
3 As development of the autonomous free thinker
capable of ‘approaching what one is told critically’
Changing language of higher education
Monastic, inward-looking:
► lecturer,
student, degree, seminar, academic
freedom, research
‘Managed’, outward-looking:
► access,
market, globalisation, lifelong learners,
performance indicators, partnerships
Conclusion
► Aims/values:
strong support for liberal education values despite
massification & vocationalism
► Necessary conditions:
- academic freedom, institutional autonomy
-
►A
false dualism ?
- a ‘liberal vocationalism’ ?
The aims of higher education
Individual
students
Affect
Cognition
Community
I
IV
Attitudes, Values, Emotional
Cultural
Integrity, Interpersonal skills
development
II
V
Knowledge and research
Knowledge and Skills of
as a national resource
thinking
III
VI
Adaptable
Occupational Skills Employment
Source: Bligh, Thomas & McNay (1999)
Adaptable highly trained
workforce
The ethos of later-Victorian Oxbridge, a fusion of
aristocratic and professional values, stood selfconsciously in opposition to the spirit of Victorian
business and industry: It exalted a dual ideal of
cultivation and service against philistine profit
seeking
(Wiener, 1981) pp. 22-23
liberal education, viewed in itself, is simply the
cultivation of the intellect, as such, and its object is
nothing more or less than intellectual excellence
(Newman, 1852, p. 121)
men are men before they are lawyers and if you make
them capable and sensible men, they will make
themselves capable and sensible lawyers….what
professional men should carry away with them from a
University is not professional knowledge, but that
which should direct the use of their professional
knowledge, and bring the light of general culture to
illuminate the technicalities of a special pursuit
J.S. Mill (1867) Inaugural Lecture at the University of
St. Andrews
Understanding Higher
Education
Lecture 3 :
The academic community
The academic community
► The
‘private life’ of higher education (Martin Trow)
► Becher’s ‘Academic Tribes and Territories’
► epistemological and sociological analysis
Academic ‘territories’
‘Hard’
‘Soft’
Pure
eg Mathematics
eg English
Applied
eg Engineering
eg Media Studies
After Biglan (1973) and Becher (1989)
‘Territories’ among ‘business’ lecturers
‘Hard’
‘Soft’
Pure
eg Quantitative
Economics
eg Sociology, methods,
Psychology
Applied
eg Accountancy
eg HRM, Marketing
Origins of business lecturers
► Refugees
-
dislodged disciplinary specialist (eg the
economists); ‘refugees’ from industry
► Nomads
-
re-invented individuals (eg fomer economists who
now teach marketing)
► Tourists
-
‘service’ a business course from another faculty
(eg linguists, lawyers)
‘Hard’ and ‘soft’ knowledge
► ‘Hard’
knowledge
- Impersonal, value-free, systematic scutiny of
relationships between variables
► ‘Soft’ knowledge
- Personal, overtly value-laden, numerous variables
less amenable to patterning
Social features of knowledge communities
•
•
-
Convergent communities (tightly knit)
strong fundamental ideologies
common values
shared judgements of quality
fraternal sense of nationhood
strong external boundaries
high status
Divergent communities (loosely-knit)
lack mutual cohesion and identity
cognitive borders ragged/ill-defined
low status
Questions of status
► Hard/Pure
has higher status than Soft/Applied
► Low status corresponds to external values being
imposed
► Convergent communities tend to have higher
status than divergent communities
Most academics will have taken their own first
and higher degrees in elite institutions, even if
they currently hold posts in non-elite ones. The
disciplinary values with which they are first
inculcated are therefore the values of the leading
departments in their fields.
Becher (1989, p. 3)
Academic freedom : 3 claims
Freedom of enquiry - test out new ideas, criticise,
present unpopular ideas, etc
2 Institutional autonomy - make own decisions on
appointments, curriculum, objectives, etc
3 Academic ‘rule’ - academic community is selfgoverning, makes own decisions about curriculum,
etc
1
Defining ‘academic freedom’
Freedom within the law to question and test
received wisdom and to put forward new ideas and
controversial and unpopular opinions, without
placing themselves in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
Education Reform Act (1988), Section 202(2)
The principle which gives both students and faculty
in the classroom the right to say whatever they
believe is pertinent to the subject at hand.
Nelson & Watt (1999) p.22
A more inclusive definition
► Lehrfreiheit
- freedom of teaching and enquiry
► Lernfreiheit - freedom of students to study what
and where they choose
Problems with academic freedom
► Institutional
autonomy has been eroded
► Many definitions are self-regarding and ignore
students
► To what extent are academics any longer in the
business of making new, controversial knowledge
claims in an expanded system ?
An alternative identity ?
► traditional
definition of academic freedoms too
self-regarding, insular, ‘ivory tower’ ?
► Need to be more outward-looking, responsibility
for social justice ?
► Academic freedom as freedom for others to learn
(Nixon)
► ‘professionalisation’/ILT ?
‘The system must now evolve greater
diversity , so that there is effective
responsiveness from the local through to the
global. The critical issue is that universities
define their missions and pursue them with
vigour.’
David Blunkett
University of Greenwich speech,
15 February, 2000
A new 3 tier system ?
► Research
-
‘Russell group’
► Regional
-
universities
universities
‘new’ universities
► Community
-
Colleges
Further & Tertiary education colleges
Understanding Higher
Education
Lecture 4 :
Institutional management
and development
Key issues : the new vocabulary
► Managing
change and organisational culture
► Managing stakeholder interests
► Quality management
► Leadership & determining mission
University cultures
Control of policy
loose
Control of
practice loose
B
bureaucratic
A
collegial
tight
C
entrepreneurial
D
corporate
tight
McNay (1995; 1998)
Collegial culture
► Leadership
based on consent of academic
community
► Emphasis on institutional autonomy and academic
freedom
► other academics seen as main external reference
point
► works best in small organisations
► ‘person’ culture
► Oxbridge ?
Bureaucratic culture
► Emphasis
on regulation and control
► Slow, committee-based decision-making
► External influence of controlling agencies strong
via influential administrators
► works best under stable conditions
► ‘Role’ culture
► University of London ?
Entrepreneurial culture
► Power
centralised but delegated
► Leaders with freedom to operate but results tightly
monitored
► Client/market needs dominant external reference
point
► ‘’Task’ culture
► University of Phoenix or the OU ?
Corporate culture
► Power
is dominant concept; VC as chief executive
► Power networks key not formal election
► External input linked to contacts cultivated by
senior management
► risk of lack of control over executive
► ‘Power’ culture
► South Bank University ?
You have 100 points to allocate among the 4 cultures to
represent the present situation of an institution known
to you.
Control of policy
loose
Control of
practice loose
collegial
bureaucratic
tight
entrepreneurial
corporate
tight
You have 100 points to allocate among the 4 cultures to
represent the future situation (say 5 years time) of an
institution known to you.
Control of policy
loose
Control of
practice loose
collegial
bureaucratic
tight
entrepreneurial
tight
corporate
Mapping stakeholder interests
Level of interest
Low
High
A
Minimal effort
Low
Power
High
B
Keep informed
D
C
Keep
satisfied
Key players
Map stakeholder interests in higher education. Where would
you place stakeholders such as students, the government,
employers or staff ?
Level of interest
Low
High
A
Minimal effort
B
Keep informed
C
Keep
satisfied
D
Key players
Low
Power
High
Map stakeholder interests in your subject area at the
present time
Level of interest
Low
High
A
Minimal effort
B Keep informed
C
Keep satisfied
D
Low
Power
High
Key players
Map stakeholder interests in your subject area in the
future (say, 5 years time).
Level of interest
Low
High
A
Minimal effort
B Keep informed
C
Keep satisfied
D
Low
Power
High
Key players
Definitions of ‘quality’ in higher
education
► Exceptional
► Perfection
► Fitness
for purpose
► Value for money
► Transformative
(Harvey & Green, 1993)
How do stakeholders in your subject area define
quality ?
Stakeholder group
►
Definition of quality
The call for diversity of mission
‘The system must now evolve greater
diversity , so that there is effective
responsiveness from the local through to the
global. The critical issue is that universities
define their missions and pursue them with
vigour.’
David Blunkett
University of Greenwich speech,
15 February, 2000
A new 3 tier system ?
► Research
-
universities
globally competitive research; strong global ‘brand’
► Regional
universities
- serving economic and social needs of region;
predominantly access-based
► Community
-
Colleges
serving local needs; sub-degree provision as bridge
between school and higher education
Additional slides
The shamrock organisation
► The
core
► The flexible labour force
► The contractual ‘fringe’
► The self-service culture
The shamrock university
► The
-
full-time, permanent lecturers
► The
-
contractual ‘fringe’
contracting out of services, franchising to further education
& overseas
► The
-
flexible labour force
part-time, temporary lecturers
► The
-
core
self-service culture
self & peer assessment, distance & on-line learning, workbased learning ?
4 phases of the ‘old’ universities
•
•
•
•
-
‘Civic’ phase (late 19c.-early 20c.)
Victorian benefactors and civic sponsorship
‘Donnish’ phase (1920s-1960s)
role of UGC key
‘Democratic’ phase (1960s-1970s)
ephemeral era of student protest
‘Managerial’ phase (1980s -)
cuts in funding, massification and increased
accountability
‘Cults’ in Leadership development in
HE
► The
► The
► The
► The
► The
► The
► The
cult
cult
cult
cult
cult
cult
cult
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
the gifted amateur
heredity
deficiency
inadequacy
the implicit
selection
the intellectual
(Middlehurst, 1993)
The University hierarchy
• Principal or VC
• Other ‘management’
•Academic teaching staff (or ‘faculty’)
• Professional support staff
• Technical staff
• Clerical staff
• Manuel staff
Watson & Taylor, 1998, p.112
Understanding Higher
Education
Lecture 5 :
Ethical issues in higher
education
Domains of professional ethics of higher
education
Pedagogic ethics
Assessment objectivity, granting
assignment extensions, dealing with
plagiarism
Research ethics
Research methods, students as
research subjects, credit for research,
plagiarism
Social ethics
Meeting student special needs,
encouraging access and equal
opportunities
The conditions which make ethics a
particular challenge
► Universities
and colleges are complex
organisations whose employees perform highly
specialised work
► Academic departments and schools often have
great autonomy
► Faculty may have tenure
► Universities are peer regulated resembling
legislatures more than bureaucracies
► Standards of ethical conduct may vary somewhat
across disciplines
Whicker & Kronenfeld (1994)
Analysing pedagogic ethics: relevance of
justice
► Power
of assessment
► Relative autonomy
► Students as customers
A Justice framework for the lecturers
pedagogic role
► Procedural
-
Sticking to the rules, consistent procedures
► Retributive
-
Punishment for wrong-doing
► Remedial
-
compensating the victim
► Distributive
-
morally correct distribution of things; social justice
Procedural justice
► classroom
management
► assessment procedures
► arbitrating in disputes
Key requirements:
► integrity
► objectivity
► avoiding conflicts of interest
► consistency
Retributive justice
► Punishment
for wrong-doing
► balance between severity and leniency
► arbitrating in disputes
Key requirements:
► consistency
► proportionality
Remedial justice
► Extending
deadlines to individuals
► Making provision/allowance for students with
learning difficulties
Key requirements:
► consistency
► balancing fairness for the majority with needs of
individuals (utilitarian reasoning)
Distributive justice
► Social
justice
► access; social inclusion; equal treatment
► monitoring of social justice agenda
Key requirements:
► sensitivity to social justice agenda ?
► self-evaluation
Possible principles emerging from
justice framework
► Integrity
► Objectivity
► Avoiding
conflicts of interest
► Consistency
► Proportionality
► Social ‘sensitivity’
► Self-evaluation