Bairbre Redmond - European University Association

The Engaged University
Shaping Inclusive and Responsive
University Strategies
31 August – 1 September 2011
Southampton, United Kingdom
A conference organised by:
Hosted by:
With the support of:

. The Engaged University: how to make
it happen?
Human and financial resource
considerations for student centred life
long learning – Dr Sue Colley

Student centred life long learning –
employability and enlightenment
• “This will require universities to rethink some deep-rooted
assumptions about the basic building blocks of HE –
products, delivery modes and organisation – to meet
different patterns of demand and opportunity”
(PA Consulting Group – 2010)
3

• Personal context.
Overview
• Challenges when developing an appropriate
pedagogy.
• Establishing new collaborative relationships
• Reconceptualising the role of the Academic?
4

Challenges when developing an
appropriate pedagogy
Rigor or Relevance? (Schon, 1991, 42)
“It is felt that the knowledge for which the university
stands lacks legitimacy; it can simply be
understood as a set of language games of a rather
privileged set of occupational groups (academics)
that reflects their interest and marginal standing to
the rest of society” (Barnett, 2000a, 411).
5

Challenges, contd.
• The ‘atomised modular system’ v. teaching and
learning strategies that capture ‘knowledge in
action’.
– Modular system: awards credits against criteria that
reflects traditional definitions of knowing (usually as
pre-determined objectives/learning outcomes)
measured mainly by the expression of language skills.
– The challenge of measuring the development of
‘knowledge in action’, i.e. knowledge worked out in
real time in the urgency of the moment.
6

Challenges - contd
• Costings
• Planning
• Timing of engagement
• Leadership
7

Establishing new collaborative
relationships
• How the Academy structures and presents itself:
– Internally as well as externally
– Relationship marketing
– Geography
8

A New Republic of the Intellect
• “For Universities, permeability is the key. The
more the universities are permeable and the more
the knowledge industries and all citizens who
embrace intellectual pursuits and causes come
within them, the more successful they will be. The
best universities of the 21 st century will bring brain
power together where it is, not where it can be
institutionalised.“ Sir Douglas Hague, 1991, 14
9

Reconceptualising the role of the academic
•
10

References
Barnett, R (2000) University
knowledge in an age of
supercomplexity. Higher
Education 40 409-422
PA Consulting Groups (2010) Escaping
the Red Queen effect – succeeding in
the new economics of higher education.
Hague, D (1991) Beyond
Universities. A New Republic of
the Intellect. Institute of
Economic Affairs
11

. The Engaged University: how to make
it happen?
Human and financial resource considerations
for student centred life long learning – Dr Sue
Colley

Student centred life long learning –
employability and enlightenment
• “This will require universities to rethink some
deep-rooted assumptions about the basic building
blocks of HE – products, delivery modes and
organisation – to meet different patterns of
demand and opportunity”
(PA Consulting Group – 2010)
13

• Personal context.
Overview
• Challenges when developing an appropriate pedagogy.
• Establishing new collaborative relationships
• Reconceptualising the role of the Academic?
14

Challenges when developing an
appropriate pedagogy
Rigor or Relevance? (Schon, 1991, 42)
“It is felt that the knowledge for which the university
stands lacks legitimacy; it can simply be understood as
a set of language games of a rather privileged set of
occupational groups (academics) that reflects their
interest and marginal standing to the rest of society”
(Barnett, 2000a, 411).
15

Challenges, contd.
• The ‘atomised modular system’ v. teaching and
learning strategies that capture ‘knowledge in
action’.
– Modular system: awards credits against criteria that
reflects traditional definitions of knowing (usually as
pre-determined objectives/learning outcomes)
measured mainly by the expression of language skills.
– The challenge of measuring the development of
‘knowledge in action’, i.e. knowledge worked out in
real time in the urgency of the moment.
16

• Costings
• Planning
Challenges - contd
• Timing of engagement
• Leadership
17

Establishing new collaborative
relationships
• How the Academy structures and presents itself:
– Internally as well as externally
– Relationship marketing
– Geography
18

A New Republic of the Intellect
• “For Universities, permeability is the key. The more
the universities are permeable and the more the
knowledge industries and all citizens who embrace
intellectual pursuits and causes come within them, the
more successful they will be. The best universities of
the 21 st century will bring brain power together where
it is, not where it can be institutionalised.“ Sir Douglas
Hague, 1991, 14
19

Reconceptualising the role of the
academic
• “There will in particular be greater expectations that
academic researchers and teachers have ‘live’ engagement
with the worlds of practice and application. The HE workforce
is also likely to become much more fluid and mobile, with
greater interchanges of people between the worlds of
academe, business and professional practice” (PA Consulting
Group,2010,10)
20

Barnett, R (2000) University knowledge in
an age of supercomplexity. Higher
Education 40 409-422
PA Consulting Groups (2010) Escaping the
Red Queen effect – succeeding in the new
economics of higher education.
References
Hague, D (1991) Beyond Universities. A
New Republic of the Intellect. Institute of
Economic Affairs
21

The Engaged University
Shaping Inclusive and Responsive
University Strategies
31 August – 1 September 2011
Southampton, United Kingdom
A conference organised by:
Hosted by:
With the support of:

Resourcing Lifelong Learning
Lessons from Irish Higher Education
Prof. Bairbre Redmond
University College Dublin, Ireland
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Interrelated factors in resourcing LLL
National
Policies
Academy
Structures &
Issues
Economic
Factors
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Background to Irish Education
• Population : 4.32 Million
• Institutions: 7 Universities , 14 Institutes of Technology and 4
Schools of Education (primary training)
• Spend on Education: close to the bottom of the International
league table
– 4.7% of GDP spent on Education (OECD average 5.7%).
– 3rd Level Education spend 1.2% (OECD average 1.5%)
• Structures: Well developed National Qualifications
Framework (NQF) to support mobility and harmonisation
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NQF)
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Key Milestones in Irish Educational Policy
• 1966 - 1969 – Free
2 nd level funding
introduced, major
curricular reform
introduced
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1967 1986 2004
Participation
at 2nd level

Key Milestones in Irish Educational Policy
• 1996 - Free 3 rd
level funding
introduced
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1979 1992 2004
Participation at
3rd level

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Educational Participation Rates (%)
0
1967 1974 1979 1986 1992 1998 2004
2nd level
3rd level

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Odds ratios for participating in Higher Education

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Percentage Rate of Drop-Out
Drop-out

• High participation
rate 42% of the 25-34
age group has 3 rd level
qualification.
(OECD average - 34%)
but
• Lifelong Learning low
against EU average
and Lisbon targets.
Resulting in.....
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64

EU University Participation vs.
LLL Participation (25-64 years) Eurostat ‘10
University Participation LLL Participation

Students Full-time & Part-time at University
in Ireland & UK (2009/10)
Ireland UK
Full Time 96,436 (85%) 737,125 (55%)
Part Time 6,448 (15%) 596,775 (45%)

Growth in Erasmus Numbers between 2007 - 2009

Mobility Factors
• High number of Irish students on full-time HE programmes
outside country (14% - nearly five times the EU average)
• Most in Britain and Northern Ireland, smaller numbers in the
US, Germany, France, and Australia.
• Erasmus Outgoing student numbers less that half of
Incoming. Language an issue.
• Key countries of origin of Incoming students - USA; China;
France; UK; Germany; Spain; Malaysia; India & Canada.
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Lastly – Impact of Recession on the
Academy
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Drop in state funding
for undergraduates
+
Inability to levy fees
on undergraduates
+
Ban on staff
replacement or
recruitment
Resulting in
Dependency on graduate
income
(Professions and PhDs)
Increased need to attract
non-EU Students
Increased focus on reskilling,
rather than upskilling
(CPD)
Larger classes, less
academic support for
students

Looking Foreword
• “Seek efficiencies to enable further expansion ...and
make existing provision more effective.”
Irish Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn ( March 2011)
• Groups not benefiting from any form of learning – both
overall literacy and mathematical skills are in decline
nationally
• Seek clarity about Institutional responsibility for
Lifelong Learning - ?Role of the ITs
• Play to institutional strengths and minimise duplication -
create ‘Ladders of Learning’
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

“For every complex problem there is an
answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland
H.L. Mecken

Thank You
Go Raibh Maith Agaibh
bairbre.redmond@ucd.ie
Prof Bairbre Redmond
Ireland

Statistical Sources
• Higher Education Authority, Irish Higher Education Statistical Publications:
http://www.hea.ie/en/statistics+publications
• Higher Education Authority Hidden Disadvantage
http://www.hea.ie/files/files/file/DoE/Hidden%20Disdvantage%20HEA-
ESRI%20Non-Manual%20Study.pdf
• Education Ireland, International Students in Higher Education in Ireland
2010: http://www.educationireland.ie/why-ireland/publications.html
• European Commission, Erasmus Statistics,
http://ec.europa.eu/education/erasmus/doc920_en.htm
• Eurostat Lifelong Learning Statistics
• http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Lifelong_lea
rning_statistics

The Engaged University
Shaping Inclusive and Responsive
University Strategies
31 August – 1 September 2011
Southampton, United Kingdom
A conference organised by:
Hosted by:
With the support of: