At the recent regional conference Institutionalising Best Practice in Higher Education one of the speakers, Dr Claudia Harvey, called for a revolution in higher education. Her point was that we need to develop a culture of best practice and embed this in everything we do. Another keynote speaker Dan Butin, talked about flipping the university as opposed to flipping the class. What these speakers are suggesting is by no means anything new since we can go back to the work of Paulo Friere whose educational theory is underpinned by a philosophy that the student should be the focus and should be recognised as having the capability to think critically. ."our relationship with the learners demands that we respect them and demands equally that we be aware of the concrete conditions of their world, the conditions that shape them. To try to know the reality that our students live is a task that the educational practice imposes on us: Without this, we have no access ' to the way they think, so only with great difficulty can we perceive what and how they know.
... there are no themes or values of which one cannot speak, no areas in which one must be silent. We can talk about everything, and we can give testimony about everything. " (page 58)
Freire, P. 1998. Teachers as Cultural Workers - Letters to Those Who Dare Teach, Translated by Donoldo Macedo, Dale Koike, and Alexandre Oliveira, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1998.
http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Freire.html
I think we need to review the work of Friere as we reflect on what is required for this revolution in education.
HI Dianne
ReplyDeleteI actually fully agree with the statement, I believe now that it is not so much a revolution but an evolution of teaching philosophies to represent societal demands placed on graduates. Often graduates are expected to demonstrate the abilities of critical thinking and problem-solving. However, at the University level we spend the majority of our time disseminating content. This leaves little room for critical thinking in our graduates, it encourages immaturity of thought and creates graduates who may be certified but not qualified. It is also perpetuated by entrenched attitudes and practices. I do agree that an intense educational cultural shift is needed.
Regards Roger