Visit to Beijing Normal University April 2013
Beijing Normal Univerity 北京师范大学 is a top public research university with strong emphasis on basic disciplines of humanities and sciences. It is one of the oldest and most selective universities in China. A normal school refers to an institution that aimed to train school teachers in the early twentieth century, and this terminology is preserved in the official names of such institutions in China. I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit the university which was afforded by Professor Hong Chengwen, Deputy Director of the Institute of Higher Education Studies. I look forward very much to meeting and talking to students and faculty.
Lifewide Education: A transformative concept for Higher Education?
The origins of the ideas of lifewide learning and education can be found in the thinking and writings of John Dewey and Eduard Lindeman in the 1920s and 30s. For much of its history lifewide learning has been subsumed within the idea of lifelong learning promoted, since the 1970s, in the education policies of international agencies such as UNESCO, OECD, World Bank and EU Commission. Lifelong and lifewide learning are considered to be necessary for learning societies which view the whole of life as opportunity for learning. Different conceptions of lifelong/lifewide learning may emphasise one or more purposes of learning namely for: personal fulfilment, citizenship, social inclusion/social justice and work/employment. Jost Reischmann (1986) is credited with the first explicit use of the term 'lifewide learning' in the context of his all embracing concept of adult learning. In the first decade of the 21st century the idea is becoming more relevant to educational and social policy and practice and it has been utilised in a range of educational and learning contexts. According to an EU Foresight report, the future of learning is 'lifelong and lifewide.'
In 2008, the Surrey Centre for Excellence in Professional Training and Education, at the University of Surrey, began to explore the idea of lifewide learning and create new educational practices to encourage and support learners in their lifewide learning enterprise. The Surrey Lifewide Learning Award was piloted and evaluated and the results were published in a book (Jackson 2011). The University of Surrey did not adopt the award so in 2011 a new organisation the Lifewide Education Community was established to promote, develop and apply the ideas developed by SCEPTrE. The organisation's 'Lifewide Development Award' is in the early stages of piloting. The scheme is intended to complement the skills award schemes being offered by UK universities and colleges.It can also be adapted by universities and colleges for implementation in their environment. It can also be adapted for use by anyone who is not participating in formal education.
TEACHING SESSION
The presentation will introduce ideas, educational tools and practices and examine, through questions and discussion, the relevance of the ideas and practices for Chinese education.
ANNOTATED POWER POINT SLIDES
The origins of the ideas of lifewide learning and education can be found in the thinking and writings of John Dewey and Eduard Lindeman in the 1920s and 30s. For much of its history lifewide learning has been subsumed within the idea of lifelong learning promoted, since the 1970s, in the education policies of international agencies such as UNESCO, OECD, World Bank and EU Commission. Lifelong and lifewide learning are considered to be necessary for learning societies which view the whole of life as opportunity for learning. Different conceptions of lifelong/lifewide learning may emphasise one or more purposes of learning namely for: personal fulfilment, citizenship, social inclusion/social justice and work/employment. Jost Reischmann (1986) is credited with the first explicit use of the term 'lifewide learning' in the context of his all embracing concept of adult learning. In the first decade of the 21st century the idea is becoming more relevant to educational and social policy and practice and it has been utilised in a range of educational and learning contexts. According to an EU Foresight report, the future of learning is 'lifelong and lifewide.'
In 2008, the Surrey Centre for Excellence in Professional Training and Education, at the University of Surrey, began to explore the idea of lifewide learning and create new educational practices to encourage and support learners in their lifewide learning enterprise. The Surrey Lifewide Learning Award was piloted and evaluated and the results were published in a book (Jackson 2011). The University of Surrey did not adopt the award so in 2011 a new organisation the Lifewide Education Community was established to promote, develop and apply the ideas developed by SCEPTrE. The organisation's 'Lifewide Development Award' is in the early stages of piloting. The scheme is intended to complement the skills award schemes being offered by UK universities and colleges.It can also be adapted by universities and colleges for implementation in their environment. It can also be adapted for use by anyone who is not participating in formal education.
TEACHING SESSION
The presentation will introduce ideas, educational tools and practices and examine, through questions and discussion, the relevance of the ideas and practices for Chinese education.
ANNOTATED POWER POINT SLIDES
lifewide_education_final.ppt | |
File Size: | 24847 kb |
File Type: | ppt |
SPEECH TEXT ONLY
lifewide_education_speech.pdf | |
File Size: | 150 kb |
File Type: |
VIDEO FILMS TO ILLUSTRATE LIFEWIDE LEARNING
1 Psychology student Sarah talks about her lifewide / lifelong learning from the time she left school to the time she started a doctorate
1 Psychology student Sarah talks about her lifewide / lifelong learning from the time she left school to the time she started a doctorate
2 Two students talk about their lifewide learning volunteering experience in Uganda
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Developing Personal Creativity through Lifewide Education
developing_personal_creativity_through_lifewide_education.pdf | |
File Size: | 191 kb |
File Type: |
History of an Idea
lifewide_learning_history_of_an_idea.pdf | |
File Size: | 257 kb |
File Type: |
Surrey Lifewide Learning Award: a learning partnership to support lifewide learning
surrey_lifewide_learning_award.pdf | |
File Size: | 177 kb |
File Type: |
Guide to the Lifewide Development Award
lifewide_development_award_framework__september_2012.pdf | |
File Size: | 280 kb |
File Type: |
Reference
Jackson, N.J. (ed) (2011) Learning for a Complex World: A lifewide concept of learning, education and personal development. Authorhouse.
Websites
Surrey Centre for Excellence in Professional Training and Education, University of Surrey
Surrey Lifewide Learning Award
Lifewide Development Award
Lifewide Education Community
Jackson, N.J. (ed) (2011) Learning for a Complex World: A lifewide concept of learning, education and personal development. Authorhouse.
Websites
Surrey Centre for Excellence in Professional Training and Education, University of Surrey
Surrey Lifewide Learning Award
Lifewide Development Award
Lifewide Education Community
The Wicked Challenge of Changing a University: Encouraging Bottom-up Innovation through Strategic Change
Universities are inherently conservative and risk averse when it comes to changing what they do, 'yet to play its indispensible function in the new competitive environment, the typical university must change more quickly and more fundamentally than it has been doing' (Christensen and Eyring 2011: xxiii). In order to change universities need to stimulate, harness and focus the collective imaginations, energies and creative capabilities of their staff. But accomplishing strategic change in a university is a 'wicked problem' (Rittel and Webber 1973). The problem of how to change is often ill-defined and ambiguous, it is usually contested, and it is typically associated with strong moral, political, ideological and professional opinions and values (Richie 2011). Trying to bring about significant change in a university can be a messy and emotional business.
Drawing on a recent study of how a university attempted to engage with this challenge through a three year strategic change programme (Jackson in press), the presentation will try to provide some insights into the process, practice and results of bottom-up innovation in a university engaged in strategic change. A combination of determined and consistent leadership, facilitative management and additional resources, attracted and empowered teachers (faculty) and service providers to engage in innovation aligned to a vision that people could interpret and embody in their own practice. Most innovators encountered difficulties as they interacted with existing procedures or systems. Resolving these points of conflict, what Holland and Lave (2009) call 'local contentious practice', is important in accomplishing strategic change. But tinkering with institutional systems is not enough to bring about significant strategic change - new business systems and processes may need to be put in place in order to achieve and sustain strategic ambition.
From this study over twenty factors were identified as being important to the innovators when trying to accomplish significant change in a university. At the organisational level, these factors are subsumed within an overarching set of eleven factors that seem to be important in accomplishing strategic change in which the emergence of bottom-up innovation is a desirable objective. The key question: are these factors generalisable to other educational/cultural contexts?
References
Christensen, C. M. and Eyring, H.J. (2011) The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out. Jossey-Bass: San Fancisco
Holland, D. and Lave, J. (2009) Social practice theory and the historical production of persons. Actio: An International Journal of Human Activity Theory No. 2:1-15.
Jackson, N. J. (in press) The Wicked Challenge of Accomplishing Strategic Change in a University(Working Title) to be published by Authorhouse.
Rittel, H., and M. Webber (1973) Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. Policy Sciences, Vol. 4, 155-169
TEACHING SESSION
The presentation will introduce ideas about organisational change and innovation and present the results of research into how a university accomplished strategic change and innovation of its educational practices. Discussion will focus on the relevance of these ideas for Chinese universities.
POWER POINT SLIDES with explanatory notes
Universities are inherently conservative and risk averse when it comes to changing what they do, 'yet to play its indispensible function in the new competitive environment, the typical university must change more quickly and more fundamentally than it has been doing' (Christensen and Eyring 2011: xxiii). In order to change universities need to stimulate, harness and focus the collective imaginations, energies and creative capabilities of their staff. But accomplishing strategic change in a university is a 'wicked problem' (Rittel and Webber 1973). The problem of how to change is often ill-defined and ambiguous, it is usually contested, and it is typically associated with strong moral, political, ideological and professional opinions and values (Richie 2011). Trying to bring about significant change in a university can be a messy and emotional business.
Drawing on a recent study of how a university attempted to engage with this challenge through a three year strategic change programme (Jackson in press), the presentation will try to provide some insights into the process, practice and results of bottom-up innovation in a university engaged in strategic change. A combination of determined and consistent leadership, facilitative management and additional resources, attracted and empowered teachers (faculty) and service providers to engage in innovation aligned to a vision that people could interpret and embody in their own practice. Most innovators encountered difficulties as they interacted with existing procedures or systems. Resolving these points of conflict, what Holland and Lave (2009) call 'local contentious practice', is important in accomplishing strategic change. But tinkering with institutional systems is not enough to bring about significant strategic change - new business systems and processes may need to be put in place in order to achieve and sustain strategic ambition.
From this study over twenty factors were identified as being important to the innovators when trying to accomplish significant change in a university. At the organisational level, these factors are subsumed within an overarching set of eleven factors that seem to be important in accomplishing strategic change in which the emergence of bottom-up innovation is a desirable objective. The key question: are these factors generalisable to other educational/cultural contexts?
References
Christensen, C. M. and Eyring, H.J. (2011) The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out. Jossey-Bass: San Fancisco
Holland, D. and Lave, J. (2009) Social practice theory and the historical production of persons. Actio: An International Journal of Human Activity Theory No. 2:1-15.
Jackson, N. J. (in press) The Wicked Challenge of Accomplishing Strategic Change in a University(Working Title) to be published by Authorhouse.
Rittel, H., and M. Webber (1973) Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. Policy Sciences, Vol. 4, 155-169
TEACHING SESSION
The presentation will introduce ideas about organisational change and innovation and present the results of research into how a university accomplished strategic change and innovation of its educational practices. Discussion will focus on the relevance of these ideas for Chinese universities.
POWER POINT SLIDES with explanatory notes
changing_a_university.pptx | |
File Size: | 13065 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Background Paper
'The Wicked Challenge of Changing a University' : Tales of Bottom-up Innovation Supporting or Encouraging Strategic Change
'The Wicked Challenge of Changing a University' : Tales of Bottom-up Innovation Supporting or Encouraging Strategic Change
the_wicked_problem_of_changing_a_university.pdf | |
File Size: | 2475 kb |
File Type: |