Speaking of universities / Stefan Collini.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collini, Stefan, 1947- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education, Higher--Aims and objectives.

Education, Higher.

Education, Higher--Economic aspects.

Education and globalization.

Business and education.

Educational accountability.

Physical Description:

296 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Verso, 2017.

Summary:

"A devastating analysis of what is happening to our universities In recent decades there has been an immense global surge in the numbers both of universities and of students. In the UK alone there are now over 140 institutions teaching more subjects to nearly 2.5 million students. New technology offers new ways of learning and teaching. Globalization forces institutions to consider a new economic horizon. At the same time governments have systematically imposed new procedures regulating funding, governance, and assessment. Universities are being forced to behave more like business enterprises in a commercial marketplace than centres of learning. In Speaking of Universities, historian and critic Stefan Collini analyses these changes and challenges the assumptions of policy-makers and commentators. He asks: does 'marketization' threaten to destroy what we most value about education; does this new era of 'accountability' distort what it purports to measure; and who does the modern university belong to? Responding to recent policies and their underlying ideology, the book is a call to 'focus on what is actually happening and the cliches behind which it hides; an incitement to think again, think more clearly, and then to press for something better'"-- Provided by publisher.

"In recent decades there has been an immense global surge in the numbers both of universities and of students. In the UK alone there are now over 140 institutions teaching more subjects to nearly 2.5 million students. New technology offers new ways of learning and teaching. Globalisation forces institutions to consider a new economic horizon. At the same governments have systematically imposed new procedures regulating funding, governance, and assessment. Universities are being forced to behave more like business enterprises in a commercial marketplace than centres of learning. In Speaking of Universities, historian and critic Stefan Collini analyses these changes and challenges the assumptions of policy-makers and commentators. He asks: does 'marketisation' threaten to destroy what we most value about education; does this new era of 'accountability' distort what it purports to measure; and who does the modern university 'belong to'? Responding to recent policies and their underlying ideology, the book is a call to 'focus on what is actually happening and the clich behind which it hides; an incitement to think again, think more clearly, and then to press for something better'"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Analyses

1 What's Happening to Universities? Historical and Comparative Perspectives 15

2 Measuring Up: Universities and 'Accountability' 36

3 Reading the Ruins: Criticism and 'the Idea of the University' 61

Part II Critiques

4 From Robbins to McKinsey: The Changing Policy Framework 91

5 Sold Out: Privatizing Higher Education 119

6 Higher Purchase: The Student as Consumer 155

Part III Occasions

7 The 'English Problem' and the Scottish Solution 179

8 Public Higher Education: An Undefensive Defence 193

9 Speaking Out: Strategies and their Publics 206

10 The Future of the Humanities 222

11 Who Does the University Belong To? 231.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 288-296).

ISBN:

9781786631398

1786631393

OCLC:

967337176