Shaping the future of higher education. Part I: current status
Since a few weeks ago I’m not working anymore for my previous company, a programming bootcamp based in Madrid. Since then I’ve been deeply thinking and reading and writing about the future of higher education. Because I want to be part of it from now on, for sure. Here I share with you some of the thoughts and experiences, reflections and impulses, I have had these days.
Firstly, we cannot expect the change from tradicional education institutions. I agree somehow with the reasons exposed by Ricard and his “Education Mutiny”. But I think there are more profound reasons. Some higher institutions claim they’re intaking change: they are embracing continuous assessment, they are creating new trendy MOOCs, etc. But, at the end, the main principles that guide their path are the same: authoritarianism and lectures, the teacher’s role is to teach, that is, transmission of knowledge. I bet that the education change/revolution will come from an outsider. The universities have theses principles inherently stuck to their roots, like a parasite is stuck to its victims. To change the paradigm requires to re-construct the principles of the university from their roots, and that’s not an option for many people, from administrators to teachers and other stakeholders. I envision an institution (or a collection of them) leading that change, and gaining supporters in an exponential basis.
Secondly, let’s talk about some of these institutions: bootcamps. They are doing many things the right way. To make the courses more practical is crucial and most of them are succeeding at that point. And to make the courses more related to the working reality, to the needs of the companies, since the tools and processes they taught are those used in these companies. Some of them also took professionals from top-notch companies to taught these tools and processes, and IMO that’s also a plus. These professionals know the tools and processes in a very practical way: they’re using these tools on a daily basis! Another great thing I want to mention is quality and feedback. Bootcamps are listening to their students and acting upon their needs: they do know they are actually their customers and want to keep them very happy.
But they’re still mimicking some of the problems of traditional institutions. To have a closed curriculum is one of them. That means to kick out the students from the center of the learning process. It means that they do know what’s the best for their students and give it to them. They inhibit any kind of election form them, since, “we are the knowledgeable ones, we know better than you do”. They enforce, they do not guide. They use project based learning somehow as a make-up. But they do want to take the upper hand. Its like watching TV: you’re coming to a course with the attitude of receiving, since you paid so much! But the correct attitude is to go and share, and give and teach.
Other flaw of these alternatives is that they just focus in one topic: programming, or design, or digital marketing. But what the good companies are demanding are multidisciplinar professionals. They need to address a much more holistic approach, and achieve a correct balance of several demanded topics. Thus, the students will be able to work properly in a multidisciplinar team such as the self-directed ones described in the SCRUM methodology.
Fortunately there are some institutions that are trying to change the landscape and really putting the students in the center. But let’s discuss this in the next post.
What do you think? Anything to add to the current status of higher ed?
