Student Experience Against Teaching Quality and Research Quality

I’m a Professor and I’ve always made sure that I commit strongly to both teaching and research. To me, the two must go together. I am often reminded of the statement from Jo Johnston (brother of Boris Johnson), the former Universities Minister, who outlined that:

Too many universities in England have allowed teaching to become “a poor cousin” to research

He then hit home with the comment that while some academics …”go the extra mile to support students”, there were too many who adopted:

a “disengagement contract”

Jo illustrates his point with:

“I hear this when I talk to worried parents, such as the physics teacher whose son dropped out at the start of year two of a humanities programme at a prestigious London university, having barely set eyes on his tutor.

while:

“Her other son, by contrast, studying engineering at Bristol, saw the system at its best: he was worked off his feet, with plenty…