Higher Education As A Catalyst For Change
Let’s be the change we want to see in the world
The current problems that society finds itself in are unique, and many of us do not know where to begin to solve them. Many industries are being forced into digital transformation at the risk of perishing from existence. The move to digital was always supposed to be one that helps our lives become efficient, and now it has become a lifeline for many organizations. Journalists are paying attention to this and are eagerly writing articles predicting wholesale changes to society. Certain industries will never be the same and some will not survive to see how this pandemic ends.
Higher education has found itself in the crosshairs of these journalists around the country who are eagerly writing articles that predict their fall. Although I cannot argue that higher education is indeed going through a tough time, I fear too many of these arguments can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Universities are a part of an industry that includes many writers and a consistent audience of readers and given the state of social media plenty of people who are willing to share these articles. My LinkedIn feed has been consumed with many of these predictions, insights, and overall gloomy outlooks on an industry that has profoundly changed the lives of many around the world for centuries. Have universities lost their touch? Is higher education done for? Will higher education ever recover? According to many of the articles I’ve read, the answers do not bode well for the academy.
Times are tough, but it is disingenuous for these articles to frame their argument as if higher education has never gone through something like this. An institution that dates back thousands of years has a lot of reference points to glean information from. This is not the first nor even the second pandemic that universities have had to weather, and thanks to digital tools they are better prepared than ever to handle this adversity. Digital learning is not just a lifeline for universities but presents a new frontier to expand the knowledge and opportunity that comes from humans sharing information and creating new knowledge in the process.
Constructing new knowledge is what will save not only higher education but also will help us find the vaccine for Covid-19. As a learning designer, I’ve always been drawn by the educational theory of constructivism. The basic tenant of constructivism is that humans learn new knowledge by building on the foundation of previously learned experiences. I often like to think of this theory as a blend of behaviorism, cognitivism, and sociology. Learning is inherently a social activity, but it is also a unique experience for each of us because we all have our past experiences that inform how we take in new information. At the heart of this theory is that creation is much more important than remembering. Although this theory dates back to the 60’s-70’s, education is still built greatly on the foundation of behaviorism. We measure course completions, degrees conferred, and even intelligence on someone’s ability to answer questions that already have a predetermined correct answer.
What happens if a question doesn’t have an answer yet? Like how do we solve climate change? How can we fix race relations around the globe? What is the cure for Covid-19?
These are the sort of tough questions we should be exposing students to because our ability to learn is not about solving questions that have answers, but rather questions we do not yet know the answer to. Higher education is the perfect lab to allow for this sort of experimentation. Universities have always been a vehicle for human progress and innovation. Some might even argue that’s at the core. However, over the years the focus has been on the experience of students outside of the classroom, with high octane sports, student clubs, and facilities that make even 5-star resorts jealous. Remembering my own college experience, I would learn much more from the conversation outside of the classroom with my peers than that of the conversation in the classroom. This is because classroom time is still built on the lecture model, which to be frank, is the worst possible way to learn. That is not to say that I didn’t have profound conversations in the classroom, it just wasn’t the norm.
The job of faculty and higher education, in general, is not to make sure its students know the same information that they do, but rather that they inspire students to create their unique path. As we are witnessing in the current economy, many jobs are being transformed and new ones are created every day. Higher education cannot fill these vacancies by thinking of majors traditionally, nor can it disregard the liberal arts as if the end game of creating new knowledge is strictly monetary. The student experience should be challenging, and every person who goes through the ivory tower should be fundamentally transformed by the time their tenure in higher education ends.
We are going through constant change and at times it feels unsettling, but universities should be precisely the type of organization that thrives at this moment, as engines of progress. As much as technology will play a part in the solution, so does upgrading the methods in which we deliver education. Constructivism allows us to measure learning differently than we did before. Contrary to the many articles being published that question higher education’s purpose, the current lack of answers to our current state proves that we need these institutions. Will some institutions cease to exist? Of course, but that happens in every industry and the vast majority of universities that remain will be transformative places that provide answers to some of our most troubling questions.
Change is always an opportunity for those with an open mind to create something new.
