Brilliant evisceration by #Stefan #Collini of consumerism in higher education & analysis of what’s needed so that #universities can properly play their part (& it’s only a part) in supporting a drive to social equity & justice
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
‘One of the most obvious is between our de facto endorsement of a bitterly class-divided society and our fantasy that universities can not only escape the consequences of this but can positively correct it. We seem, for example, to be willing to allow wealthy parents to buy...
educational advantage for their children up to the age of 18, but then we believe that this advantage can somehow be made to have no consequences for their educational trajectory thereafter....’
‘The truth is that if you say you want more children from deprived areas to be able to go to university, then don’t faff around with entry tariffs: invest in Sure Start centres, preschool groups, subsidised childcare & properly resourced primary schools. Make benefits ....
‘ ...genuinely accessible and life-supporting. Better still, stop whole sections of society being condemned to underpaid, vulnerable, soul-destroying labour while others cream off inordinate wealth from the profits of that labour. ...
‘ ...But don’t kid yourself that the odd bit of “widening access” will in itself provide a magic bullet and thereby allow you, the beneficiary of a rigged competition, to sleep soundly at night.’
‘Then there is the .. less obvious contradiction between consumerism & education. Our HE system is at present structurally consumerist ... The Office for Students is explicitly a “consumer watchdog”’ based on the premise that, ..
... ‘in exchange for payment [consumers] are “entitled” to get what they ask for’.
‘The core experience of life-changing education is almost the exact opposite of this. It involves engaging with what is not us.’
Do read the whole piece - these are just a few extracts. END.
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