John O'Neill stated
>Judging by the responses to some of the threads raised on this list, it is
>pretty clear that the role of the education system should be to facilitate
>the development of good citizens who utilise their learning skills (and
>critical thinking skills) productively throughout their lives.
This may be the role being advocated on this list, but it is not a shared
view among the key constitiencies with the education system. As an earlier
writer had suggested, there are different opinions out there about who are
the customers of the education system and it is something calling out for
a good systems model. (One day these lists will have the graphic
capabilities to support such ways of communicating.)
I worked on an industry and education informal taskforce a couple of years
ago, to review issues related to the supply of the "right" kind of
engineers. Many of the industrial folks clearly saw themselves as the true
customers of the education system. Thus, they felt they had the right to
review the outputs and processes of the education system.
The academic folks politely pointed out that the actual customers of the
system are the students and the people paying the bills are typically the
parents. There was also the inevitable discussions about whether the role
of education was to "educate" or "train" and how they were not preparing
people to fill a specific job.
The key "ah-ah" for me, and one that a system model would nicely show, was
how much the faculty relied on academic-type materials (textbooks etc.) to
build their courses. In contrast to how many training folks develop their
own materials or source them from non-academic sources. Also, how some
professors had a vested interest in using textbooks they had authored.
So, even when the academic folks accepted that the engineering curriculum
might include more on a behavioral element, such as working in teams, they
immediately wanted a textbook to use. Discussions on the teaching of such
elements was further compounded by the lack of experience in experiential
training techniques, which would naturally lead to using team projects
within the curriculum.
-- Peter A. Smith Orbis Learning Corporation 74363,3637@compuserve.com"Individual learning is a necessary but insufficient force for organizational learning." Argyris, C. & Schon, D.A.