New times demand new approaches to higher education.
Today’s world is starkly different from the one for which our colleges and universities were created. No longer are colleges and universities the sole keepers and disseminators of knowledge. No longer is single-disciplinary specialization adequate intellectual preparation for the complex world of today. No longer are lectures by experts considered the sole or best means for learning.
The pressures of the moment — the disruption of COVID-19, the impacts of systemic racism, challenges to traditional learning environments, runaway student debt, changing business models, redefined demographics in the recruitment of domestic and international students, and pressures of costs and technology — are calling into question the value of higher education.
How can higher educational models be updated to meet the needs of today’s students?
This is an opportunity for real change. Stopgap and piecemeal solutions, transitioning technological platforms, or new structures built on old thinking are not enough. What is needed is reimagining higher education from the ground up.
The challenge of making change.
Innovation that produces real change involves three interconnected steps:
Defining what is most important
Experimenting with new ideas and approaches
Reflecting on what is most effective
The capacity to execute change effectively can be limited by hidden assumptions. When it comes to education, such assumptions are particularly challenging to distinguish, requiring more than academic disciplinary training to access. Undertaking a successful change initiative — whether on the level of a small group, department, program or institution — requires courage and tenacity from educators to engage in conversation, experimentation and reflection to realize and work through such assumptions.
Click here to learn more about undertaking successful change initiatives.
New visions for learning.
Higher education can provide new opportunities for students to learn how to navigate a world of increasing complexity, interconnectedness, and rapid change. Such learning requires more than passive content-exposure. Today’s students need to be actively immersed into inquiries, work to solve problems, engage in discovery, refine approaches, and take ownership of projects. Learners today need a learner-centered approach to higher education.
What steps can I take?
If you are an educator seeking to undertake change in your institution, Reimagining Higher Ed can help. Click here to learn more about the kinds of support available to higher educational innovators.