Can business schools increase student employability by embedding action learning into undergraduate management education? An account of practice

ABSTRACT

Management education is at a pivotal crossroads. In an increasingly globalized world, where change is the only constant, business school graduates leaving university are faced with ever intensifying competition and complexity. Universities have responded by increasing their emphasis on teaching ‘employability skills’ to graduates. However, undergraduate management curricula still often focus on Programmed Knowledge, which does not adequately prepare graduates for the labour market to which they will inevitably graduate. A Future Search exercise was implemented to help conceptualize new visions of the future of management education, considering the question ‘to what extent does management education impact on management practice?’ This paper asserts that integrating Questioning Insight and a scholarly practice approach into management education will better equip graduates for the world of work. The authors utilize Kotter’s 8-stage model of change to outline a pathway for change and action for business schools to adapt a scholarly practice approach to education into their curricula.     

Preparation of the youth for the world of work: The effectiveness of programmes linking education with production in the commonwealth Caribbean

In the wake of rising youth unemployment, Third World countries have been urged to diversify their schools' curricula by introducing programmes that link education with production (EWP) in an effort to prepare the youth more effectively for the working world. This study presents a typology of EWP programmes in the Commonwealth Caribbean and examines the extent to which they have achieved their stated objectives. Although programmes in the nonformal education system appear more effective in achieving economic objectives, the author advises against a rejection of EWP programmes in the formal system and draws attention to the plight of vast numbers of youths who do not have access to such programmes.     

Influence of teacher preparation programmes on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion

With the increased implementation of inclusive education, teacher educators have been challenged to make changes in programmes to prepare preservice teachers to educate diverse learners. These changes are reflected in various types of teacher preparation programmes that are transformations of traditional general education and special education programmes. However, little is known about the ways in which these transformed teacher preparation programmes influence preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education as future inclusive educators. To investigate the influence of teacher preparation programmes on preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion, a survey method was used to collect data from preservice teachers in ten teacher preparation programmes. The responses from 110 preservice teachers were analysed according to the type of teacher preparation programme (i.e. combined, separate, or general teacher preparation programmes). The results indicated that preservice teachers from combined teacher preparation programmes in which general education and special education teacher preparation curricula were infused had significantly more positive attitudes toward inclusion than preservice teachers from separate programmes (p < 0.05). The implications of this study for practice and future research are discussed.     

The African renaissance and the transformation of the higher education curriculum in South Africa

The curriculum is a critical element in the transformation of higher education, and as a result, I argue for the inclusion of what I refer to as an African epistemic in higher education curricula in South Africa. In so doing, attention is directed at the decolonisation of the curriculum in higher education in South Africa, which aims to give indigenous African knowledge systems their rightful place as equally valid ways of knowing among the array of knowledge systems in the world. In developing my argument, I maintain that a critical questioning of the knowledge included in higher education curricula in South Africa should be taken up in what I call transformative education discourses that examine the sources of the knowledge that inform what is imposed on or prescribed for curricula in higher education in South Africa, and how these higher educational curricula are implicated in the universalisation of Western and European experiences.     

The agendas of distance teaching universities: Moving from the margins to the center stage of higher education

Full-fledged distance teaching universities (DTUS), that have been established since the early 1970s in various parts of the world, were perceived by many of their conventional counterparts as unique institutions, assigned with special tasks outside the realm of mainstream higher education. The major thrust of this paper is to examine from a comparative perspective to what extent have the agendas of the DTUs in the last two decades moved from the margins to the center stage of higher education, in relation to: reaching out to diverse student clienteles; professional upgrading; flexible curricula and academic programs; focusing on teaching; harnessing advanced technology to the service of higher education; managing large-scale universities; designing extensive support systems; and globalization and collaboration in higher education. DTUs can be viewed from many respects as forerunners in facing and dealing with challenges that confront higher education systems all around the globe. Nowadays, the boundaries between distance and campus universities are in a continuous process of blurring and convergence, and it is likely that the future interrelations between them will be marked both by a growing competition and a growing cooperation.     

Tensions and paradoxes in teaching: implications for teacher education

This paper focuses on the tensions and paradoxes in teaching. At present time, teacher education has the obligation to prepare teachers for diverse student populations, living in a highly varied context. This situation creates several competing expectations of the meaning of teacher education. For instance, preparing for professional autonomy in a world of externally imposed educational policy. The tension between achieving immediate results and success in external exams versus the need to prepare students in an era of migration and growing multiculturalism in school contexts is addressed. It is argued that a common knowledge base is a necessary response to growing multiculturalism while simultaneously leaving space in the curriculum for multicultural aspects of the student population. These double requirements have implications for teacher education which are discussed in the last section of the paper.     

从国际比较的角度看我国高等职业教育体系

高职体系的建立与完善对其发展和变革而言至关重要，围绕这个问题出现了体系之争，其焦点是：本科层次的高职要不要发展及如何发展。从综合分析及国际比较的结果来看，可以得出以下结论和启示：本科层次高职是必不可少的；课程框架不应当是普通高等教育加加减减的结果；要以课程为核心，以标准来衡量办学层次。允许机构多样化。     

Pre-vocational education in the curriculum: the case of Norwegian lower secondary education

This article investigates the composition of the Norwegian lower secondary school curriculum with a special emphasis on pre-vocational education from a contemporary perspective. The data consist of four official national curricula enacted from the 1970s until the present. Despite differences between the curricula, the main structure of school subjects has remained stable over time. Norwegian lower secondary school curricula mainly include academic subjects, even though pre-vocational education is, to varying degrees, present in all curricula, especially amongst elective subjects. This consolidated position of academic subjects results in a consistency in the composition of the curriculum. Curriculum change is most likely to happen amongst electives and is related to changes in policy making and societal changes. Pre-vocational education is mainly included in the first and current curriculum contrary to the second and third curriculum. These findings indicate that the international policy agenda and its emphasis on the relevance of education through stressing the linkage between education and the world of work only has a minor impact on Norwegian curricula. Further, the allocation of teaching hours shows that the status of pre-vocational subjects is low compared to that of academic subjects. International policies emphasizing basic skills strengthen the academic subjects even further.     

Facing an uncertain future: curricula of dualities

This article considers how best to conceptualise higher education curricula in a world marked by uncertainty, where knowledge and the foundations of knowledge are strongly contested. We then draw on conceptions of agency that derive from socio-cultural theorising to consider what ‘tools’ for thinking and practising individuals may need to deploy if they are to engage with a fast-changing world. The article highlights the large challenges that students may face in developing the forms of being and the orientations to knowledge associated with an age of supercomplexity. The concluding section, Curricula of dualities, addresses the question of how best to achieve curricula and pedagogic practices in higher education that may enable students to embark on an open-ended journey from their present ways of knowing and being. We contend that curricula for an age of uncertainty can be productively conceptualised in terms of pairs of contrasting elements that are in creative tension, e.g. play and discipline, support and challenge. Conceptualising curricula in such a way allows students’ present circumstances and orientations and their possible futures to stay in central focus.     

Anatomy education faces challenges in Pakistan

Anatomy education in Pakistan is facing many of the same challenges as in other parts of the world. Roughly, a decade ago, all medical and dental colleges in Pakistan emphasized anatomy as a core basic discipline within a traditional medical science curriculum. Now institutions are adopting problem based learning (PBL) teaching philosophies, and since medical colleges in Pakistan first introduced PBL curricula that expose the basic sciences primarily in clinical contexts, the methods and extent of anatomy teaching have been topics of much debate. Many claim that PBL curricula dilute basic science education, especially anatomy. At the same time, classically trained faculty members with PhD in anatomy have become nearly extinct in Pakistan, with only four working in country. A third challenge currently facing anatomy education in Pakistan, as in many parts of the world, is an unavailability of cadavers for dissection. As more institutions adopt PBL curricula, as PhD anatomists are harder to find, and as cadavers for dissection become scarce, Pakistan and other countries around the world will have to seriously consider how they will sustain adequate anatomy education. Anat Sci Educ 2:193–194, 2009. © 2009 American Association of Anatomists.     

Critical citizenship education in England and France: a comparative analysis

The promotion of ‘critical citizenship’ has become a key objective of official school curricula around the world. Using an analytic framework developed by the authors, this paper identifies the diverse conceptions of critical citizenship that are promoted, by comparing the official school curricula for citizenship in England and France. The analysis goes beyond the dichotomous distinctions prevalent in comparisons of education in the two countries, especially those that focus on the contrasting degrees of centralisation–decentralisation, and suggests that there were significant differences in the goals promoted in their curricula with regard to four key dimensions: ideology, the collective, the individual and action. While these differences reflect historical, political, social, economic and cultural differences between the two nations, the analysis indicates a lack of symmetry across the levels of the curriculum, which contributed to the significant spaces that were found to exist which have the potential for teachers and students to creatively interpret how critical citizenship can be understood and implemented in the classroom.     

Re-inventing ‘Europe’: the case of the European dimension in Greek-Cypriot geography and history curricula

‘Europe’ has been increasingly ‘invented’ and ‘reinvented’ in discussions about education, curricula and identities over the last five decades. The ‘European dimension in education’ was a term increasingly used by the European Union and the Council of Europe to denote their educational policies encouraging national educational systems to endorse a European dimension in order to prepare young people for an increasingly integrated Europe. However, it has also been a contested term in academic writing, as some researchers critique the elitist, exclusionary and Eurocentric educational implications it may have; others welcome its pedagogic and intercultural potential. This article presents the findings of a content analysis of the history and geography curricula and textbooks used in state Greek-Cypriot primary schools and explores the possibilities of using the European dimension as a tool to alleviate ethnocentrism and traditional pedagogies in these curricula and textbooks, by presenting the application of some principles which have been used for the development of a curricular intervention in the two subjects.     

Employability and work-related learning activities in higher education: how strategies differ across academic environments

The focus of this paper is on how academic staff perceive their roles and responsibilities regarding work-related learning, and how they approach and implement work-related learning activities in curricula across academic environments in higher education. The study is based on case studies, including semi-structured interviews and analyses of course syllabuses in two higher education institutions. The results reveal divergent approaches between environments with limited and extensive work-related learning, and we present four different strategies for including work-related learning in curricula: add-on by someone else, add-on about the profession, integration of teaching and learning activities and integration with additional value. These four strategies represent a very diverse understanding of the role of education, ranging from education for academia to education for work outside academia, and contain various perceptions of the roles, types of work-related learning activities and integration in the ordinary curriculum.     

我国电大计划内学历教育均衡发展问题分析——基于我国高等教育大众化以来的研究

国家计划内学历教育是电大三大教育的组成部分之一,其中的统招专科和专升本教育是电大高等教育的重要组成部分。高等教育大众化以来,统招专科、专升本教育以及中等专业水平学历教育招生和在校生规模都有所下降,但变化不均衡,统招专科的学科专业学生数分布一直极不均衡。鉴于大众化阶段对高等教育多元化发展的要求,我国电大计划内学历教育需要作出必要的调整。     

从发展动因的角度谈高职教育"本土化"的课程改革

本文从经济、学校到工作的过渡、受教育者的需求等方面分析目前高职教育的课程设置的不合理性,并从高职教育课程改革层面提出一些具有操作性的建议,目的就是要让高职教育下的学习者更好地理解工作世界的结构和要求,适应千变万化的职场。     

Collaborative Tutor Development: Enabling a Transformative Paradigm in a South African University

Transformation policies in South Africa have seen higher education come under increasing pressure to broaden participation from historically under‐represented groups. This article focuses on the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, as a newly merged institution that is in the process of transforming from a formerly segregated academic context. Recently, student enrolments have become increasingly diverse in terms of cultural, socio‐economic and linguistic backgrounds, as well as the level of preparedness that students have for traditional higher education programs. These diverse backgrounds and levels of preparedness place unique expectations on lecturers and peer tutors. Furthermore, tutorial systems have come to play an increasingly pivotal role in student learning. The researchers argue that without incorporating tutor development into the mainstream disciplines, peer tutors will not be able to effectively act as facilitators of subject content and discourse. They propose that this research can constitute a model for integrating academic development practice within subject‐specific curricula via tutors. This is realized through a collaborative initiative that enables change.     

Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Transition Countries: Accreditation -- Accountability and Assessment

One issue facing countries in transition concerns how to ensure quality for a broader and more diverse set of institutions. Quality assurance processes (i.e. accreditation, accountability and assessment) have particular relevance today as higher education undergoes dramatic changes in countries in transition, as the world becomes more internationalised, and as private higher education institutions increase in number and enrol increasing numbers of students. Three questions emerge. Do differences among transition countries relative to central control prior to independence explain the current set of quality assurance mechanisms? Has the growth of private higher education in transition countries affected how quality assurance is conceptualised? Have quality assurance mechanisms been affected by the opening of branch campuses in transition countries?     

数学教师专业化与高师数学教育专业课改

数学教师专业化是世界数学教师教育的发展潮流,其内涵包括:数学教师数学专业化、数学教师教育专业化和数学教师专业情意.当前高师数学教育在课程设置上不适应数学教师专业化要求,改革重点是构建合理的课程体系.     

研究型大学的困境与出路

中国在争创世界一流大学的过程中,在一定程度上是以美国的研究型大学为楷模。但是,高等教育技术革命,教育工程化管理,规模经济和市场扩大使教育市场由零碎型走向集中,非研究型但却是第一流的教学型大学和营利性高等教育的竞争,使美国的研究型大学受到了严峻的挑战。对中国和国际高等教育的大趋势的分析表明,研究型大学与教学型跨国大学(公司)一体化的模式有可能使中国的若干名牌大学既发展成为一流的教学型大学,也显著地增加迈向世界一流的研究型大学的条件。     

Forty years of Finnish pre-school education: the development of curricula between 1972 and 2000

Since 2001 in Finland, all six year olds have had the right to free pre-school education, and almost all pre-school-aged children take advantage of this opportunity. The purpose of this article is to dissect the development of Finnish pre-school education curricula within the societal context and within the changes in trends of curriculum planning between 1972 and 2000. The study analysed five curricula texts through qualitative content analysis by paying attention to the functions of pre-school education and the positioning of children and educators. The development of pre-school education consisted of four phases: (1) the era of pre-school education trials; (2) the era of heterogeneous pre-school education arrangements; (3) the era of changes in curriculum policies; and (4) the era of pre-school education establishment. The results indicated that the changes in pre-school education curricula related to the changes in Finnish society and in basic education.