Practice-based learning in higher education: Jostling cultures

Abstract

It has become orthodox now to propose that educational provisions in higher education need to have and embrace practice-based learning. Such a move appears to be prompted by requests from national governments, global agencies such as OECD, professional bodies and industry representatives to address concerns associated with the employability of university graduates. The shift is also often welcomed by students who are seeking to undertake higher education for specific purposes and with particular outcomes in mind. Increasingly it seems that those desired outcomes are associated with specific occupations; programs which are effective at preparing students for their preferred occupations upon graduation are increasingly welcomed by students. Moreover, the provision of practice-based experiences is seen as a key means of assisting that occupational preparation, and also having other benefits associated with readiness for the world of work, including introductions to prospective employers. However, there are others who are concerned that this strong and pervasive focus on occupational specific outcomes is not educationally desirable. Some suggest, it is even a fashion that has perhaps gone too far and too quickly. This sentiment seems to be strongest when the content and focus of programs is dictated by agencies from outside universities and where what they propose does not always seem to be of great educational worth, and not worthy of constituting higher education. This concern also probably reflects another imperative from those outside of universities: i.e. to control what occurs within educational institutions. Certainly, across most countries with advanced industrial economies the focus of government, industry and community interests towards education seems increasingly about controlling what is taught, by whom, and how it is assessed and for what purposes. This exercise is no stranger to those involved in vocational education, now strongly influencing what is occurring within the schooling sector and clearly beginning to shape the expectations, processes, content and preferred outcomes of higher education. So, even some of those educators who are concerned to provide the kinds of experiences that will assist their students enjoyed a smooth transition to their preferred occupation upon graduation, are coming to be concerned that the influence and reach of agencies outside of higher education is increasingly shaping what occurs within it, what is valued, what is seen as being superfluous and a re-prioritisation a share of higher educational goals. Perhaps this shift is an inevitable consequence of mass higher education in which engagement with the state is necessarily expanding and the cost of its provisions are escalating and need to be defrayed in some way.