 |
 |
Thanks Jason, For me, I think Readings’ most substantial point was that because everything is contestable the battle of ideas is not so much about reaching a consensus but learning to work with dissensus. Best John John Lea ________________________________ From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Jason Davies <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 26 January 2018 17:15 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Blog post: The purpose of education? Didn't Foucault say something to the effect that the word 'fascism' is only useful because it's underdefined, and is therefore quite easily moulded to whatever purpose you need? I like Reading's book a lot (great paragraph somewhere in there about everyone describing themselves as excellent using identical language) but my memory of it is that he recommended universities be/become/remain places for 'thinking', and he left that just as underdefined as 'excellence' already was even then. Language being made to perform subtly (or drastically) new purposes is surely just language at work: the driving and shaping forces are always going to be values and relevance (not as far apart as they might initially seem to some), which takes us back to Dilly's point that we need to keep contesting the meanings imputed to/imposed on teaching not as guardians of a fixed meaning but as custodians of those values that underpin what has us teach and research in the first place. I'd suggest this isn't about 'settling' anything though. When I started teaching, a friend said 'just remember, more than anything else, you teach what you are'. Academics are what academics do, which (I think) is stop, look and listen more deeply (then poke things gently to see what happens [please translate for your discipline as appropriate]; as long as we are doing that to the metrics and the governance (and the language), there's hope;) Cheers Jason On 26 Jan 2018, at 16:32, Lea, John ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) wrote: “All that the system requires is for activity to take place and the empty notion of excellence refers to nothing other than the optimal input/output ratio in matters of information.” Bill Readings The University in Ruins (p39) An example of this I enjoy contemplating (to see if I can think of any equivalents in education) is how the rail companies in their desire to reach excellence now give trains more time to get to their destinations – so that fewer of them can be deemed late – that’s excellent in one sense and pure nonsense in another. Best John John Lea ________________________________ From: David Roberts <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 26 January 2018 16:13 To: [log in to unmask]; Lea, John ([log in to unmask]) Subject: Re: Blog post: The purpose of education? There's some interesting conundra/conundrums on 'excellence' contained in the attached from Notts Uni. It seems that to be an 'excellent' lecturer, I need to be 'easily contactable outside the classroom', among other things. 'Excellence' now seems to me to be a vapid empty signifier, especially since if everyone achieves excellence (and we are being told to be excellent in everything - research; research bids; personal tuition; engagement and on and on), we would all be the same, or rather, a new normality would have been achieved devoid of excellence, since excellence is presumably defined in relation to mediocrity and normality. It seems like another whip to beat us towards a target that can be neither defined nor achieved - nor readily criticized without imminent censure. It feels a bit like the Cultural Revolution all over again. Dr. David Roberts, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Senior Lecturer in International Relations Loughborough University (Room BE141) [log in to unmask] New publications http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/P3GZXEUw6saJMACuHtwW/full www.davidrobertsconsulting.org<http://www.davidrobertsconsulting.org> www.lboro.academia.edu/DRoberts www.davidrobertsonline.org<http://www.davidrobertsonline.org/> <http://www.davidrobertsonline.org/><https://lb-public.lboro.ac.uk/cgi-bin/personcite?eudr2=cdXXX>https://lb-public.lboro.ac.uk/cgi-bin/personcite?username=eudr2&hits=10 ________________________________ From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Lea, John ([log in to unmask]) <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 26 January 2018 15:52:26 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Blog post: The purpose of education? Or - as often happens when you start using a word as a ruler - once people all become excellent you then have to talk about going `beyond excellence’. Which itself has two meanings: 1: extending the ruler, or 2: deciding not to play that game anymore. Best John John Lea ________________________________ From: Online forum for SEDA, the Staff & Educational Development Association <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Giles I.G. <[log in to unmask]> Sent: 26 January 2018 15:37 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Blog post: The purpose of education? Oh! the inexactitudes of language. In the OED the adjectival use of good has 7 distinct meanings (see below). Hence the importance of everyone understanding what definition is being used in this kind of context. I suspect that politicians would use a different meaning to those subscribing to this list. I also think that we are in danger of creating a new definition of excellence as there is only a single dictionary definition which is (my emphasis): noun [mass noun] the quality of being outstanding or extremely good: awards for excellence | a centre of academic excellence. • [count noun] archaic an outstanding feature or quality. To me this is a binary quality - something is either excellent or it is not - therefore how can excellence be graded? Ian ______________ Dr Ian G. Giles PFHEA Emeritus Professorial Fellow, Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine University of Southampton Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Web: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/staff/igg.page http://about.me/iggiles LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/iggiles "The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled” - Plutarch good | ɡʊd | adjective (better, best) 1 to be desired or approved of: it's good that he's back to his old self | a good quality of life | [as exclamation] : Good! The more people the better! • pleasing and welcome: we've had some good news | it's good to see you again. • showing approval: the play had good reviews. 2 having the required qualities; of a high standard: a good restaurant | his marks are just not good enough. • skilled at doing or dealing with a specified thing: I'm good at crosswords | he was good with children. • healthy, strong, or well: she's not feeling too good. • useful, advantageous, or beneficial in effect: too much sun is not good for you. • appropriate to a particular purpose: this is a good month for planting seeds. • (of language) with correct grammar and pronunciation: she speaks good English. • strictly adhering to or fulfilling all the principles of a particular religion or cause: I am the eldest of five in a good Catholic family. 3 possessing or displaying moral virtue: her father was a good man. • showing kindness: it was good of you to come. • obedient to rules or conventions: accustom the child to being rewarded for good behaviour. • used to address or refer to people in a courteous, patronizing, or ironic way: a man very like your good self, in fact | the good lady of the house. • commanding respect: he was concerned with establishing and maintaining his good name. • belonging or relating to a high social class: he comes from a good family. 4 giving pleasure; enjoyable or satisfying: the streets fill up with people looking for a good time. • pleasant to look at; attractive: you're looking pretty good. • (of clothes) smart and suitable for formal wear: he went upstairs to change out of his good suit. 5 [attributive] thorough: now is the time to have a really good clear-up | have a good look around. • used to emphasize that a number is at least as great as one claims: they're a good twenty years younger. • used to emphasize a following adjective or adverb: we had a good long hug | it'll be good and dark by then. • fairly large in number, amount, or size: the match attracted a good crowd | there's a good chance that we may be able to help. 6 (usually good for) valid: the ticket is good for travel from May to September. • likely to provide: she's always good for a laugh. • sufficient to pay for: his money was good for a bottle of whisky. 7 used in conjunction with the name of God or a related expression as an exclamation of extreme surprise or anger: good heavens! On 26 Jan 2018, at 13:20, Fung, Dilly <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Interesting that you see a sense of positivism in the notion of 'good', Nick - for me it's quite the opposite. Good for me implies morally right (see dictionary definition), not by any means something that's in principle scientifically 'provable'. And of course the definition of good is specific to a given culture and time. I tried to make that point in my blog post but perhaps not very clearly - difficult with such a limited number of words. But yes, shared sense-making is absolutely what I have in mind here - once you orientate towards values, there's no other way. In my book I write about ongoing shared dialogue for exactly that reason. All the best Dilly Prof Dilly Fung PFHEA FRSA Professor of Higher Education Development Academic Director Arena Centre for Research-based Education University College London [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> @DevonDilly PA: Sonale Karadia [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Tel: 0203 108 6463 (ext 56463) 10th floor, 1-19 Torrington Place London WC1E 7HB -- Dr Jason P Davies Senior Teaching Fellow (Tuesday-Friday) UCL Arena Centre for Research-Based Education<www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/about-us/arena-centre> (formerly CALT) 10th Floor, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 7HB @JasonPtrDavies<https://twitter.com/JasonPtrDavies> Visit the UCL Teaching and Learning Portal<www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning> [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/sites/teaching-learning/files/styles/non_responsive/public/migrated-images/arena_1.jpg?itok=7BDobgEP]<https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/professional-development>