The Marketisation of Higher Education - Report Example

SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION By of the of the School Introduction Sometime back,Britain was at the top of the world in education and technology, and it is still capable of doing it once more. It only needs to follow some fundamental rules and guidelines to revamp its education system in such a manner that it nurtures and sustains the innate genius which lies in its nation’s youth. The basic challenges or problems facing the British education system are well known to all and they lies in the fact that there is no common education system, but a dual system of education which allows for inequality (Harris, 19). Simply put, the education system of the Britain is not working; it has experienced several challenges over the years. The antagonism between the supporters of the Comprehensive Schools and of the Grammar Schools split the country in the 1970s. The complete abolition of the tripartite system for an egalitarian system has led to a more profound dualism between private schools and public schools (Miliband, 12). The root of challenges or problems of education system in England is the social importance of the fee-paying private schools that constitute only 6 percent of all schools. A good number of middle-class parents have doubted the efficiency of the Comprehensive Schools and have tried all costs to enrol their children at Public schools (Knudsen, 61). The English education system has faced challenges such as collapsed discipline. England stands before an educational abyss as soft and useless subjects are replacing the hard sciences that are of value to Britain, trendy teaching methods are failing, employers are complaining that graduates are not able to spell, exams have been dumped down and poor students have been hit hardest by the abolition of grants and the introduction of fees in universities (Sunal, 72). The paper critically discusses the historical and social factors that influence the current challenges of the English education system in reference to the following three topics: Education policy - Globalisation and Education; Revisiting the purpose of higher education. Marketization of higher education Marketization of higher education has greatly influenced the current challenges of the English education system; in fact, it has greatly increased the challenges. Staff that work in UK universities took days of industrial action and are currently not working for more than their contracted hours. They are also not carrying out any voluntary duties. The industrial action was about pay that has plummeted by close to 13 percent in real terms since October 2008. Even though pay is a significant driver, the profound deep-seated unhappiness that numerous staff now feels has been created by more than simply falling real-term rates of pay (Maringe, & Gibbs, 158). The greatest challenge brought about by marketization of higher education that the staff has experienced over the years is unmanageably high workloads, anxiety or stress and insecurity. Numerous College and School Union (UCU) members narrate working a 45 hour week, then using most nights and weekends working at home. The pressure experienced by such staff is to excel at teaching, production of research that is seen as internationally excellent, answer all correspondence effectively, help the university get money through grant applications and fundraising, and be always accessible to ever-increasing numbers of students (Molesworth et al 128). Numerous staff has said that their working lives have basically changed subsequent to the government’s introduction of a policy advocating all-out drive to make a market in advanced or higher education. The government’s choice, to take away the teaching grant and lifting the cap on tuition fees for all students except STEM courses, has been a gigantic game-changer for the staff. Marketization of higher education has influenced the English education system in the fact that there has been increased amount of teaching hours, deteriorating quality of learning facilities and buildings as well as ranking in the National Student Satisfaction Survey (Maringe, & Gibbs, 158). Additionally, the staff has been overwhelmed with the ever-increasing workload which has affected their morale. The staff is less motivated since they have been told that there is insufficient money or funds to reward their hard work. The members of the UNISON, University and College Union and UNITE voted to strike because they were offered a mere 1 percent pay rise. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association maintains that money is not sufficient for higher pay rise as it claims that universities should maintain a buffer of surpluses that are currently low. Without a doubt, colleges are selecting other needs - most obviously senior staff and buildings at the expense of other people. It is impossible to measure building expenditures however staff members report building work is pervasive on campus. Obviously, new facilities and buildings will help to draw in students however the quality of education is not guaranteed (Maringe, & Gibbs, 118). Benefits and pay of university leaders are on sturdy upward trajectory, Vice Chancellors’ pay is on a constant rise while junior research, support and administrative staff are on poorly paid contracts. Many employees are paid by UK universities an amount that is below living wage. This alongside insecure contracts is prevalent amongst teaching staff who are less motivated as they are also denied paid holiday. This has worsened the challenges faced by higher education in the UK. Many staff is not motivated at all, and they report a grave concern regarding the future of higher education in the UK. A commonly held belief that UK’s world-leading education system is slowly being turned into a “sausage factory” of graduates (Molesworth et al. 78). Revisiting the purpose of higher education Higher education in England is being offered by numerous types of institutions. Together with the traditional roles of research and teaching, provision of higher education offers a significant contribution to the nations economic and social advancement. Through the endeavors of higher education institutions, information and knowledge is built up upon and imparted, innovation and venture are enabled, and skills are created and social mobility (Mazzarol & Soutar, 150). The basic purposes of higher education are to empower individuals to create their abilities and satisfy their potential, both individually and at work; to advance information and understanding through research and teaching; and to contribute to culturally diverse and economically successful nation. According to Noel Entwistle, The purpose of higher education should go beyond just acquisition of skills and knowledge that are demanded by current society and employment to the acquisition of a personal conceptual understanding of the key ideas as well as ways of thinking in their respective areas of study in order to experience learning that last (Hernon et al Hernon, 250). By doing so, the graduates will be able to be flexible in applying skills, knowledge and understanding that will be vital at a time of rapid changes as well as super complexity in handling emerging issues and new problems. This will help Britain to lead the world once more in education and technology by solving the educational abyss that is seeing the hard sciences that are of value to Britain being replaced by soft and useless subjects. In addition, it will help the trendy teaching methods to succeed, and employers will not be complaining that graduates are not able to spell (Mazzarol & Soutar, 112). Revisiting the purpose of higher education ensures the development of courses and programs “that set a broad agenda from the start, highlighting the ways of thinking and practicing that are required, and introducing broad questions as ‘through lines’ that keep students focused on the importance of reaching understanding for themselves.” (Mazzarol & Soutar, 150) Learning should be much more than just mastery of material and information in a rote and deterministic way as encouraged by the old curricular. This form of learning was encouraged by curricular constraints as there is so much material to be covered but little time for the learning process. Revisiting the purpose of higher education will make sure that the learning material is evenly equated to time to ensure proper understanding of the material. It will tackle challenges of education system by proposing a teaching mechanism that will help students to acquire a personal conceptual understanding. This should not mean that the students will not interpret the learning material as they see fit but rather by giving them the chance to make the learning material on their own, keeping it where they can easily access it and organizing it in a manner that it valuable connects with what else they understand (Hernon et al. Hernon,250). English education system is living in old buildings that should be redesigned and modernized to regain its initial status globally. Therefore, most of their courses as well as the curricula need to be redesigned and reconstructed, lest they are destructed and rebuilt. In further cases, it implies massive retrofitting if what UK students are taught is to serve them well in many decades to come. Education policy - Globalisation and Education Most of the challenges of the English education system have been brought about by its education policies as well as globalization (Shields, 258). These challenges include collapsed discipline, replacement of the hard sciences that are of value to Britain with soft and useless subjects, failing trendy teaching methods, exams have been dumbed down, employers are complaining that graduates are not able to spell, and poor students have been hit hardest by the abolition of grants or funding and fees introduction in universities. The nation is, therefore, standing before an educational abyss as this has greatly affected its global competitiveness (Dale & Robertson, 182). The country has over the years experienced increased global competition from both developing and developed nations that have increasingly prioritised research. Additionally, such nations have prioritised higher education in a bid to create more skilled workforces to stimulate socio-economic flexibility and mobility and bolster their economic competitiveness. The UK now produces fewer papers that both China and the US, an indicator that it could be falling behind. In addition, there has been fast growth in research from nations that are not members of G-8 (Dale & Robertson, 182). The nation’s share of global publications has been on a constant fall since 1999 and in 2008, it was less than 8 percent. Many England competitors have prioritised government spending to support the entire education system and particularly the higher education and research. For instance, France and the US have decided to use stimulus packages to support their leading universities to strengthen their long-term economic growth (Shields, 258). Over the year, England has endeavoured to redesign its educational policies to pull it back from the brink. Such policies included the restoration of discipline by the use of corporal punishment, traditional teaching methods, uniforms and stricter exams (Shields, 258). There is also the reintroduction of the teaching of old-fashioned mathematic skills that ensure practical application to student’s everyday life. In order to tackle the challenge or problem of the replacement of the hard sciences that are of value to Britain with soft and useless subjects so as to be competitive globally, the nation has abolished fees and restored full grants to university students. This has enabled them to study proper subjects and not the fake social sciences. Furthermore, the government has introduced a compulsory Community Award Scheme to teach all school-levers work ethics and community and social values. There is also a policy that requires the use of global perspectives on education so as to provide a logical extension for the nation’s need to extend educational partnerships and collaborations to another level (Dale & Robertson, 182). With these policies to rescue the country’s educational system, England will be great once again as it will be in a position to overcome the problems or challenges. Conclusion English education system experiences many challenges such as collapsed discipline, replacement of the hard sciences that are of value to Britain with soft and useless subjects, failing trendy teaching methods, exams have been dumbed down, employers are complaining that graduates are not able to spell, and poor students have been hit hardest by the abolition of grants and the introduction of fees in universities. These challenges have been influenced by factors such as education policies, marketization of higher education and revisiting of purposes of higher education. References Harris, A. (2006). Improving schools in exceptionally challenging circumstances: tales from the frontline. London, Continuum. 19 Knudsen, H. V. (2008). Secondary education issues and challenges. New York, Nova Science Publishers. Miliband, D. (1991). Markets, politics and education: beyond the Education Reform Act. London, Institute for Public Policy Research. Sunal, Cynthia S, and Kagendo Mutua. (2008). Undertaking Educational Challenges in the 21st Century: Research from the Field. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub. Molesworth, M., Nixon, E., & Scullion, R. (2011). The marketisation of higher education: the student as consumer. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge. Maringe, F., & Gibbs, P. (2009). Marketing higher education: theory and practice. Maidenhead, Open University Press. Hernon, P., Dugan, R. E., & Schwartz, C. 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