Universities and civic engagement: a critique and a prospectus

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Universities and civic engagement a
critique and a prospectus Keynote address for
the 2nd biennial Inside-out Conference on the
civic role of universities - Charting
Uncertainty capital, community and
citizenship University of Queensland, Ipswich 3
July 2003 by Sir David Watson University of
Brighton
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Introduction some dilemmas of engagement
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Engagement implies strenuous, thoughtful,
argumentative interaction with the non-university
world in at least four spheres setting
universities aims, purposes and priorities
relating teaching and learning to the wider
world the back-and-forth dialogue between
researchers and practitioners and taking on
wider responsibilities as neighbours and
citizens. (ACU, 2001 i)
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As powerful, cosmopolitan, moral and
intellectual enterprises dedicated to the
betterment of humanity, universities are now
uniquely capable of leading and sustaining a
global social movement to accelerate human
progress towards participatory democratic
schooling systems and participatory democratic
societies. (University of Pennsylvania, 2001)
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The skills of a nations workforce and the
quality of its infrastructure are what makes it
unique and uniquely attractive in the world
economyso important are these public amenities,
in particular the university and the airport,
that their presence would stimulate some
collective analytical effort, even on a parched
desert or frozen tundra. A world class
university and an international airport combine
the basic ingredients of global symbolic
analysis brains and quick access to the rest of
the world. (NCIHE, 1997 190)
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As well as securing our economic future,
learning has a wider contribution. It helps make
ours a civilised society, develops the spiritual
side of our lives and promotes active
citizenship. Learning enables people to play a
full part in their community. It strengthens the
family, the neighbourhood and consequently the
nation. It helps us fulfil our potential and
opens doors to a love of music, art and
literature. That is why we value learning for
its own sake, as well as for the equality of
opportunity it brings. (DfEE, 1998 foreword)
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• conservative and radical
• critical and supportive
• competitive and collegial
• autonomous and accountable
• private and public
• excellent and equal
• entrepreneurial and caring
• certain and provisional
• traditional and innovative
• ceremonial and iconoclastic
• local and international

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Inside-out developments

• epistemology

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Mode 1 and Mode 2

• Pure
• Disciplinary
• Homogeneous
• Expert-led
• Supply-driven
• Hierarchical
• Peer-reviewed
• University-based

• Applied
• Problem-centred
• Transdisciplinary
• Heterogeneous
• Hybrid
• Demand-driven
• Entrepreneurial
• Network-embedded

(Gibbons et al. 1994)
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Inside-out developments

• epistemology

• curriculum

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Source UUK 2002
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Inside-out developments

• epistemology
• curriculum

• the students social sphere

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In their speech, our respondents recognised four
circuits (i) those of student peers (ii) the
intergenerational (iii) that of imagined
abstract others as recipients of state welfare
(iv) and the formal constitutional dimension of
their relationship to state and government.
These circuits were governed by principles such
as fairness, altruism, reciprocity and
responsibility that we will sum up in the more
general term, mutuality. . The moralising of
extended relationships in this manner counters
both the fears of those who believe that the
absence of a language of formal citizenship
indicates privatised withdrawal and those who
would wish to celebrate the primacy of
calculative individualism. (Ahier et al.
2002141)
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Inside-out developments

• epistemology
• curriculum

• the students social sphere

• wider benefits

• new models of capability

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The Information Age Mindset

• Computers arent technology
• Internet better than TV
• Reality no longer real
• Doing rather than knowing
• Nintendo over Logic
• Multitasking a way of life
• Typing rather than handwriting
• Staying connected
• Zero tolerance for delays
• Consumer/Creator blurring

Based on Frand (2000)
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Inside-out developments

• epistemology
• curriculum

• the students social sphere

• wider benefits

• new models of capability

• life-styles

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University of Brighton Student Finance Survey
Source Banks and Winn 2002
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Inside-out developments

• epistemology
• curriculum

• the students social sphere

• wider benefits

• new models of capability

• life-styles

• the academic profession

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Age profile of permanent academic staff
1995 and 2000
Source HEFCE 2002
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Inside-out developments

• epistemology
• curriculum

• the students social sphere

• wider benefits

• new models of capability

• life-styles

• the academic profession

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Outside-in developments

• rival centres of reference

• social polarisation

• educational inflation

• public confidence

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Public attitudes to science and technology UK/US
comparison
1Science and the Public 2000 2NSF science and
engineering indicators 2002
Professor David King Marie Jahoda Lecture 9
October 2002
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Outside-in developments

• rival centres of reference

• social polarisation

• educational inflation

• public confidence

• economic utility

• the rise of the creative class

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The US class structure, 1900-1999
Source Florida 2002
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Outside-in developments

• rival centres of reference

• social polarisation

• educational inflation

• public confidence

• economic utility

• the rise of the creative class

• political controversy

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The global challenge

• ethics

• indigenous development

• intellectual property

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Today when we talk of globally applicable laws,
no national laws, least of all American laws, can
serve as a role model. This is because so far
laws have been made to safeguard national or
local interests. Global laws require fresh
thinking. When the world was Euro-centric, it
was easy to define what was new. If Europe did
not know of it, it did not exist before the
first European to produce metallic zinc could
be granted a patent (1738), but not the inventor
of the telescope 100 years previously, on the
ground that it is evident that several others
have knowledge of its invention. By the same
logic, if the knowledge is available anywhere in
the world today, it should not be possible to
patent it. (Kochhar, 2002)
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The global challenge

• ethics

• indigenous development

• intellectual property

• quality

• global citizenship

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The challenge of engagement

• We need to understand and build on our history.
• We need to be more conscious of the public
  interest in universities, and our obligations to
  maintain and develop it.
• We need to internalise the principles of working
  in partnership.

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Conference themes

• capital human, social and creative

• community

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www.brighton.ac.uk/cupp
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Conference themes

• capital human, social and creative

• community

• citizenship

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The successful 21st century university

• It has to devise an excellent portfolio of
  courses, and teach them well.
• It has to contribute at the highest level in at
  least some aspects of research.
• It has to engage with its community, economically
  and culturally.
• It has to be a comfortable and enjoyable place to
  work for everyone students and staff of all
  kinds.
• It has to be, and be seen to be, ethically and
  environmentally responsible.
• It has to earn and sustain a positive reputation,
  locally, nationally and internationally.
• It has to be able to recruit and to retain good
  students and good staff.
• It has to understand itself, where it has come
  from, what challenges and what opportunities it
  faces, and how to meet these.
• It has progressively to play a part in improving
  the domains in which it works, like education,
  the environment, or health.
• Not least, it has to live through its graduates
  and its external clients, wherever they are and
  whatever they do.

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