Well, that should really be: An afternoon at the University of Bath Court, but ...
I went to the Court meeting, which was informative and lively. I also went to a lecture beforehand with the title:
Empowering Higher Education for a Sustainable Future
Big mistake. I'm used to listening to talks on 'sustainability' that end up being about endurability, usually with a financially focus, but it was novel to go to one that didn't mention sustainability at all. This was a first.
It was organised by the University's International Centre for Higher Education Management, and turned out to be an hour-long advert for what it does. The March winds howled throughout the session, I think, in protest at the format whereby a bunch of academics got 8 minutes each to say very little in as unco-ordinated a way as possible. Given the nature of the audience, this was disappointing to say the least.
Still, it wasn't all a waste of time. There was a student from South Africa, Mukovhe Masutha, who I could have listened to for much more than his allotted time, and I can now share some pearls of wisdom with you about management education. Here they are:
- Hard work is necessary
- Failure to listen is a bit of a problem
- Balance scientific knowledge with practical wisdom
- Reflection and action need to go together
- Have an ethic of care and an ethic of criticism
There! Now you know.
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