The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) are working \"with experts\" (that excludes me) on the development of a new guidance document for higher education providers on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). \u00a0An initial draft looms, it seems, with a\u00a0sector-wide consultation in the autumn, including a national event on November 5th.<\/p>\n
Those who keep up with such matters may wonder why QAAHEA is producing further 'guidance' for institutions, when Hefce (that is, the hard-pressed tax-payer) has already spent over \u00a3200,000 on a 'Guide' to such matters (which also involved QAAHEA, and \"experts\").\u00a0 I guess it\u2019s because the first 'Guide' doesn\u2019t actually offer all that much guidance.\u00a0 Either way, I hope that the new 'guidance' will manage to guide confused readers as to how it differs from the old 'Guide'. \u00a0I am not travelling optimistically, however.<\/p>\n
In a recent mailing about all this, the HEA says:<\/p>\n
This work will form an important contribution to the advancement of ESD in HE as it will be published by QAA and HEA.\u00a0 The intention is to produce practical guidance that can be used by higher education providers wishing to work with students to foster their skills in this area. \u00a0The emphasis is on an outcomes-based framework, which will inform rather than constrain curricula. \u00a0Colleagues should note that this new guidance will not form an explicit part of the Quality Code but rather will sit alongside it, serving an enhancement function.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, we shall see, though the first sentence is not promising: wishful-thinking of a high order, I'd say, and \u00a0hubristic.<\/p>\n
I understand that \"outcomes-based framework\" is code for graduate attributes and work-related skills. \u00a0However, because such things are highly contextual and contingent, they have largely to be developed in<\/em> \/ through<\/em> employment, and they are, in a real sense achieved through the length of a career, not before it begins. \u00a0Thus, what gets done in HE can but be a preparation for this; a foundation which makes sense within the exigencies of the degree and associated experience. \u00a0This is not to belittle what's proposed, just to set some limits.<\/p>\n
The issue, then, is what does such an outcomes-based frame look like when it has to be equally applicable across the disciplines and diverse future jobs, for example:<\/p>\n
Degree \u2013 Company<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n
- Maths \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0RBS<\/span><\/li>\n
- Fine Art \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0Sotherbys<\/span><\/li>\n
- History \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0the Foreign Office<\/span><\/li>\n
- Chem Eng \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0BP<\/span><\/li>\n
- English \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0Mills & Boon<\/span><\/li>\n
- Sociology \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0Barnardos<\/span><\/li>\n
- Psychology \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0JWT<\/span><\/li>\n
- German \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0European Commissiom<\/span><\/li>\n
- Economics \u00a0\u2013 \u00a0Gazprom<\/span><\/li>\n
- etc., etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is quite a challenge, and the outcome surely cannot be generic.<\/p>\n