Abstract
Universities are at a pivotal point in their history and are undergoing dramatic changes. One of the more significant of these changes is the move towards instrumental programmes of learning, as manifest for instance in workplace and work-based learning. This paper argues that this trend threatens the existence of the liberal university, where knowledge is pursued predominantly for its own sake. The paper identifies four dominant discourses in higher education and suggests that these discourses co-exist with one another, and are sometimes dominant, at other times recessive. It argues that the trend to a post-industrialised labour market has seen the emergence of a vocationalised discourse in higher education, which stresses the instrumental at the expense of the liberal.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arcilla, R. N. 1995. For the Love of Perfection: Richard Rorty and Liberal Education. New York: Routledge.
Ashby, E. 1974. Adapting Universities to a Technological Society. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Barnett, R. 1997. Higher Education: A Critical Business. Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press.
Bengtisson, J. 1993. Labour Markets of the Future. European Journal of Education 28(2): 135–158.
Birch, I. and Smart, D. 1989. Economic Rationalism and the Politics of Education in Australia. Politics of Education Association Yearbook.
Boud, D. and Solomon, N. in press. Work-based Learning: A New Higher Education? Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press.
Brown, P. and Scase, R. 1994. Higher Education and Corporate Realities: Class, Culture and the Decline of Graduate Careers. London: UCL Press.
Brown, P. and Scase, R. 1997. Universities and Employers: Rhetoric and Reality. In: A. Smith and F. Webster, eds., The Postmodern University? Contested Visions of Higher Education in Society. Buckingham: SHRE/Open University.
Castles, S. and Wüstenberg, W. 1979. The Education of the Future: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Socialist Education. London: Pluto Press.
Davies, S. 1989. The Martin Committee and the Binary Policy of Higher Education in Australia. Melbourne: Ashwood House.
Dearing, R. 1997. Higher Education in a Learning Society: The National Committee into Higher Education. London: HMSO.
Dewey, J. 1916/1966. Democracy and Education. New York: Free Press.
Dewey, J. 1977. On Industrial Education. Curriculum Inquiry 7(1): 53–60.
Filmer, P. 1997. Distinterestedness and the Modern University. In: A. Smith and F. Webster, ed., The Postmodern University? Contested Visions of Higher Education in Society. Buckingham: SHRE/Open University.
Fowler, G. 1988. An Overview of Vocational Aspects of Higher Education in Selected Countries. In: H. Silver, ed., Vocational Training in Higher Education. London: Higher Education Institute.
Fryer, R. H. 1997. Learning for the 21st Century. London: HMSO.
Gibbon, M., Limoges, C., Notwotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P. and Trow, M. 1994. The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies. London: Sage.
Hunter, I. 1991. Personality as a Vocation: The Political Rationality of the Humanities. In: I. Hunter, D. Meredyth, B. Smith and G. Stokes, eds., Accounting for the Humanities. Brisbane: ICPS.
Illich, I. 1972. Deschooling Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Kincheloe, J. L. 1995. Toil and Trouble: Good Work, Smart Work and the Integration of Academic and Vocational Education. New York: Peter Lang.
Lewis, T. 1994. Bridging the Liberal/Vocational Divide: An Examination of Recent British and American Versions of an Old Debate. Oxford Review of Education 20(2): 199–217.
Lowe, R. 1990. Education for Industry: The Historical Role of Higher Education in England. In: P. W. G. Wright, ed., Industry and Higher Education: Collaboration to Improve Students' Learning and Teaching. Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press.
Lyotard, J-F. 1984. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Marginson, S. 1995. Markets in Education: A Theoretical Note. Australian Journal of Education 39(3): 294–312.
Marginson, S. 1997. Markets in Education. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Martin, J. R. 1993. Curriculum and the Mirror of Knowledge. In: R. Barrow and P. White, eds., Beyond Liberal Education: Essays in Honour of Paul H. Hirst. London: Routledge.
Mill, J. S. 1867/1971. Inaugural Address at the University of St Andrews. In: F. W. Garforth, ed., John Stuart Mill on Education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Minogue, K. R. 1973. The Concept of a University. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Newman, J. H. C. 1852/1947. The Idea of a University. New York: Longmans, Green and Co.
Peters, M. 1992. Performance and Accountability in “Post-industrial” Society: The Crisis of British Universities. Studies in Higher Education 17(2): 123–139.
Readings, B. 1996. The University in Ruins. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Richardson, J. 1998. More Degree-holders Take Mundane Jobs. The Australian Higher Education, July 29.
Schultz, T. W. 1963. The Economic Value of Education. New York: Columbia University Press.
Silver, H. and Brennan, J. 1988. A Liberal Vocationalism. London: Methuen.
Smyth, J. 1995. Introduction. In: J. Smyth, ed., Academic Work: the Changing Labour Process in Higher Education. Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press.
Symes, C. 1999. Working for Your Future: The Rise of the Vocationalised University. Australian Journal of Education 43(3): 241–256.
West, R. 1998. Learning for Life: Review of Higher Education Financing and Policy. Canberra: AGPS.
Whitehead, A. N. 1932/1962. The Aims of Education. London: Ernest Benn.
Winter, R. 1995. The University of Life Plc: The “Industrialization” of Higher Education. In: J. Smyth, ed., Academic Work: The Changing Labour Process in Higher Education. Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Symes, C., Boud, D., McIntyre, J. et al. Working Knowledge: Australian Universities and "Real World" Education. International Review of Education 46, 565–579 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026554306760
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026554306760