Keynote at the symposium ’Praxis in higher education’, University of Borås
One key challenge that marks all systems and institutions of higher education is one of meaninglessness. When we for example hold a meeting for the sake of holding a meeting, or write a research article just to produce an output. Teaching becomes meaningless when educators sense that students engage strategically – attend courses to obtain a tick in an attendance log or plagiarise or cheat to pass the course on the way to getting the credential of a degree. Teaching also becomes meaningless when workloads mean that the quality is compromised – there is not enough time for preparation, for engaging with students informally, or for providing thorough feedback on their work.
Higher education consists of many ‘we-s’ that must do different things. We need to keep insisting on the meaningful and keep pushing back when things do not feel meaningful. We need to think about what can I do, and what can we do, to improve the situation and make a better future – and act upon it, every day, in big matters as in small. Nobody here suggests that it is easy work. And it requires courage, which is precisely what my key-note lecture will address.