Higher Education Review Process

Striving for Quality: Learning, Teaching and Scholarship

1. introduction

With respect to golden eras, there is always the propensity to view the past with some indulgence and the future with some concern. (Wilson, 1996, p.156)

1     Universities of the twenty-first century will not be the same as the institutions of the twentieth century, just as those of earlier centuries were very different institutions from their antecedents. Whilst some of the traditions and tenets of the university of the last century will be cherished and maintained, many will evolve and change, so that new traditions for higher education are established, lauded and likely defended by subsequent generations.

2     The characteristic of universities that has been maintained since Plato’s Academy of Athens is the centrality of teaching and learning. Teaching and learning will remain core purposes of all higher education institutions and a key reason for public investment in universities. The West Review in Australia concluded that “providing high quality learning experiences should be at the heart of university endeavour” (1998, p.16). The New Zealand Tertiary Education Advisory Commission (2000) recommended that “the needs of learners should be recognised as central to the design of the tertiary education system.” So too, the Dearing Committee in the United Kingdom argued that “the enhancement and promotion of learning and teaching must be a priority for all of higher education” (NCIHE, 1997, 8.8).

3     Australian institutions and academics have been leaders in many developments relating to learning and teaching. Nevertheless, there are challenges to be faced if Australian higher education institutions are to maintain the centrality of teaching and learning. In an environment in which there are so many emerging and competing demands on higher education institutions, there is a danger that the essential focus on the teaching and learning function could be lost.

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This page was last updated on Monday, 04 August 2008

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