Strategic choices

Various prominent speakers presented their views at the conference: from the point of view of administration and governance in higher education, change management in the health sector, accreditation and quality control, and the positioning of the Netherlands in an international perspective of education, research and innovation.

Much was said on what should to be done, what - we think -  is being done and (statistical information) on where we stand. Interestingly enough, only one speaker really addressed the tsunami of our times: the role and implications of  information technology.
 

Innovation

Dick van Damme, director of OECD-CERI, gave a bird eye's view of the knowledge and R&D sector as it stands and painted a rather glum picture of the stagnation of innovation in the Netherlands. His research and statistical evidence – from the perspective of the academia –supported the observation that Dutch society is becoming more and more introverted.

Where the Netherlands could once claim a position as an innovator in knowledge creation, it now finds itself amongst the subgroup of innovation followers. In his view, administration in Dutch higher education still operates with views dating from the 1970s and reforms are being addressed from that perspective.

His observations touched on much of what was said between the lines. Society appears to have lost faith in higher education as the driving force of knowledge and innovation. The sector has turned in on itself, not manifestly alert to the pace of innovative development in the rest of the world.

By tradition, the education sector never really distinguished itself in its self-innovative capacity. The struggle to re-invent' ourselves calls for choices, yet, an even greater challenge lies in the task to re-establish trust. 
 

Regaining confidence

The need to regain confidence in the system and its institutions was shared by many. To get it done, however, is another question. Transparency, from the point of view of governance, is considered imperative to restore faith in the administration. Yet transparency also creates vulnerability when it is not counterpoised by realistic and convincing improvements. It may then become a source of anxiety and retention.

It was agreed that higher education institutions should concentrate on their core business - creating and passing on knowledge - and their own specific stakeholders. The pivotal role of teaching and teachers was highlighted.

Reinstituting trust in their status and professional role is necessary both at an institutional level and in society in general. It brings along many challenges, ranging from the call for new infrastructures for training to the tackling of established cultural patterns in the academia.
 

Making choices

In the health sector outside forces have instigated changes, yet, as the speaker pointed out, choices are essential for innovation, however painful they may be. Letting things go creates room for new ideas. In health care new partnerships and the sharing-out of treatments have led to effective results creating room for new developments and further specialisation.

Is the education sector quite ready for anything like this? A presentation on the positioning of quality control in higher education in the Netherlands raised the question where funds and energy are being invested in. Are we looking at modernisation or an embargo policy? With the introduction of the accreditation system in this country - a relatively new development in quality control - the national inspectorate of higher education remained in place.

Two (national) systems now co-exist and have become each others’ rivals. Our Flemish neighbours once faced a similar situation when the national accreditation body for higher education was introduced, but they tackled it. Their national inspectorate now concentrates on elementary and secondary education only. Making choices and letting go helps to move forward. It might even prove to be more economical, too.
 

Losing opportunities

The view of a system turned in on itself, however, goes beyond the Netherlands. Europe, itself in crisis in so many sectors, seems to be losing touch in the educational field, too. As a sector, it only superficially reflects awareness of the impact of information technology on the upcoming generation.

Professor Wim Veen of Delft University illustrated how new communication systems have introduced a new way of learning, yet the didactics that need to go with it have not followed suit.

Europe is losing opportunities that digital education  provides. In the emerging economies there is a cry for cheap education for the growing young populations and this is not met by an alert and up-to-date response from Europe. To fulfil their need, they look elsewhere.
 

Other responses

The - international - business world has responded, too, to a degree. Many companies have abolished training programmes and modules in their staff development programmes. They have introduced new types of – digital - training. Not so much by providing the information on screen but by stimulating every possible means of communication on the data provided. The focus is on communication and informal learning: ‘Data acquire meaning and value by communicating about them’.
 

Information Technology

Information technology is setting the scene for new ways of learning and teaching, in line with the virtual worlds of the upcoming (gaming) generations. Their near-natural ability to take on multiple identities, to create personal virtual environments and the agility to switch is the reality of the learning environment of a new generation.
 

Reorientation needed

The world has become personalised. Trust and reputation in the future will not be granted by a body or a - national - authority attributing them to someone, but by the tags and weights attributed to a person on the internet. Knowledge attains its value – and added value – by sharing on the net. An employer of the future will Google his applicant’s name, weigh his tags and weights and may hardly, if at all, care about the candidate’s diplomas or qualifications. What are we facing? Are quality labels and our alma maters on their way out?

In its reorientation track higher education might want to consider to address its issues out of the box by considering systems from a digital perspective: not as a set of tools but as a way of thinking. Redefining profiles and abolishing programmes is now high on the agenda, but as one administrator - fortunately - put it: please note that the discussion on profiling and specialisation is being put more and more into perspective by...digitalisation.

That is a choice. Indeed.