No subject

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[Moderator's Note: The last day for comments will be this upcoming Tuesday,
the 31st, after which Cristina will have the opportunity to respond.]

I echo appreciation of Cristina=E2=80=99s succinct overview of the major is=
sues
facing universities. I have been following the contributions with interest
and agree substantially with many of the arguments made. Universities need
to change in order to give more effective leadership towards =E2=80=98anoth=
er world
we want=E2=80=99. I amplify three short/medium term interventions which are=
 shaped
by my 40 years of experience in the South African university system, where
I have been immersed mainly in an historically black university which
played an important role in the liberation struggle and in processes of
democratising the country.

1. A critique of African University Rankings

The Times Higher Education proposes that an African-specific ranking system
be designed for universities in Africa. This is an effort to revise a
system designed for institutions in the rich developed world. Critical
literature shows that ranking of universities incentivises universities
uncritically to support the status quo disconnected from broader society.
Rankings are inclined to encourage competition rather than cooperation. In
considering the ranking of African universities questions to ask are: what
are the roles of universities in societies across Africa and what is the
point of introducing a hierarchy of these universities? To the latter
question, we might answer that there is none; that we do not want to foster
competition when Africa needs collaboration. The creation of uniform
indicators across the diversity of contexts can encourage unquestioning
consumption of university league tables by the public and universities
themselves. However, if we are to rank, what could
constitute an alternative measurement practice which takes environmental
and social justice, collaboration and feminist politics as starting points?
Engaging broadly across many different African contexts through deeply
democratic processes around this question could make an important start to
alternative ways of thinking about `social responsibility` of universities
across local and global contexts.

2. A Transformation Barometer

There are processes currently underway in South Africa to create a higher
education `transformation barometer`. There is a push for transformation
from both government and civil society in the wake of various students=E2=
=80=99
movements. Transformation includes radical change in the demographics of
professoriate; =E2=80=98decolonisation=E2=80=99 of curricula and research a=
gendas;
embracing intellectual contributions from Africa; elimination of racism and
sexism and all other forms of unjust discrimination; improvement in
academic success rates amongst black students; expansion of student
support; promotion of socially just pedagogies; democratic and
non-repressive institutional cultures; and ensuring accountable governance
and management efficiencies. Of course, =E2=80=98transformation=E2=80=99 is=
 highly
contested but despite the slipperiness of the concept, a broad
meaning-making frame is emerging that can facilitate the fundamental
reconstitution and re-expression of the role of the university in wider
society. The idea of the barometer has limitations and so needs to be
subjected to perennial questions about =E2=80=98transformation=E2=80=99. As=
 such, the idea
of a perennially questioned barometer presents a potential starting point
for a useful =E2=80=98measurement practice=E2=80=99.

3. Glocal citizenship education

There are scholar-activists, both students and staff, who against many
odds, are constructing alternative ways of living and learning; they are
developing new organizational and epistemological models that counter the
separation of people and institutions from one another; that counter the
separation of feelings from thinking, and which embrace =E2=80=98heads, hea=
rts and
hands=E2=80=99 - they are striving to build community. Global citizenship e=
ducation
involves, amongst others, a learning of empathy for people and environments
and the interconnected realities in which we all exist on one planet. So
where is glocal, democratic citizenship learnt? From the experiences in
South Africa and elsewhere, one site which is underutilised as an informal
/ non-formal / formalised learning space for students, academics, managers
and workers, are student and staff-led movements. Change will only come
through activism of various kinds by members of the university community,
therefore, student, worker and
scholar-activists, whose individual and collective involvements are
contributing to change, need support and affirmation. Integration of
activist orientations into a =E2=80=98transformation barometer=E2=80=99 off=
ers a
possibility to sustain commitments for social, economic and environmental
justice, thus encouraging its =E2=80=98mainstreaming=E2=80=99 within univer=
sities.

When thinking of universities and their social responsibilities, I align
with the sentiment of Lilla Watson, an aboriginal Australian woman, when
she says, =E2=80=9CIf you have come here to help me, you are wasting your t=
ime. But
if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us
work together.=E2=80=9D

Best wishes
Shirley Walters

****************************************************

Transition Network [mailto:gtnetwork at greattransition.org]
Sent: April 29, 2016 10:02 AM

Higher Calling for Higher Education (GTN Discussion)