Page 145 - Rižnar, Igor, and Klemen Kavčič (ed.). 2017. Connecting Higher Education Institutions with Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 145
9 Is Higher Education in Dire Straits?
Igor Rižnar
University of Primorska, Slovenia
igor.riznar@fm-kp.si
The article is written with the full awareness that higher educa-
tion is a complex system, with a number of multi-lateral interac-
tions between teachers, students, policy-makers, parents, differ-
ent professional associations, politicians, economy and the soci-
ety in general. After a brief encounter with the Bologna reforms,
it focuses on several key issues in education. First, it discusses
learning and teaching in the context of brain science. Second, the
author discusses learning and teaching myths, common miscon-
ceptions about how we learn and think, which are still widely be-
lieved by teachers in many countries around the globe. Third, bi-
ases in both teachers and education policy makers are discussed.
Fourth, the conditions under which academics in social sciences
are working are discussed. In conclusion, the author gives some
pragmatic recommendations for the improvement of the present
situation in higher education.
Ključne besede: biases, brain science, higher education, learning
myths, social sciences
Introduction (Communiqué)
The reform of the European higher education system started with a
meeting in Bologna in 1988, when a number of university rectors met at
the University of Bologna to celebrate its 900th anniversary. Ten years
later, four education ministers met in Sorbonne and produced the Sor-
bonne Declaration, in which they declared that we ‘owe our students,
and our society at large, a higher education system in which they are
given the best opportunities to seek and find their own area of excel-
lence’ (‘Sorbonne Joint Declaration’ 1998). The Bologna Process gath-
ered pace in 1999 when the Ministers of Education from 29 European
countries met in Bologna to further discuss educational reform.¹
¹ Dire Straits’ album Brothers in Arms was released in 1985, roughly at the same time
when the Bologna reforms started. It was the band’s fifth studio album. All previous
albums were released in vinyl format. It was the first album to sell one million copies
in the cd format and to outsell its vinyl version. In 1996 it was remastered, released in
143
Igor Rižnar
University of Primorska, Slovenia
igor.riznar@fm-kp.si
The article is written with the full awareness that higher educa-
tion is a complex system, with a number of multi-lateral interac-
tions between teachers, students, policy-makers, parents, differ-
ent professional associations, politicians, economy and the soci-
ety in general. After a brief encounter with the Bologna reforms,
it focuses on several key issues in education. First, it discusses
learning and teaching in the context of brain science. Second, the
author discusses learning and teaching myths, common miscon-
ceptions about how we learn and think, which are still widely be-
lieved by teachers in many countries around the globe. Third, bi-
ases in both teachers and education policy makers are discussed.
Fourth, the conditions under which academics in social sciences
are working are discussed. In conclusion, the author gives some
pragmatic recommendations for the improvement of the present
situation in higher education.
Ključne besede: biases, brain science, higher education, learning
myths, social sciences
Introduction (Communiqué)
The reform of the European higher education system started with a
meeting in Bologna in 1988, when a number of university rectors met at
the University of Bologna to celebrate its 900th anniversary. Ten years
later, four education ministers met in Sorbonne and produced the Sor-
bonne Declaration, in which they declared that we ‘owe our students,
and our society at large, a higher education system in which they are
given the best opportunities to seek and find their own area of excel-
lence’ (‘Sorbonne Joint Declaration’ 1998). The Bologna Process gath-
ered pace in 1999 when the Ministers of Education from 29 European
countries met in Bologna to further discuss educational reform.¹
¹ Dire Straits’ album Brothers in Arms was released in 1985, roughly at the same time
when the Bologna reforms started. It was the band’s fifth studio album. All previous
albums were released in vinyl format. It was the first album to sell one million copies
in the cd format and to outsell its vinyl version. In 1996 it was remastered, released in
143
