This book is an insider's account of the current state of Australia's universities. It paints a picture of a system driven by the balance sheet, administered by a mindless and mean-spirited bureaucracy, adrift in a mire of pedagogical pap peddled by Educationalists.
It is the story of the transformation of our higher education system from one that delivered a rigorous education, producing highly competent graduates, many of whom distinguished themselves on the international stage, into two-dollar-shop degree factories. The resultant threat to the broad-scale competence of the professions is obvious.
In spite of policies for everything: Quality Assurance, Graduate Attributes, Personal Performance Plans, KPIs and myriad managerial fantasies, the fall in standards is undeniable and the extent of institutional dysfunction is staggering. Students, parents of students and graduates are scarcely equipped to critically examine the assumptions underlying these "reforms" and the ensuing impact on education. One of the aims of this book is to redress that shortfall.
Not only are university and government education bureaucrats presiding over the destruction of the intellectual fabric of the nation in an era of unprecedented global competition, they are denying a genuine higher education to those Australians with the necessary intelligence, motivation and practical skill to succeed.
Australian Universities: A Portrait of Decline. (1MB)
(A paperback edition of the book is also available for purchase)
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