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The Report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education chaired by Sir Ron Dearing was published in July 1997. It represents the first officially sponsored systematic examination of the United Kingdom's system of higher education since the Robbins Report over 25 years ago. This book is an authoritative evaluation of the cogency, relevance and prospects for success of the Dearing vision and recommendations. Like the members of the comittee, the authors have sought to take a holistic view; to consider the underlying implications of genuine lifelong learning for the university system, and how institutions and the system will need to adjust. The outcomes are threefold: a description of what a UK higher education system that is genuinely part of a national learning society might look like, as well as the impetus this provides for radical reform; identification of features of its historical (especially recent) development, as well as wider social forces, which might inhibit or encourage its performance in this way; and an assessment of the coherence, desirability and practicality of the Dearing proposals in bringing about this end.
List of contents
Part I The context from Robbins to Dearing: changes in UK higher education; changes in society, the economy and politics; the European year of lifelong learning - catalyst of camouflage. Part II Participation: getting into higher education; getting on in higher education; coming back to higher education. Part III Curriculum: modules, semesters and credits; learning in university; learning away from the university; professional dimension; quality and standards. Part IV: supporting students; supporting institutions; supporting communities; supporting the nation. Part V Impact: lifelong learning in the world of work; lifelong learning in common culture; lifelong learning and the university of community. Postscript: the Dearing vision; lifelong learning and UACE.
About the author
Richard Taylor was very much influenced by his service in the Vietnam War as a young officer and later in the Philippines as a senior officer. His seminal work, "Prodigals: A Vietnam Story" is an account of a young man facing the rigors and trials of war, then living with them for the rest of his life.Now retired, he resides with the love of his life and all his writings have been about love in wartime.
Summary
This work is an evaluation of the cogency, relevance and prospects for success of the Dearing vision and recommendations. The authors consider the underlying implications of genuine lifelong learning for the university system.
