Scholarly Blog
Humanism and Educational Technology Must Coexist
What has come to be know as educational technology sprang from behaviorist psychology and philosophical positivism and gradually came to include the theories of systems and of communication. However, the different incidence of each of the contributions in each place, and the passing of time, have shown all too clearly the shortcomings of the atomistic [...]
University Reform and Innovation is an Endless Process
Dogmatism and rigidity in the university are sources of intolerance, authoritarianism and conflict. Moreover, flexibility is not a synonym of weakness; on the contrary, it is a symbol of spiritual fortitude that grows when it rectifies mistakes and discovers its own ignorance.
Changing Traditional Higher Education Toward Lifelong Learning
The most relevant and controversial issue facing the university is one of its raisons d’être: formation, the teaching-learning process. The English word ‘formation’ – among other meanings – indicates ‘the act or process of forming’ or ‘the shaping or developing of something’. The word ‘formative’ means ‘having influence in forming or developing’. Similarly, I use [...]
Is Higher Education Centered On The Student Or The Faculty?
FROM ACADEMIC ETHOS TO ADMINISTRATIVE ETHOS The academic ethos of universities has changed very little since the Middle Ages until the present. However, there is a significant difference between the origin of universities as social institutions and contemporary universities. At first, their structure was more informal and, contrary to what one might think, more flexible. It [...]
Cognitive And Affective Variables That Should Rule Education
Education must focus on the quality of teaching and learning. The quality of the results, as a concept borrowed from the business sector which is much less complex and interactive than the education sector, is difficult to define with precision, since it combines values, attitudes and achievements which form a part of the most complex [...]
What Is The Purpose Of Higher Education – Knowledge Or Utility?
What is the purpose of higher education – knowledge or utility? Such question encourages a false dichotomy since both are needed for people’s genuine education; never one at the expense of the other. Higher education institutions, primarily universities, must have a two-pronged approach in the search for knowledge, to develop the highest degree of creative [...]
“Today there is a need to educate for uncertainty”
In this interview, professor Miguel Ángel Escotet reveals the key factors for achieving an education adapted to the future. To his mind, it is crucial to allow students take a more active role in their own education, to strive for a balance between the cognitive and affective domains and educate for an increasingly uncertain world.
The Corporate Management Is An Unfit Model for Education
What are the bases of culture and society? What is the cultural and social context of education? How can the social forces that influence teaching and learning be adapted to enhance the educational process? What are the cultural and social foundations of education in America? What are the purposes of education in a global society? [...]
University Reform And Change For What Kind Of Society?
No social institution can be studied in a vacuum. The university as an institution can only be understood within the context of the education system which, in turn, can only be comprehended within the context of society as a whole. As one of the pillars of the social system, the university must be analyzed and [...]
Teaching Beyond The Transmission of Knowledge
“Teaching to the test at the expense of teaching to the heart is wrong and reduces education to a very superficial acquisition of knowledge and values. Standardized testing for measuring knowledge, skills and attitudes goes against learning styles and individual differences.” “One of the most important rules of teaching is to preach by example. Are [...]
