Shared University Governance: Authoritarianism or Authority

October 1, 2024
Accountability, Education, Governance, Higher Education, HigherEd Management, University Policy

A university culture is centered on the student, not the faculty or administration. The authority of governing is gained through levels of participation and cooperation in decision-making. The picture above shows the signature ceremony of the Magna Charta Universitatum, signed in Piazza Maggiore at Bologna on September 18, 1988, by 388 Rectors of major universities […]

November 9, 2021
Education, Educational Philosophy, Higher Education, HigherEd Theory & Praxis, University Policy

The backdrop to many university crises has been precisely these dichotomies: the crisis of the relationship between the individual who teaches and the individual who learns, between the member of the ‘academic ethos’ and the member of the ‘social ethos’ and also between the individual who teaches and the one who administers. The academic ethos […]

August 21, 2020
Educational Philosophy, Higher Education, HigherEd Theory & Praxis, University Planning, University Policy

What is the purpose of higher education – knowledge or utility? Such a 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 […]

December 21, 2016
Education, Educational Philosophy, Educational Theory, Ethics, HigherEd Theory & Praxis, University Policy

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.

April 1, 2014
Essay, Higher Education, Learning, Lifelong Learning, Social Philosophy, University, University Policy

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 the term […]