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Re-imagining the Role and Function of Higher Education for Alternative Futures Through Embracing Global Knowledge Futures

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European Higher Education at the Crossroads

Abstract

Weak signals from the early twentieth century indicate the emergence of new ways of thinking and knowledge patterns, which will be key drivers of change in the next 100 years. Significant developments can be mapped in most, if not all, of the major academic disciplines. In parallel, there is an emerging movement to integrate knowledge, to move beyond the fragmentation of knowledge associated with disciplinary specialisation via inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary approaches. In the current dominant model of higher education, disciplinary and ideological siloism thwart appropriate knowledge transfer—thus limiting the larger project of knowledge coherence so necessary if we are to cope with the complexity we must expect of the next 100 years. I propose that higher education can best be re-imagined through deeply embracing new ways of thinking and new knowledge patterns.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “The Bologna Process aimed to create a European Higher Education Area by 2010, in which students can choose from a wide and transparent range of high quality courses and benefit from smooth recognition procedures.” http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna_en.html

  2. 2.

    This event is a collaborative venture with the 21st World Conference of the World Futures Studies Federation, founded in Paris in 1973. http://www.wfsf.org/

  3. 3.

    The latter ideology is reflected in the title of the recent IAU conference: “Associations, Networks, Alliances etc.: Making Sense of the Emerging Global Higher Education Landscape” 2009 Conference of the International Association of Universities, IAU: For A Worldwide Higher Education Community, Mexico.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Cities Research Institute, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

    Jennifer M. Gidley

  2. President World Futures Studies Federation, Melbourne, Australia

    Jennifer M. Gidley

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  1. Jennifer M. Gidley
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Correspondence to Jennifer M. Gidley .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Adrian Curaj

  2. Institute of Education, London, United Kingdom

    Peter Scott

  3. , Sociology Department, Bucharest University, Bucharest, Romania

    Lazăr Vlasceanu

  4. European University Association, Brussels, Belgium

    Lesley Wilson

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Gidley, J.M. (2012). Re-imagining the Role and Function of Higher Education for Alternative Futures Through Embracing Global Knowledge Futures. In: Curaj, A., Scott, P., Vlasceanu, L., Wilson, L. (eds) European Higher Education at the Crossroads. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3937-6_51

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