Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Analysing micro-credentials in higher education: a Bernsteinian analysis

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

There's a lot going on in this article and the sociology of Basil Bernstein is the least interesting part of it. The argument, in a nutshell, is that unlike the European Didaktik tradition, in which education is treated as a single focused discipline, in the Anglo tradition education falls under other disciplines, such as history, philosophy, sociology and psychology, with the result that educational theory is 'undifferentiated mush', which makes it possible for "the 'market' model of the individual to be the default and dominant goal of educational policy." It is into this context that microcredentials are introduced, and here's where Bernstein comes in, as the student is viewed as "the rational, instrumental, self-maximizing actor." In other words, "21st Century skills are the epitome of the colonization by human capital theory of all aspects of our lives because they are exhaustive, focusing not just on what we can do, but also who we are." Image: The Berenstain Bears Go to School.

Today: 1 Total: 1387 [Direct link] [Share]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: May 04, 2024 07:07 a.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.

Force:yes