Posted on 4 July 2014
Professor Simon Haslett
In June the Higher Education Academy (HEA) published an anticipated report by Professor Ronald Barnett on Conditions of flexibility: securing a more responsive higher education system.
The report represents the culmination of the HEA project Flexible pedagogies: preparing for the future that recognises that “within the overall HE context, the need to develop new ways of learning has become a live issue, largely linked with the demand for increased flexibility of when, where and how fast learners study”.
Professor Simon Haslett, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, has participated in the final stages of the publication of the report through invited contributions to a day-long seminar in February at Woburn House in London that considered a draft of the report, and a roundtable discussion at the offices of the Guardian newspaper in June - Is flexible study the future for universities?
Professor Barnett’s report represents the culmination of the HEA project Flexible pedagogies: preparing for the future that brings together reports from four learning strands: (1) Part-time learners and learning, (2) Employer engagement, (3) New pedagogical ideas, and (4) Technology-enhanced learning (e-learning).
Professor Barnett also presented a Keynote at the Future Directions Conference 2014 Global Graduates: Enabling Flexible Learning at Aberystwyth University in April entitled Calling Flexibility to Account: Pitfalls and Possibilities, which gave a foretaste of his report and stimulated much discussion amongst the Welsh academic community.