Higher Education in a Globalising World: Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning

Description

This book focuses on current policy discourse in Higher Education, with special reference to Europe. It discusses globalisation, Lifelong Learning, the EU's Higher Education discourse, this discourse's regional ramifications and alternative practices in Higher Education from both the minority and majority worlds with their different learning traditions and epistemologies. It argues that these alternative practices could well provide the germs for the shape of a public good oriented Higher Education for the future. It theoretically expounds on important elements to consider when engaging Higher Education and communities, discussing the nature of the term 'community' itself. Special reference is accorded to the difference that lies at the core of these ever-changing communities. It then provides an analysis of an 'on the ground project' in University community engagement, before suggesting signposts for further action at the level of policy and provision. -- .

Peter Mayo is Professor of Sociology of Education and Adult Education at the University of Malta -- .

'Neoliberalism presents the university with a dilemma: either the university adjusts to the demands of neoliberalism, and is thus disfigured beyond recognition, or it offers resistance and carries out its democratic and community-oriented mission as a counter-current. Mayo shows courage in providing a well-argued book that constitutes a powerful appeal for the university to pursue the second route. The book provides concrete 'on the ground' examples of how this can be done.' Boaventura de Sousa Santos, University of Coimbra, author of Decolonizing the University, the Challenge of Deep Cognitive Justice 'Mayo's book sheds a light on the curious paradox of higher education: its inability to grapple deeply with the issues of lifelong learning and adult education. From their privileged positions as bastions of learning and knowledge, higher education institutions need to do much more with responding to adult learner needs not only in the classroom, but in marginalized communities and local settings. Mayo reminds us that, rather than subscribing solely to the neoliberal agenda of training workers for the state and industry, higher education would do well to educate citizens for the full and abundant life.' Leona M. English, Professor of Adult Education, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada 'It is impossible to discuss higher education outside the context of globalization. Peter Mayo's Higher Education in a Globalising Context may be the best book we have on the subject. Not only does Mayo offer a stunning detailed analysis of the globalizing forces shaping higher education within a dialectic of oppression and resistance, but he does so with a style that is as rigorous as it is accessible and poetic. This book is a must read for any one concerned with how the political landscape of higher education has changed under the impending and powerful forces of globalization. This book is at once a theoretical and political tool box for rethinking the relationship between power and politics, on the one hand, and higher education and the complex forces of globalization on the other. If you want to understand how power and resistance mutually engage each other in the 21st century in the struggle over higher education, read this book and then give to your friends.' Henry Giroux, author of Neoliberalism's War on Higher Education 'This lucid and expansive book calls for critical university engagement with local communities to support a "globalisation from below." Mayo deftly presents a portrait of lifelong learning that weaves together tropes from social justice movements, feminism, gender studies, climate change, Catholic ritual, class struggles, and intergenerational learning. The examples span the globe, but a prominent place is given to traditions of lifelong learning in Europe and Mediterranean societies, including Southern, Eastern and Arab Mediterranean with their rich social and institutional histories. Drawing on the critical lexicon of the likes of Paulo Freire, Lorenzo Milani, Ivan Illich and Antonio Gramsci, Mayo calls on educators to practice an ethical, engaged pedagogy that ignites "the popular creative spirit." This book should be a staple in the critical studies of higher education and lifelong learning.' Linda Herrera, Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 'Peter Mayo presents a comprehensive examination of University Lifelong Learning in the EU, Euro-Mediterranean zones, and the Global South. He aptly presents a critical reflection on the development of University Lifelong Learning and the role it has played in the evolution of higher education. Most importantly, in that the book focuses on all Higher Educational institutions, including universities, academies, and vocational colleges that award degrees, diplomas, and provide certification of professional attainment, Peter Mayo makes a compelling and inspiring case for the re-conceptualization of the university as an alternative to the existing hegemonic one. The equal inclusion of all tertiary institutions is a hallmark of this book.' Rosalind Latiner Raby, Director, California Colleges for International Education, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of International and Comparative Higher Education 'This book is at its essence a plea to rethink the future of Higher Education(HE)in Europe and globally. Rather than propose a yet-to-be-seen utopian vision of HE, Peter Mayo offers us concrete examples of how HEinstitutions have been organized to support a democratic ethos and the "public good"-notsimply preparestudents for an uncertain and unequal job market.' JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE & INTERNATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION -- .