THE FORTUNATE ONES....
And what of the fortunate ones: those able to access Higher Education and study architecture? My own every-day experience as an academic suggests that the 'fortunate ones' are under incredible pressure.
The commodification of Higher Education has had a devastating impact upon the millennial generation. Tuition Fees of £9,000 p/a will ensure an ongoing indebtedness of at least £45,000, and if we add living costs (even at a meager £10,000 p/a) I anticipate a total level of debt and/or expenditure in the order of £100,000 at the completion of full-time study in architecture. This situation of course may be mitigated by earning: however the need to earn money to support academic study, provides yet another pressure in balancing income against academic demands. A significant number of my students are suffering financial hardship and are having to access financial support from the University and/or are consistently raiding the bank of Mum and Dad.
My sense is such a level of expenditure and/or indebtedness is not sustainable. Recent reports suggest (for example) that access to the 'housing ladder' is fast dissipating, particularly for this millennial generation, as progressively we remove the rungs one by one. A Mortgage with a £100,000 extant debt? Improbable. The significant cultural, economic and political consequences of the commodification of Higher Education are now quietly emerging.....
If student economy is not enough, other pressures exist. The commodification of Higher Education seemingly increases parental pressure, or at least in the student a perception of parental pressure, particularly when generous parents have invested often substantially in the education of their child(ren).
And then there is the shift in academic expectations. Upon entering Higher Education, academia expects students to work as independent reflective learners, yet they largely come an education process where this model is not a central element of that pedagogy. Another pressure.
And finally, we deliver an often impacted curriculum that in the perception of students, provides conflicting demands upon their time, requiring some sophistication and maturity in time-management. As an academic colleague constantly asks 'Where is the Unit entitled Reflection?'
The consequence is an exponential increase in the number of students presenting in Studio with significant emotion health and well-being issues, and a equally worrying sense that many students simply do not look well, often seemingly tired and lethargic, pale and suffering from skin complaints. This should be the most exciting, challenging shape-shifting period of life to date for students as they unfold themselves to themselves in exploration of the world before them.
You may of course dismiss all this as the winging of an aged academic who wistfully advocates a return to the heady days of student grants and free (as we now apparently have to say 'at the point of delivery') University education. Well, it is not. Of course I am deeply ashamed to be part of the generation who lifted the drawbridge after we had crossed it, in order to fund duck-houses. I did however protest at the time, albeit clearly without success .
Rather it is an overwhelming expression that 'it should not be like this'. It's broke and we need to fix it.
The question is of course - HOW?
In the words of Leonard Cohen: "There are cracks in everything - its the cracks that let the light in."
LIGHT SHAFT - CAN LIS - MALLORCA - JORN UTZON.
The commodification of Higher Education has had a devastating impact upon the millennial generation. Tuition Fees of £9,000 p/a will ensure an ongoing indebtedness of at least £45,000, and if we add living costs (even at a meager £10,000 p/a) I anticipate a total level of debt and/or expenditure in the order of £100,000 at the completion of full-time study in architecture. This situation of course may be mitigated by earning: however the need to earn money to support academic study, provides yet another pressure in balancing income against academic demands. A significant number of my students are suffering financial hardship and are having to access financial support from the University and/or are consistently raiding the bank of Mum and Dad.
My sense is such a level of expenditure and/or indebtedness is not sustainable. Recent reports suggest (for example) that access to the 'housing ladder' is fast dissipating, particularly for this millennial generation, as progressively we remove the rungs one by one. A Mortgage with a £100,000 extant debt? Improbable. The significant cultural, economic and political consequences of the commodification of Higher Education are now quietly emerging.....
If student economy is not enough, other pressures exist. The commodification of Higher Education seemingly increases parental pressure, or at least in the student a perception of parental pressure, particularly when generous parents have invested often substantially in the education of their child(ren).
And then there is the shift in academic expectations. Upon entering Higher Education, academia expects students to work as independent reflective learners, yet they largely come an education process where this model is not a central element of that pedagogy. Another pressure.
And finally, we deliver an often impacted curriculum that in the perception of students, provides conflicting demands upon their time, requiring some sophistication and maturity in time-management. As an academic colleague constantly asks 'Where is the Unit entitled Reflection?'
The consequence is an exponential increase in the number of students presenting in Studio with significant emotion health and well-being issues, and a equally worrying sense that many students simply do not look well, often seemingly tired and lethargic, pale and suffering from skin complaints. This should be the most exciting, challenging shape-shifting period of life to date for students as they unfold themselves to themselves in exploration of the world before them.
You may of course dismiss all this as the winging of an aged academic who wistfully advocates a return to the heady days of student grants and free (as we now apparently have to say 'at the point of delivery') University education. Well, it is not. Of course I am deeply ashamed to be part of the generation who lifted the drawbridge after we had crossed it, in order to fund duck-houses. I did however protest at the time, albeit clearly without success .
Rather it is an overwhelming expression that 'it should not be like this'. It's broke and we need to fix it.
The question is of course - HOW?
In the words of Leonard Cohen: "There are cracks in everything - its the cracks that let the light in."
LIGHT SHAFT - CAN LIS - MALLORCA - JORN UTZON.
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