Classical Political Economy and the Role of Universities in the New Knowledge Economy

Peters, Michael A.

doi:10.1080/1476772032000105483

Cited by 48 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Lisbon also introduced the concept of the knowledge society, again with no definition but simply an assertion that 'lifelong learning is necessary for the transition to a knowledge based economy and society' (p. 3). The use of both terms is not, as Peters (2003) suggested, a consequence of conceptual laxity, for both are consistently attached to two quite distinct groups of learners. The knowledge economy is used exclusively when referring to high knowledge-skilled learners, graduates and postgraduates; the knowledge society is used equally exclusively in reference to low knowledge-skilled learners, those with no or low qualifications (Brine, 2006).…”

Section: Lisbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Boundaries of Competency within Lisbon and Bologna: The Short-Cycle/foundation Learner

Brine

2008

European Educational Research Journal

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The concept of competency is considered both in relation to the educational competency of the short-cycle student described in the 'Dublin Descriptors' of the Bologna Process and in the European Commission's European Qualifications Framework, and in relation to the legal competency that the European Commission has within the field of education and training. This article focuses specifically on the short-cycle/foundation degree introduced in 2003 into the pan-European Bologna Process, and considers its relevance to the European Union's Lisbon Strategy. It argues that the 'shortcycle/foundation' student represents the mid knowledge-skilled learner that is frequently missing from policies and analyses of the knowledge economy that concentrate on either 'basic skills' learners or graduates/postgraduates and that this particular learner, clearly linked to employment, is located at the intersection of vocational and academic learning. The article also considers the role of the European Commission in both the Lisbon and Bologna Processes. Based on an analysis of policy texts the article suggests that the two definitions of competency, whilst quite distinct, are, at the level of policy, very closely connected and serve to increase the Commission's activities within areas of education that are beyond their legal competence. Introducing CompetencyThis article focuses on the short-cycle/foundation degree introduced in 2003 into the panEuropean Bologna Process (Bologna Declaration, 1999), and its relevance to the European Union's Lisbon Strategy (European Council [ECO], 2000). The concept of competency is central to the article, indeed the argument rests on the difference and interplay between two main definitions of competency. The first, and that most commonly associated with education and training, is that attributed within qualifications frameworks and related to specific levels of educational attainmentdescribed as competences. The second refers specifically to the legal competence given, through the European Treaties, to the European Commission. These legal competences are the means by which the Commission's involvement in the policy-making-implementing-evaluating process is defined and legitimated. Throughout this article I will refer to the competency of the Commission as legal competency -even when referring to that attached to the fields of education and training -and as educational competency when referring to that related to the qualifications frameworks.

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Section: Lisbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Boundaries of Competency within Lisbon and Bologna: The Short-Cycle/foundation Learner

Brine

2008

European Educational Research Journal

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“…However, the socio-economic context in which they operate is one in which the higher skills, knowledge, creativity and adaptability have become increasingly important to sustained commercial success (Peters 2003). As a result of this, the commercial logics of private enterprises and the logics of public policy have moved closer together.…”

Section: Learning the Lessons Of Foundations Degreesmentioning

confidence: 99%

New ways of being public: the experience of foundation degrees

Craig

2009

Journal of Further and Higher Education

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This article explores the recent development of new spheres of public engagement within UK higher education through an analysis of the foundation degree qualification. These, according to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), were designed to equip students with the combination of technical skills, academic knowledge, and transferable skills increasingly being demanded by employers, and they have been identified as being at the forefront of educational agendas aimed at increasing employer engagement in the higher education (HE) sector. As such, they might be regarded as an expression of the 'increasing privatisation' of HE. However, this article argues that, on the contrary, they have enabled the development of new areas of public engagement relating to the design and delivery of courses as well as providing new opportunities for the pursuit of public policy goals such as widening participation. Such outcomes, it is argued, are the result of a number of factors that explain the 'publicness' of the qualification and that should be sustained to ensure the implementation of the 2006 Leitch Report in a manner that further develops public engagement.

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“…The assertion that knowledge is the '"currency" of economic growth' points to a truism of the discourse of neoliberal knowledge capitalism: the mantra that 'knowledge' has displaced labour or other forms of capital becomes part of the necessary discursive liturgy. This kind of assertion, along with the term 'knowledge capitalism', has been used in both uncritical (Burton-Jones, 1999) and critical (Peters, 2003a(Peters, , c, 2007Peters & Besley, 2006) contexts before. Others who profess this particular vague, de facto shift in political economy include Gibbons (1994) and Stehr (2005), among many others.…”

Section: Probing a Discursive Artefact And The Discourse Which Speaks Itmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is Social Sciences and Humanities Research ‘Worth’? Neoliberalism and the Framing of Social Sciences and Humanities Work in Canada

Davidson-Harden

2013

Policy Futures in Education

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Classical Political Economy and the Role of Universities in the New Knowledge Economy

Cited by 48 publications

References 14 publications

The Boundaries of Competency within Lisbon and Bologna: The Short-Cycle/foundation Learner

The Boundaries of Competency within Lisbon and Bologna: The Short-Cycle/foundation Learner

New ways of being public: the experience of foundation degrees

What is Social Sciences and Humanities Research ‘Worth’? Neoliberalism and the Framing of Social Sciences and Humanities Work in Canada

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