Text 2 Educating the nation
from McDowall D. Britain in Close-Up. 2002. UK. 208p.
Further and higher education
Further education has traditionally been characterised by part-time vocational courses for those who leave school at the age of 16 but need to acquire a skill, be that in the manual, technical or clerical field. In all, about three million students enrol each year in part-time courses at further education (FE) colleges, some released by their employers and a greater number unemployed. In addition there have always been a much smaller proportion in full-time training. In 1985 this figure was a meagre 400,000, but by 1995 this had doubled. Given Labour's emphasis on improving the skills level of all school-leavers, this expansion will continue. Vocational training, most of which is conducted at the country's 550 further education colleges is bound to be an important component.
Higher education has also undergone a massive expansion. In 1985 only 573,000, 16 per cent of young people, were enrolled in full-time higher education. Ten years later the number was 1,150,000, no less than 30 per cent of their age group.
This massive expansion was achieved by greatly enlarging access to undergraduate courses, but also by authorising the old polytechnics to grant their own degree awards, and also to rename themselves as universities. Thus there are today 90 universities, compared with 47 in 1990, and only seventeen in 1945. They fall into five broad categories: the medieval English foundations, the medieval Scottish ones, the nineteenth-century 'redbrick' ones, the twentieth-century 'plate-glass' ones, and finally the previous polytechnics. They are all private institutions, receiving direct grants from central government.
Check your comprehension
~ Where is most of vocational training is conducted in Great Britain?
~ Which categories do universities in Great Britain fall into?
Oxford and Cambridge, founded in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries respectively, are easily the most famous of Britain's universities. Today 'Oxbridge', as the two together are known, educate less than one-twentieth of Britain's total university student population. But they continue to attract many of the best brains and to mesmerise an even greater number, partly on account of their prestige, but also on account of the seductive beauty of many of their buildings and surroundings.
Both universities grew gradually, as federations of independent colleges, most of which were founded in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In both universities, however, new colleges are periodically established, for example Green College, Oxford (1979) and Robinson College, Cambridge (1977).
Scotland boasts four ancient universities: Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Aberdeen, all founded in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In the Scottish lowlands greater value was placed on education during the sixteenth and later centuries than in much of England. These universities were created with strong links with the ancient universities of continental Europe, and followed their longer and broader course of studies. Even today, Scottish universities provide four-year undergraduate courses, compared with the usual three-year courses in England and Wales.
In the nineteenth century more universities were established to respond to the greatly increased demand for educated people as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of Britain's overseas empire. Many of these were sited in the industrial centres, for example Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Bristol.
With the expansion of higher education in the 1960s 'plate-glass' universities were established, some named after counties or regions rather than old cities, for example Sussex, Kent, East Anglia and Strathclyde. Over 50 polytechnics and similar higher education institutes acquired university status in 1992. There is also a highly successful Open University, which provides every person in Britain with the opportunity to study for a degree, without leaving their home. It is particularly designed for adults who missed the opportunity for higher education earlier in life. It conducts learning through correspondence, radio and television, and also through local study centres.
Check your comprehension
~ What structure do Oxford and Cambridge Universities have?
~ In what way are Scottish Universities different from English ones?
~ What type of universities was established in the 1960s?
University examinations are for Bachelor of Arts, or of Science (BA or BSc) on completion of the undergraduate course, and Master of Arts or of Science (MA or MSc) on completion of postgraduate work, usually a one- or two-year course involving some original research. Some students continue to complete a three-year period of original research for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The bachelor degree is normally classed, with about 5 per cent normally gaining a First, about 30 per cent gaining an Upper Second, or 2.1, perhaps 40 per cent gaining a Lower Second, or 2.2, and the balance getting either a Third, a Pass or failing. Approximately 15 per cent fail to complete their degree course.
In addition there are a large number of specialist higher education institutions in the realm of the performing and visual arts. For example, there are four leading conservatories: the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. There are a large number of art colleges, of which the most famous is the Royal College of Art, where both Henry Moore and David Hockney once studied. Other colleges cater for dance, filmmaking and other specialist areas of artistic study.
In spite of the high fees, Britain's universities, FE colleges and English language schools host a large number of foreign students.
Check your comprehension
~In what respect does the bachelor degree in Great Britain differ from the bachelor degree in Russia or the USA?
~ Which HEIs are referred to as specialist higher education institutions?
Female undergraduates have greatly increased proportionately in recent years. In the mid-1960s they were only 28 per cent of the intake, became 41 per cent by the early 1980s, and were 51 per cent by 1996. There is still an unfortunate separation of the sexes in fields of chosen study, arising from occupational tradition and social expectations. Caring for others is still a 'proper' career for women; building bridges, it seems, is not. Unless one believes women's brains are better geared to nursing and other forms of caring and men's to bridge-building, one must conclude that social expectations still hinder women and men from realising their potential. Students from poorer backgrounds are seriously underrepresented in higher education. Although more in social categories C, D and E are now enrolled, it is the more prosperous social categories A and В which have benefited most from university expansion. There are two issues here: equality of opportunities and maximizing all of the society’s intellectual potential. Ethnic minorities’ representation is growing: 13 per cent in 1996 compared with only 10.7 per cent in 1990. It is noteworthy that their university representation exceeds their proportion within the whole population, a measure of their commitment to higher education.
In 1988 a new funding body, the University Funding Council, was established, with power to require universities to produce a certain number of qualified people in specific fields. It is under the UFC's watchful eye that the universities have been forced to double their student intake, and each university department is assessed on its performance and quality. The fear, of course, is that the greatly increased quantity of students that universities must now take might lead to a loss of academic quality.
Expansion has led to a growing funding gap. Universities have been forced to seek sponsorship from the commercial world, wealthy patrons and also from their alumni. The Conservative Party also decided to reduce maintenance grants but to offer students loans in order to finance their studies. However, the funding gap has continued to grow and Labour shocked many who had voted for it by introducing tuition fees at £1,000 per annum in 1998. Although poorer students were to be exempted it was feared that, even with student loans, up to 10 per cent of those planning to go to university would abandon the idea. One effect of the financial burden is that more students are living at home while continuing their studies: about 50 per cent at the ex-polytechnics, but only 15 per cent at the older universities.
Check your comprehension
~ Do you think if women and men can realize their potential at full? Why?
~ Is the portion of students from poorer backgrounds as big as the portion of people from poorer backgrounds in the society?
~ What power does the University Funding Council have?
Today many university science and technology departments, for example at Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Imperial College London, and Strathclyde, are among the best in Europe. The concern is whether they will continue to be so in the future. Academics' pay has fallen so far behind other professions and behind academic salaries elsewhere, that many of the best brains have gone abroad. Adequate pay and sufficient research funding to keep the best in Britain remains a major challenge.
As with the schools system, so also with higher education: there is a real problem about the exclusivity of Britain's two oldest universities. While Oxbridge is no longer the preserve of a social elite, it retains its exclusive, narrow and spell-binding culture. Together with the public school system, it creates a narrow social and intellectual channel from which the nation's leaders are almost exclusively drawn. In 1996 few people were in top jobs in the Civil Service, the armed forces, the law or finance, who had not been either to a public school or Oxbridge, or to both.
The problem is not the quality of education offered either in the independent schools or Oxbridge. The problem is cultural. Can the products of such exclusive establishments remain closely in touch with the remaining 95 per cent of the population? If the expectation is that Oxbridge, particularly, will continue to dominate the controlling positions in the state and economy, is the country ignoring equal talent which does not have the Oxbridge label? As with the specialisation at the age of 16 for A levels, the danger is that Britain's governing elite is too narrow, both in the kind of education and where it was acquired. Significantly fuller popular participation in the controlling institutions of state is overdue.
Check your comprehension
~ What causes the “brain drain’ from Great Britain?
~ Why is the exclusivity of Britain's two oldest universities a real problem for the society?
Further information
State education: http://www.dfee.gov.uk
Private education: http://www.isis.org.uk
Text 3
Чучалин А.И. Американская и болонская модели инженера: сравнительный анализ компетенций
Анализ требований к компетенциям показывает, что в американской Результаты модели бакалавр-инженер должен обладать «принципиальными анализа знаниями», уметь «анализировать, решать и оценивать результаты решения комплексных инженерных задач», «осуществлять коммуникации и нести ответственность за принятие решений по всему комплексу инженерной деятельности», демонстрировать «знания для решения проблем устойчивого развития», быть «лидером команды».
В болонской модели от бакалавра-инженера требуется лишь обладать «системными профессиональными знаниями в определенной области наук», способностью их применять «для разработки и реализации проектов, удовлетворяющих заданным требованиям», иметь «навыки работы в мастерской и лаборатории», способность «осуществлять подбор и использовать необходимое оборудование, инструменты и методы», «работать как член команды». И только магистр-инженер в болонской модели должен обладать «глубокими принципиальными знаниями», уметь «решать неизвестные ранее задачи», создавать «концептуальные инженерные модели, системы и процессы», применять «инновационные методы для решения инженерных задач», разрабатывать «новые идеи», принимать «неизвестные ранее проектные решения», планировать и проводить «аналитические исследования», «интегрировать знания для решения комплексных практических задач», быть способным «эффективно функционировать в качестве лидера группы».
Unit 2
Science matters! The importance of scientific literacy.
It is well understood that literacy plays a major role in the career and personal life of individuals and in the degree of success they achieve. According to Statistics Canada, "Traditionally, literacy has referred to the ability to read, understand, and use information. But the term has come to take on broader meaning, standing for a range of knowledge, skills and abilities relating to reading, mathematics, science and more. This reflects widespread and deep changes that have taken place in technology and in the organization of work over the past quarter century. The ability to use and apply key mathematics and science concepts is now necessary across a wide range of occupations."
But Exactly How Important is Literacy?
Literacy is fundamental for learning in school. It has an impact on an individual's ability to participate in society and to understand important public issues. And it provides the foundation upon which skills needed in the labour market are built.
Technology, and the science behind it, permeates all aspects of our lives, from how we work and communicate to what we shop for and how we pay out bills. The complexity of today's world means that individuals need to have some level of proficiency in reading, mathematics and science in order to understand and participate fully in economic and social life.
A population's literacy skills also have a bearing on how well a country performs economically. The world we live in today is vastly different from that of a generation ago. Technological change has transformed the way in which work is done; competition in many industries is global in nature; and the industrial structure of the Canadian labour market has rapidly evolved from a manufacturing and agricultural base to one based on services. These changes have, in turn, brought rising skill requirements. Countries that are successful in endowing their populations with strong skills are usually in a better position to meet the economic challenges of operating in a globalized information economy.
Finally, having a population that has strong literacy skills also places a country in a better position to meet the complex social challenges that it faces. For example, strong literacy skills are linked to better health outcomes for individuals. A highly literate population will be better able to deal with issues of governance in a highly diverse society. And informed debate is needed to help us determine how best we can allocate scarce resources across competing priorities, such as education, health, investment in infrastructure and social programs.
What is Scientific Literacy? Some Definitions
Statistics Canada in their study of the performance of Canada's youth in science, reading and mathematics as part of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) defines scientific literacy as: "An individual's scientific knowledge and use of that knowledge to identify questions, to acquire new knowledge, to explain scientific phenomena, and to draw evidence-based conclusions about science-related issues, understanding of the characteristic features of science as a form of human knowledge and enquiry, awareness of how science and technology shape out material, intellectual, and cultural environments, and willingness to engage in science related issues, and with the ideas of science, as a reflective citizen."
The Council of Ministers of Education defined scientific literacy as "an evolving combination of the science-related attitudes, skills, and knowledge, students need to develop inquiry, problem-solving and decision-making abilities, to become lifelong learners, and to maintain a sense of wonder about the world around them."
Robert Hazen in his paper entitled "Why Should You Be Scientifically Literate" puts it more simply as: "a mix of concepts, history, and philosophy that help you understand the scientific issues of our time". To Hazen, a long-time advocate and leading promoter of scientific literacy, it means a broad understanding of basic concepts (see The Joy of Science, The Teaching Company, 2009). (6) Scientific literacy is definitely not the specialized, jargon-filled esoteric lingo of the experts and Hazen notes that one doesn't have to be able to synthesize new drugs to appreciate the importance of medical advances! Scientific literacy is rooted in the most general scientific principles and broad knowledge of science. Hazen considers the scientifically literate citizen as one who possesses facts and vocabulary sufficient to comprehend the context of the daily news. Put another way, "If you can understand scientific issues in magazines and newspapers (if you can tackle articles about genetic engineering or the ozone hole with the same case that you would sports, politics or the arts) then you are scientifically literate". There are two important but separate aspects of scientific knowledge that should not be confused, doing science, which is the practice of scientists and using science, which in one way or another in actuality or potentially is in the domain of everyone. It is here that scientific literacy plays such a vital role.
Check your comprehension
~ What is scientific literacy?
~ Why is scientific literacy important for science?
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/198289749_2.html
Unit 3