Managing selfishness
Written by Steven Schwartz on November 12th, 2008
The police inspector has a problem. Although he knows his two prisoners are guilty, he doesn’t have sufficient evidence to convict either one.
His only hope is to get them to confess, but they refuse to talk. So he separates the prisoners and makes each the following offer: If you and your partner both refuse […]
Higher education’s collision of values
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 15th, 2008
“The outsiders want the students trained for their first job out of university, and the academics inside the system want the students educated for 50 years of self-fulfilment. The trouble is that the students want both. The ancient collision between each student’s short-term and long-term goals, between training and education, between vocational and general, between […]
Higher education: less Gekko, more Gandhi
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 8th, 2008
In a speech to a group of business leaders recently, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd linked the turmoil in global financial markets with the 1987 film Wall Street. In the movie, fictional stockbroker Gordon Gekko makes the following speech:
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all […]
University access: why the good Lord is wrong
Written by Steven Schwartz on October 2nd, 2008
Lord Patten of Barnes, former Conservative MP and Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong, was in the news this week for a comment he made about his old alma mater, Oxford University.
Speaking at a meeting of the UK’s Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ (school principals as we’d call them in Australian) conference, Lord Patten, who […]
When central planning turns to farce …
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 10th, 2008
Nobel prize-winner Friedrich Hayek called the belief in the power of government central planning the “fatal conceit”. Today in an article in The Australian I highlight how that conceit led to a farce in medical training.
In short, I describe how federal government planners decided Australian universities were graduating too many doctors. Then a few years […]
Higher education: the skills students need
Written by Steven Schwartz on August 27th, 2008
A couple of newspaper stories this week caught my eye. At first glance they seem to have no connection, but taken together they raise some interesting questions for educators.
The first article (in the Sydney Morning Herald), ‘Plugged-in politics hits our shores’ concerns what the author calls ‘Politics 2.0’ (a reference to the Web 1.0 […]
Let’s make sure democracy is not a fleeting thing
Written by Steven Schwartz on August 21st, 2008
Last night, a celebration took place. It was designed to commemorate the centenary of an event, which, at the time, captured the attention of Australia.
One hundred years ago this week, American battle ships steamed passed South Head on their way into Sydney Harbour. The 16 vessels, belching steam and glistening in the sun, filled the […]
Higher education: Postmodernism rides again?
Written by Steven Schwartz on August 7th, 2008
I thought postmodernism had ridden off into the sunset after a brief sojourn on the higher education stage. But apparently not so – it seems pomo is alive and well and damaging our students.
According to this month’s Australian Literary Review postmodernism is ruining our universities. The ALR features an article – Paralysed by Postmodernism - […]
Ethical research: time to take an oath?
Written by Steven Schwartz on July 23rd, 2008
Macquarie University is currently in the midst of a large project to develop an ethical framework for the university.
Thus, it is apposite to note that the University of Toronto is now asking medical researchers to take an oath that says: “I promise never to allow financial gain, competitiveness or ambition to cloud my judgment […]
Faith, hope and … higher education?
Written by Steven Schwartz on July 16th, 2008
World Youth Day is underway in Sydney with more than 100,000 young Catholic pilgrims from Australia and around the world in attendance. It’s a great occasion made even more significant by the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, who will receive a public welcome in Sydney later this week.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Tuesday welcomed the […]