Photo: The medieval fortress of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg at sunset.
Two weeks.
65 Graduate Students.
23 Adult Education Professors.
25 Countries Represented.
International Winter School: Comparative Studies in
Lifelong Learning & Adult Education
February 5-16, 2018
Würzburg, Germany
I was privileged to be accepted to participate in the 5th annual International Winter School hosted at the University of Würzburg. The Winter School was an intensive two week seminar exploring international perspectives on adult education and the evolution of the field from its roots in popular education to the role it plays in a neoliberal world. The first week involved lectures on theory as well as EU and international policies as well as field visits to adult education providers in Germany. The second week, the participants were divided into comparative groups and explored a particular facet of adult education, noting similarities, differences, and cultural and theoretical reasons for differences across nations. To learn more about the International Winter School, visit their website by clicking this link.
My comparative group studied Students' voice as teaching and learning methods in higher education and assessment and considered perspectives from the United States, India, Latvia, Hungary, and Italy. Fascinating concepts came out of our discussion, such as the role of political systems in fostering support for student voice in universities and the pervasiveness of lecture as the most common mode of teaching across the countries compared.
In preparation for the comparative work, I was tasked with preparing an essay exploring student voice in the United States. The title and abstract are excerpted below. You may download the entire document by clicking the link.
Student Voice as a Tool of Assessment in Higher Education and an Essential Element of the Democratic Classroom
ABSTRACT: Student voice gained prominence in the United States in the 1960s. The increased discourse and civic action surrounding the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War led students to consider their dissatisfaction with higher education. By the end of the 1960s, almost every U.S. university had instituted systems—typically course surveys—that allowed their students to evaluate their courses and instructors. Since that time, researchers and educators have been further exploring and experimenting with how students can offer their unique perspective to improve educational practices. This essay reviews the history of student voice and observes its application through the lens of the human resources management model of education and the concept of students as consumers of higher education and the lens of the democratic-emancipatory model that takes a more humanistic approach to pedagogy and curriculum. It further examines the uses and critiques of student evaluation surveys and concepts related to making classrooms democratic spaces.
Keywords: Student voice, democratic classroom, higher education, students as consumers
Download "Student Voice as a Tool of Assessment in Higher Education and an Essential Element of the Democratic Classroom"
Keywords: Student voice, democratic classroom, higher education, students as consumers
Download "Student Voice as a Tool of Assessment in Higher Education and an Essential Element of the Democratic Classroom"