Abstract
Much of the diagnosis of British higher education, past and present, has made frequent use of cataclysmic language. It is not uncommon to perceive the universities as in a state of crisis from which they will recover only if they succeed in radically reshaping themselves (Moberley, 1949, The Crisis of the University; Scott, 1984, The Crisis of the University). Their values, purposes, procedures and structures – not to mention their personnel – are all too frequently seen as ineffective in the light of prevailing circumstances. They need root and branch reform if they are to survive. Such foreboding has never been more sharply pronounced than in the past 30 years as the established system has found itself ever more tightly controlled by the dictates of successive governments and now about to face significant cuts in funding for teaching as the government attempts to reduce public expenditure.
The Young Man in a Hurry is a narrow-minded and ridiculously youthful prig, who is inexperienced enough to imagine that something might be done before very long, and even to suggest definite things. His most dangerous defect being want of experience, everything should be done to prevent him from taking any part in affairs.
(Cornford,1908)
My prediction is that Oxford will not survive new Labour as a federal institution.
(Stevens,1998)
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Tapper, T., Palfreyman, D. (2011). The Collegiate University in Retreat?. In: Oxford, the Collegiate University. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 34. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0047-5_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0047-5_9
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