152 Ethics in Higher Education: Values-driven Leaders for the Future
9.2.4 Responding to the Challenges of Higher Education
The UNESCO Study Rethinking Education: Towards a Global
Common Good (2015) re-introduces the idea of the “common good” in
relation not only to basic education, but also to tertiary and technical
education and training. It is suggested that all education, formal and
non-formal, is essential for human living. This, of course, goes beyond
education as a parental responsibility, or family endeavour, or the means
for accessing material benefits, or is it the task of the community for its
own renewal. It is also the case that education becomes a necessary good
for humanity to thrive and to prosper, and indeed, for humanity to be
able to achieve her potential and to make the best of the opportunities
available to them. The study goes on to say that “the creation of
knowledge, as well as its acquisition, validation and use, are common to
all people as part of a collective and societal endeavour” (2015:11). It is
refreshing in my view to move away from the previous individualistic
notions of education, or the simple utilitarian notions, back to the idea
that education has a purpose in and of itself.
It is now accepted, as the World Bank study Constructing
Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education (2012)
says, that tertiary education must be viewed as of value beyond
preparing young men and women for useful service to society in the
world of work. “It also involves”, says the World Bank, “developing a
person’s ability to reason systematically about critical questions and
issues, to place facts in a broader context, to consider the moral
implications of actions and choices, to communicate knowledge and
questions effectively, and to nurture habits that promote life-long
learning behaviours outside of the formal academic setting” (2012:31).
If this is so, what then does that say or prescribe about higher education
leadership? It means, in my view, that a higher education leader must
embrace these perspectives in her/his vision not just for the university
but for society, and understand the relationship between the academy