This selfie and story have gone viral in Malaysia. It’s the
perfect image of the gulf between the old and the young, or more accurately the
old and the new – the grumpy, old academic, bamboozled by what’s happening and
the excited young student, ready to celebrate his achievement. 21-year-old
photography student, Muhammed Radzi, took the selfie at his graduation but has
been suspended by the University for being disrespectful. The lad was confused,
"I thought what was the harm in recording this moment after working hard
for two years in getting my diploma…
I really did not know that it was not allowed, and no one
told me." He in no way meant it to
be disrespectful. In fact he thought, as a photography student, that it was
appropriate, a sort of celebration of his achievement. "I thought it would
be appropriate for a photography student like me to make a symbolic gesture in
taking a selfie”. Interesting
Clash of age and
culture
For the elderly academic, photography is all about posed
images for weddings, official functions, officials, group graduation pictures
and brochures. He has no idea that photography has now largely migrated to the
capture of real life events and online delivery. But there’s something deeper
at work here. Malaysia has a mixture of Confucian and Islamic cultures, both of
which have deeply-embedded principles of deference, for age and authority.
Confucius and Mohammed both had an enormous and still massively influential
influence on education. There’s bigger issues at stake here.
Internet – child of
Enlightenment
The internet was born in the west, in an open,
post-Enlightenment culture, where freedom of speech and critical thought are
admired and seen as fundamental to academe. Don’t assume that this is true
elsewhere. Similarly in education. Many countries have adopted the robes,
mortar boards, degrees and structures of the European University; they have not
adopted its principles.
1. Not a liberal-arts
agenda
Many countries in the Far East, Middle East and Africa, have
NOT adopted the liberal-arts agenda and why should they? They are happy to
adopt the trappings of academia but not what they see as the principles of free
thought, open debate and critical thinking. Their main purpose is personal and
societal economic progress; not
personal intellectual development. We
assume that our enlightenment values should be adopted globally. This has not
happened.
2. Knowledge
transmission
Knowledge is seen in many institutions as a commodity to be
passed down from academics to students. In Confucian cultures, despite the fact
that there’s a great deal of pedagogic sophistication in Confucian texts, the
master-pupil transmission, or what Freire called the ‘banking’ model of
teaching and learning is still the norm. The model in the Middle East is often
a literal process of rote learning, memorisation and recitation, that mirrors
that of religious learning (Koran literally means recitation.) This is changing
but slowly.
3. Critical thought
is not the point
Few who teach, either there or here in the west, dispute the
fact that it is difficult to get many students engaged in asking questions,
critical debate and a culture of free expression. I myself have experienced
this in work I did for the World Bank online into China and lecturing to
students in Malaysia, where the only questions came from foreign, Western
students. Their mindset is different and they’re there to get the job done. I’m
not saying this is bad but it is different.
4. Culture of
deference for age
This is a noted principle, not only in Confucian and Islamic
cultures but in many other cultural contexts. We are far less submissive in the
west and see the young as not only having a voice but our duty being to
encourage them to develop that voice. The rise of teenage culture in the West
was not mimicked in every other corner of the globe.
5. Culture of
deference for authority
Deference for political, religious and institutional authority
is still a potent force in many countries. We may see our University years as
being one of free thought, reflection, even rebelliousness. That is not always
tolerated elsewhere. In fact, students may be seen as submitting to the regime
of the institution, be diligent, study hard and question little.
6. Business of
education
Witness the fact that few students from the east come to the
UK to do courses beyond the utilitarian; business, IT, engineering and medicine
etc. This is about status back home and making money, not critical thought. Of
course, the Universities in the west are glad to keep this hidden under the
mortar-board, as they need this revenue for survival. Many are now dependent on
this income stream. When it comes to the crunch this side of Higher Education
is in the ‘business’ of education. It’s a shady world of marketing, agents and
less than rigorous admissions.
Them and Us?
Far from being a ‘them’ and ‘Us’ issue, it has become an
exchange. Students today are much more global in outlook. Many have taken the
trappings of our system but not the culture or entire curriculum. We are
increasingly copying their more ractical, utilitarian view of Higher Education.
Funding has been increasing in STEM subjects at the expense of the Liberal-Arts
agenda, driven by a political perception that we’re in catch-up mode with
eastern economies (and PIDA). Far from copying Finland, we’re more likely to be
following Shanghai. This may be seen as heresy but why should they copy a
system that is going through crises in costs and relevance?
Conclusion
Both systems are imbalanced and both have a lot to learn
from each other. There is an assumption in Academia, of a homogenous worldwide
network of Universities, that have all adopted the liberal views of western
academe. This was never true in most parts of the world, outside of Europe and
the US. They’re milking us for our structures, processes and expertise but have
no intention of necessarily copying our values. Nevertheless, what the selfie
story shows is that this Culture War still has a long way to go. The next
generation use, communicate, contribute, collaborate and live a good deal of
their lives in that other vast global territory – the internet. They may well
have their say. On the other hand that ‘say’ may be the rejection of the
Enlightenment model. The digital genie is out of the bottle but the jury is
also still out……
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