HIGH TECH - HIGH TOUCH - LEARNING WITH PURPOSE WITHIN A MEANINGFUL CONTEXT

This contribution critically examines current state of affairs in tertiary teaching taking into account advances in technology but also advances in development of human consciousness. It emphasizes the necessity to approach learners as whole human beings incorporating the meaning and purpose of their future professions and it explores advantages of a transdicisplinary approach at Masters level of study. Special emphasis will be put on how contextualizing a programme of study within students’ fields of interest at this level enhances their career prospects taking into account their motivation, talents, skills and abilities.

This paper proposes a process which puts a student and a community they are planning to contribute to in the centre of their curriculum, weaving their interests and talents through student designed and community based assignments or projects which make learning integrated and holistic.

The purpose of this approach is to support students in becoming independent but interrelated, self-directed but community minded practitioners able to engage in effective and ethical strategies to bring forth the world.

The full paper will focus on seven principles that can serve as signposts for effective and context minded tertiary education and propose solutions for transformative tertiary education which engages students on personal, professional and political level to bring about changes in values, beliefs, knowledge and skills that students need to equip themselves with in order to contribute to co-creation of unknown future.

The full paper will explore characteristics of today’s learners in the context of communities they serve and the balance between outcome centered education and process focused learning.

Experience of a group of tertiary teachers who decided to engage in a cooperative inquiry into effectiveness of their teaching while ‘playing’ with a novel method of teaching and learning will be presented with a possibility for conference participants to get involved in a wider international project in 2013 which will focus on tertiary teaching which caters for a range of learning styles, cultures, ages, religious or belief affiliations, sexual orientations and life experiences.