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Purpose and consequence: making the world matter
Anna Wilson, Oxford Learning Institute, University of Oxford, UK
Gerlese Åkerlind, Teaching and Learning Centre, University of Canberra, Australia
Abstract
Viewing higher education as a sector of the economy, with a primarily economic, rather than social or
cultural, impact, encourages a consumerist, selfish view of the purpose of undertaking higher
education. How, in such a context, can graduates be encouraged to see the world as mattering – to see
themselves as potential change agents, whose receipt of higher education charges them with
responsibilities to others as well as personal advantages? Can we reshape the experiences of students
to promote a sense of connectedness and potency, of personal purpose and consequence?
We suggest that learning experiences based in work and authentic practice, increasingly common as
part of the employability agenda, offer excellent but under-exploited opportunities to develop such
awareness. This suggestion arises from empirical data obtained in an investigation of students’
contextualised understandings of ‘professionalism.’ Our research revealed a range of understandings
of the term, reflecting a variation in students’ understandings of the very purpose of behaving
professionally – whether to benefit themselves or others.
Outline
Young people in countries such as Australia and the UK increasingly expect and are expected to
attend university and obtain a Bachelor’s degree, as a basic prerequisite to obtaining the kind of
employment they might aspire to. At the same time, rising fees cast higher education as a commodity
to be bought – an asset that is worth a student’s financial and intellectual investment because of future
personal benefits, such as the possibility of relatively higher-paying work and status. Government
(and often institutional) rhetoric and policies position the primary purpose of higher education as the
production of graduates who can contribute to the workforce; higher education is positioned as
something with a primarily economic, rather than social or cultural, impact. These factors conspire to
emphasise a selfish, consumerist and utilitarian view of the purpose of undertaking higher education.
How, in such a context, can we encourage our graduates to see the world as mattering – to see
themselves as potential change agents, whose receipt of a higher education charges them with
capacities and responsibilities to effect ‘public good,’ as well as personal advantages? What
opportunities do we have to reshape the experiences of students to facilitate development of a sense of
connectedness and potency, of personal purpose and consequence?
We suggest that learning experiences based in work and authentic practice, increasingly common as
part of the employability agenda, offer excellent but under-exploited opportunities to develop such
awareness. This suggestion arises from empirical data obtained in an investigation of students’
contextualised understandings of ‘professionalism.’
The students were engaged in coursework programmes in a university that explicitly claims
‘professionalism and social responsibility’ among its graduates’ generic skills. They were drawn from
a mix of undergraduate and graduate courses in international studies, pharmacy, psychology and
public relations. Semi-structured interviews were used to probe understandings of professionalism,
focusing on concrete examples from their own experiences of work- or authentic practice-based
learning.
Our research revealed a range of understandings of the term. One critical and varying feature was the
scope of the consequences of professional or unprofessional behaviour. Conduct and decisions taken
in professional contexts were seen as impacting on an expanding network of stakeholders, with some
students seeing consequences only for themselves while others were aware of potentially much wider
impact. This reflected a variation in students’ understandings of the very purpose of behaving
professionally – whether to benefit themselves or others.
Some students saw the purpose of professionalism being personal advancement, for example “being
valued for what you do and also having that value shown possibly, maybe through money,” or “I want
them to see me . . . as being capable and someone who you know is determined . . . so that I can move
forward and move up.”
With such a view, the failure to behave professionally rebounded only on the individual: “You could
get fired . . . You could get demoted. You could get in a lot of trouble.”
Other students were aware that their conduct, decisions and actions might affect the reputation and
success of their host organization or business. Unprofessional conduct might result in loss of
reputation and business: “he's going to take his script somewhere else,” “Doesn’t look good on the
company … There could be lost opportunities for advertising … but it wouldn’t really affect the
greater public.”
The following three pharmacy students show an awareness of consequences for clients in their
explanation of why pharmacist-patient trust is important:
“. . . if someone didn't trust you enough to tell you that they were taking something that interacts with
something you tell them to take it and can then become unwell”
“[They] understand how to use that product properly, safely . . . they have all that information to
make the right choices and decisions.”
“you actually can’t force anything on anyone. I think the best is just to make sure they understand, can
weigh up their options, the pro’s and con’s . . . To make sure they actually understand that all the
options, if they don’t receive this medical treatment, this is the consequence of that fact.”
These examples differ in an increasing awareness of the client as an independent actor, capable of
making their own decisions. In the first, the purpose of professionalism is that the patient follows the
pharmacist’s expert instructions. In the second, it is that the makes the “right” choice, in the views of
the expert pharmacist. In the third, it is that the patient understands enough to be able to make their
own choice.
Some students also saw the purpose of professionalism as to uphold the reputation of the entire
discipline or profession. Maintaining professionalism was important to avoid “negative thoughts
about this particular profession” or “defamation of the discipline's reputation.”
All students in our sample described purposes and consequences relating to themselves, while only
some described purposes and consequences relating to others. Where such comments were made, the
majority related to people or organizations with whom the student had or expected to have direct
interactions – clients or patients, their work team or the host business.
A smaller number of students described purposes and consequences relating to people they did not
have direct interactions with – most commonly, such comments referred to potential impacts on the
profession or discipline as a whole. Students rarely described purposes or consequences that might
impact on the wider world – as the following quote suggests, this is perhaps because it is rare for them
to feel that their university work has genuine impact: “this might actually have an outcome; someone
else could actually read this. Rather than an essay where it’s oh whatever, it’s just going to be graded
and chucked in the pile.”
If we wish the outcomes of higher education to include a concern for the world, and an awareness of
potential to contribute to and impact on it, then it appears that work- and authentic practice-based
experiences could offer opportunities for students do just this. However, our sample shows that
students do not always do this spontaneously. This suggests that to fully exploit these opportunities,
students need to be led explicitly to consider the possible consequences of the choices they make, and
the reasons that underpin professional norms as well as their own judgments and decisions.