Changing demographics of higher education: policy implications for research, teaching and learning

HIGHER EDUCATION IN CHALLENGING TIMES: QUESTIONING THE UNQUESTIONED

Professor Tom Schuller, Director of Longview, London
Monday 5 December
12.00 to 14.00 (Tea and coffee from 11.30, light lunch available after seminar)
Gallery Room, The Helix, DCU
[Seminar Flyer PDF]

The main speaker for this event is Professor Tom Schuller. Professor Schuller is Director of Longview, a 'think-tank' promoting longitudinal and lifecourse research, and a consultant on social and educational research. From 2008-2010 Tom directed the independent Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning, sponsored by the UK's National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. With Sir David Watson, he co-published the Inquiry's main report, Learning Through Life, in September 2009 to a warm reception from researchers and from all political parties. From 2003-2008 he was Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) at OECD, with responsibility for CERI's projects relating to some 30 countries. Before that Tom was Dean of the Faculty of Continuing Education and Professor of Lifelong Learning at Birkbeck, University of London; and co-director of the Research Centre on the Wider Benefits of Learning. He chairs the Governing Board of the Working Men's College in London, Europe's oldest adult education institute. He is a Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London and the Institute of Education; a Senior Research Fellow with the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education; Research Associate with SKOPE (University of Oxford); and a Visiting Research Fellow with the UK Commission on Employment and Skills.

ABSTRACT
Almost all OECD countries have ageing populations. This has major implications for education and lifelong learning, some of which are more obvious than others. Professor Schuller will argue that the implications are not only to do with how to cater for the learning needs of older people. We need a fresh look at the lifecourse as a whole, and the relationships between age groups and generations. We also need to take more seriously the research challenges - and opportunities - posed by such a fresh look.

The lecture will be introduced by Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU with expert panellists Professor Brendan Whelan, Research Advisor, the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) and previously Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Professor Mark Morgan, Cregan Professor of Education and Psychology, St Patrick's College Drumcondra and DCU and Acting Director 'Growing up in Ireland' and Trudy Corrigan, Lecturer in the School of Education Studies DCU and DCU Intergenerational Learning Programme Coordinator.

There is no fee for attendance, but booking is required as places are limited to facilitate discussion. A light lunch will be provided. Please confirm your attendance for this event by registering at the following page
http://www4.dcu.ie/ovpli/herc/tom_schuller_register.shtml

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HIGHER EDUCATION IN CHALLENGING TIMES: QUESTIONING THE UNQUESTIONED is a lecture series organised by the Higher Education Research Centre (HERC) at DCU and co-sponsored by the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (DRHEA) and the Higher Education Authority

IHERD - OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development

IHERD (Innovation, Research and Higher Education for Development) is a recently launched four-year OECD programme supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). The main objective is to increase strategic and coherent investments in innovation, higher education and research relevant to development on a global level.

Advisory Committee and Secretariat of IHERD

The programme spans two Divisions within OECD: the Country Studies and Outlook (CSO) Division in the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) and the Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) in the Education Directorate (EDU). The work of IHERD is supported by an International Advisory Committee, of which Professor Maria Slowey from DCU is a member.

‘The primary objective of the IHERD programme is to increase the policy relevance of research and to promote evidence-based policy making in higher education, research and innovation for development. This will be achieved through stimulating a shift in the research agenda by reviewing existing research, by commissioning new research and by fostering links with leading researchers and research institutions in the IHERD field.’ (OECD Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Research for Development, 2011).