tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5337360001060332600.post1038930434539897509..comments2023-07-25T08:26:50.096-06:00Comments on Learning at Westminster: In Praise of Business Educationgaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05362826471852969332noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5337360001060332600.post-42689319528499600332011-04-21T16:24:29.494-06:002011-04-21T16:24:29.494-06:00Small things indeed, but revolutions have been bor...Small things indeed, but revolutions have been born from such apparently small changes! Very insightful thoughts and certainly valuable at revealing many of the opportunities where Westminster College is making significant inroads, (although, like all business schools, we still have some obstacles to overcome). As one of your traditional MBA instructors, (as well as an architect and Coach in your new project-based programs), I can say that the journey over the last four years has been both a whirlwind as well as an exceptional professional development experience. When I returned to the academy in 1999 to work toward achieving my PhD after 35+ years in business and management, I was dubious about whether I had the stamina and intelligence to catalyze change in the burdensome, Kafka-like “bureaucratique” of higher education. I am still a bit anxious about whether I will survive (GRIN). <br /><br />During these past four years, and especially under your unique leadership skills and style, I have developed confidence and practice through the incremental and radical changes I have been able to put in place in my andragogy and the resulting transformation of learner outcomes. Many of us in the Division of New Learning are a self-selected team that have been permitted and encouraged to develop and identify “best practices” in our non-traditional BBA and MBA learning modules, where “coaching” has eclipsed the traditional approach to “teaching.” Many of us have “taken to heart and soul” the constructive criticism leveled by Sir Ken Robinson's proposal against higher education. I have integrated competency and project-based deliverables and approaches into my “traditional,” classroom-based MBA courses. The results have both astounded me as well as my learners.<br /><br />Other Westminster Schools are beginning to build upon the foundation encouraged within the Gore School of Business. Our campus has been stimulated to continue to experiment with “guide on the side” approaches, contrasting our success with the anachronistic “sage on the stage” styles, (although I have experienced some incredibly superb lectures). <br /><br />As a private institution, we have received support from the very top of the College, including the Board of Trustees, to construct new learning strategies, transform techniques, and architect new methods that will capitalize upon the learners’ capacity to master competencies. <br /><br />I pray we can keep up this momentum and possibly, in the next few years, we will no longer need a Division of New Learning. By that time, the transformative experience we are participating in could morph the majority of us into the philosophy of “new learning.” I live in hope…Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01068382564866622838noreply@blogger.com