The Sudoku Effect: Universities in the Vicious Circle of Bureaucracy

The Sudoku Effect: Universities in the Vicious Circle of Bureaucracy
Author: Stefan Kühl
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 101
Release: 2014-03-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3319040871

This book shows that the introduction of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) of credit points as a new accounting unit at universities has led to increased bureaucracy and the schoolmaster-style regimentation of Bachelor’s and Master’s courses. It explains how, due to the pressure of having to plan every single working hour of studying in advance, a ‘Sudoku Effect’ is created by the necessity to combine courses, exams and modules in such a way that the points ‘add up’. An unintentional side effect of the introduction of the ECTS, the Sudoku Effect has led to more classroom style teaching, an inflation of exams and fewer choices available to students. It has resulted in such complex and contradictory guidelines for the planning of the curriculum that the values attributed to the higher education reform can often only be realised if the rules for Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes are ignored, or at least stretched, in practice. The book describes how the reaction to this situation is the continuous further refinement of the complicated rules rather than their abolishment.

The Decline and Renaissance of Universities

The Decline and Renaissance of Universities
Author: Renzo Rosso
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2019-06-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030203859

Instead of following the Magna Charta Universitatum, the declaration of the principles of knowledge signed in 1988 in Bologna, the academic approach pursued in Europe and the other continents over the past 30 years has strictly employed a utilitarian model of higher education. This jeopardizes academic freedom, shared governance and tenure, the three pillars of the long-established model of universities. Scientific conformism and fragmentation, educational bias and authoritarianism are the major drawbacks, together with a poor readiness to meet the emerging challenges in the labor market and technology. In this book, Renzo Rosso presents a new model for countering these developments, e.g. by establishing novel democratic rules for university governance. The Slow University paradigm positions culture and education as essential tools for the long-term survival of humankind.

Universities and Colleges: A Very Short Introduction

Universities and Colleges: A Very Short Introduction
Author: David Palfreyman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2017-12-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0191078751

What is a university? What is the University? How have universities evolved over the centuries? How might they change over the coming decades as the physical and organisational entity most identified with 'higher education' being delivered to over 250 million students? What will be the impact of digital- and distance-learning, of commercial for-profit new entrants to the higher education market, of government austerity, of globalization, of student consumerism? Exploring the origins and the concept, the idea and the ideal, of the university, this Very Short Introduction discusses one of the world's oldest, most resilient, and most adaptable institutions. David Palfreyman and Paul Temple consider the links between universities and the economy, and the role of universities within society. Highlighting some of the key questions surrounding the position of universities, they ask how the university can be politically accountable for its taxpayer funding, if it needs to be autonomous to function effectively as a public good. Are professors professional enough in their teaching practices at a time that increasing tuition fees transform students more and more into consumers? And just what does 'academic freedom' for university faculties really entail? ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

From Globalization to World Society

From Globalization to World Society
Author: Boris Holzer
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2014-08-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317680006

Since the 1970s, various sociological approaches have tried to understand and conceptualize "the global," yet few of them have systematically addressed the full spectrum of social relationships. Prominent exponents of the global approach - such as world systems analysis - instead have focused on particular domains such as politics or the economy. Under the label of "world society," however, some authors have suggested alternatives to the predominant equivocation of society and the nation-state. The contributions to this volume share that objective and take their point of departure from the two most ambitious projects of a theory of world society: world polity research and systems theory, mapping out the common ground and assessing their potential to inform empirical analyses of globalization.

Work: Marxist and Systems-Theoretical Approaches

Work: Marxist and Systems-Theoretical Approaches
Author: Stefan Kühl
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2019-05-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0429627505

Using Marxist and systems theory as guides, this book offers an entry point to the current debate on the role of economy in modern society, the change in work organizations and the effect of the economy on the individual. It explores the concepts of ‘work society’, ‘industrial society’ and ‘capitalist society’ to explain the conditions of society as a whole, and not just the conditions of businesses, making particular use of the category of ‘work’. The first systematic theoretical comparison of Marxism and systems theory, it provides a brief overview of the central debates concerning work society and the controversies surrounding organizations in capitalism. As such, it will appeal to social scientists and social theorists with interests in the sociology of work, industry and organizations.

Bullshit Jobs

Bullshit Jobs
Author: David Graeber
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1501143336

From David Graeber, the bestselling author of The Dawn of Everything and Debt—“a master of opening up thought and stimulating debate” (Slate)—a powerful argument against the rise of meaningless, unfulfilling jobs…and their consequences. Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world? In the spring of 2013, David Graeber asked this question in a playful, provocative essay titled “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.” It went viral. After one million online views in seventeen different languages, people all over the world are still debating the answer. There are hordes of people—HR consultants, communication coordinators, telemarketing researchers, corporate lawyers—whose jobs are useless, and, tragically, they know it. These people are caught in bullshit jobs. Graeber explores one of society’s most vexing and deeply felt concerns, indicting among other villains a particular strain of finance capitalism that betrays ideals shared by thinkers ranging from Keynes to Lincoln. “Clever and charismatic” (The New Yorker), Bullshit Jobs gives individuals, corporations, and societies permission to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture. This book is for everyone who wants to turn their vocation back into an avocation and “a thought-provoking examination of our working lives” (Financial Times).

Dictionary of the British English Spelling System

Dictionary of the British English Spelling System
Author: Greg Brooks
Publisher: Open Book Publishers
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2015-03-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1783741074

This book will tell all you need to know about British English spelling. It's a reference work intended for anyone interested in the English language, especially those who teach it, whatever the age or mother tongue of their students. It will be particularly useful to those wishing to produce well-designed materials for teaching initial literacy via phonics, for teaching English as a foreign or second language, and for teacher training. English spelling is notoriously complicated and difficult to learn; it is correctly described as much less regular and predictable than any other alphabetic orthography. However, there is more regularity in the English spelling system than is generally appreciated. This book provides, for the first time, a thorough account of the whole complex system. It does so by describing how phonemes relate to graphemes and vice versa. It enables searches for particular words, so that one can easily find, not the meanings or pronunciations of words, but the other words with which those with unusual phoneme-grapheme/grapheme-phoneme correspondences keep company. Other unique features of this book include teacher-friendly lists of correspondences and various regularities not described by previous authorities, for example the strong tendency for the letter-name vowel phonemes (the names of the letters ) to be spelt with those single letters in non-final syllables.

The Refusal of Work

The Refusal of Work
Author: David Frayne
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2015-11-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1783601205

Paid work is absolutely central to the culture and politics of capitalist societies, yet today’s work-centred world is becoming increasingly hostile to the human need for autonomy, spontaneity and community. The grim reality of a society in which some are overworked, whilst others are condemned to intermittent work and unemployment, is progressively more difficult to tolerate. In this thought-provoking book, David Frayne questions the central place of work in mainstream political visions of the future, laying bare the ways in which economic demands colonise our lives and priorities. Drawing on his original research into the lives of people who are actively resisting nine-to-five employment, Frayne asks what motivates these people to disconnect from work, whether or not their resistance is futile, and whether they might have the capacity to inspire an alternative form of development, based on a reduction and social redistribution of work. A crucial dissection of the work-centred nature of modern society and emerging resistance to it, The Refusal of Work is a bold call for a more humane and sustainable vision of social progress.

An Introduction to Japanese Society

An Introduction to Japanese Society
Author: Yoshio Sugimoto
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2010-06-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 113948947X

Essential reading for students of Japanese society, An Introduction to Japanese Society now enters its third edition. Here, internationally renowned scholar, Yoshio Sugimoto, writes a sophisticated, yet highly readable and lucid text, using both English and Japanese sources to update and expand upon his original narrative. The book challenges the traditional notion that Japan comprises a uniform culture, and draws attention to its subcultural diversity and class competition. Covering all aspects of Japanese society, it includes chapters on class, geographical and generational variation, work, education, gender, minorities, popular culture and the establishment. This new edition features sections on: Japan's cultural capitalism; the decline of the conventional Japanese management model; the rise of the 'socially divided society' thesis; changes of government; the spread of manga, animation and Japan's popular culture overseas; and the expansion of civil society in Japan.

Common Errors in English Usage

Common Errors in English Usage
Author: Paul Brians
Publisher: Franklin, Beedle & Associates, Inc.
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2003
Genre: English language
ISBN: 1887902899

Online version of Common Errors in English Usage written by Paul Brians.