Oliver Hopker - Collaboration VS competition

The final lecture topic I am going to be talking about was by Oliver Hopker who spoke about the collaborations and mergers within education and the south west wales regional learning partnership.

In Wales the Welsh Government have been supporting and encouraging collaboration within the educational settings including Higher Education, Local authorities, Further Education/6^th forms and schools. This means promoting universities to work with each other, schools to work with each other and so on rather than competing with one another.

Here are a few of some current collaborations in Wales:

·         External Examiner and validation panel membership ( Exams/assignments are seen by an external examiner from elsewhere such as Edinburgh.) this is to ensure that students work has been marked equally.

·         Research projects and library access which allows you to use and access different library facilities within Swansea with registration.

·         ICT and academic development

·         Quality and standards assurance.

There are many advantages of collaboration within different settings such as it allows each other to share their learning experience and knowledge.

It has greater efficiency and helps save the financial state within the community as it will cost a lot cheaper.Collaboration also helps enhance greater effectiveness by using additional products and services and by enabling the value of external eye which means if someone is struggling with something they are able to suggest ways to help you.

Alongside collaborations there are a few competitions that are happening within different settings in Wales such as:

-          Student recruitment

-          League tables

-          Research funding (Compete for funding)

-          Staff recruitment (they are looking for good staff but paid with low costs)

-          Student places as this also helps with funding

-          Reputation and publicity (the higher their reputation, the more publicity they will get and this is a great achievement)

Universities compete with other universities to help bring in more money into their university.

There are also benefits of competitiveness such as it allows and encourages each setting to put greater efforts and work harder to gain a good reputation. It also helps provide choice of alternative products and services such as more choices in courses etc. It enables them to fund better facilities such as libraries and books.

During this lecture we were also explained on the pros and cons of small and large higher education institutes. 

Here are the pros and cons of small HEI. Having small HEI allows having better direct management control, simple structures and minimum administrative overheads. It has smaller classes depending on the number of students so it is a lot more spacey for students and a better learning environment. It also has tailored programs and allows flexibility. 

Some cons of small HEI is that the resources base is limited meaning less resources and facilities are provided to students such as library facilities, books, sport facilities. These are vital in any educational setting to help fulfill students needs and lacking them could result in students leaving and looking for an alternative place.

Here are some of the pros and cons of having Large HEI. It has a larger resource base meaning many resources are widely available, significant buying power (enables them to buy big items). Having a larger HEI also means that there will be a more wider range of subject bases and a range of courses which are better suited to reach each individuals interest and finally there are many more opportunities for staff career moves.

Some cons of having a large HEI are is that it could be difficult to see some staff which is a con especially if they are needed for support e.g. in an assignment. You must stick to the course you have chosen through the year or it will be very difficult to change into another course which limits the student’s interest and motivation. It also means that there will be remote management and complex structures. It will have larger classes and rigid procedures and tightly defined courses.

References:

Hopker O, (2012) ‘Collaborations and mergers within education and the south west wales regional learning partnership. What is Education? Policy and practice BA (hons), faculty of Humanities. Unpublished.