Episode 8

Ronald Barnett, Ph.D: Higher education is found in criticality, not university

How might we re-think higher education to be about our ability to discern the world and take action, not the diplomas we receive?

I speak with Ronald Barnett. Ron has spent a lifetime in higher education as a scholar, institutional leader and manager, researcher, and writer. He is recognized as having introduced and developed the philosophy of higher education as a field in its own right (and he is the President of the recently established Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education Society, and co-editor of two major book series. Since 1990, he has been on the staff of the Education Faculty of University College London, where he is now an Emeritus Professor. Over the years, Ron has written and edited more than 35 books and over 150 papers has been cited in the literature over 25,000 times. There are about 3 million words of his in the public domain. He continues to act as a consultant to individual universities around the world on higher education matters, and also with his work in examining, reviewing, editing, and mentoring. We discuss:

🥥 Higher education as a process, not an institution;

🥥 The conspiracy that involves all stakeholders in grade inflation and the degradation of standards;


🥥 Ethics as the platform from which the critical thinker seeks to make the world a better place.


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Coconut Thinking
The Coconut Thinking podcast— where learning, educayion, and regenerative practice meet.