Canadian Government Executive - Volume 26 - Issue 03

May/June 2020 // Canadian Government Executive / 19 Experiential education offers insights that marry learning outcomes with real-world employment prospects. University administrations are found wanting behind a cloak of labour relations in securing a reliable supply of gifted practitioner-scholars. T he Motorcycle Diaries is a 2004 road movie, coming-of-age sto- ry, and biopic. The film follows a young Che Guevara’s travels across South America in 1952. He takes in the lush landscapes and dire disparities of Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela. The experience changes the course of his life forever. Che was more than a political revolu- tionary and today is more than a popular t-shirt image. According to Jean-Paul Sar- tre, “Che was the most complete human being of our age.” Nelson Mandela said, “Che Guevara is an inspiration for every human being who loves freedom.” Che’s consequential but truncated life is a metaphor for how context shapes the learning journey in times of strife and un- certainty. Context matters In Why Nations Fail , Acemoglu & Robin- son (2012) explain that the Black Plague represented both human calamity and opportunity for reinvention. They argue that, without the Plague, the Renaissance might have taken centuries to emerge. In March 2020, universities in Canada and globally faced the unexpected turmoil of suddenly transposing teaching from the classroom to online ... indefinitely. It raises the question of whether COVID-19 is higher education’s Black Plague. The winds of change were already blowing fiercely across Ontario’s rugged education terrain before the pandemic reset the compass. Fiscal restraint. A new government’s 10 per cent cut to university funding is harsh evidence of an antic disposition towards education. Entrenched negotia- tions with the secondary teachers’ union on issues like class size and mandatory online courses foreshadow draconian measures. The advent of COVID-19 may embolden government to cherry pick policy-based evidence of simplistic solu- tions. It may also accelerate hollowing out the capacity to pursue education’s return-on-investment proposition. Online delivery. Whether blended or remote, online learning is appropriate for many routinized, mass-scale cours- es where the imperative is knowledge transfer. These delivery methods be- come less viable as third and fourth-year students with higher-order learning ex- pectations progress toward professional careers and postgraduate studies. Criti- cal thinking, which cannot be ingrained easily without collective, face-to-face interaction, is increasingly the learning gap that demands time and attention. Experiential learning. The growing priority of post-graduation employ- ment outcomes argues for enhanced deployment of practitioner-scholars in academia. Faculty grounded in public sector careers are adept at connecting curriculum and work. Experiential edu- cation offers insights that marry learning outcomes with real-world employment prospects. University administrations are found wanting behind a cloak of labour relations in securing a reliable supply of gifted practitioner-scholars. Learning journeys It is in this turbulent context that stu- dents are called to learn. Millennials seek faculty guidance to cross the divide from fledgling, tech-savvy whiz kids to embrace the humble craft of public management. Does the immediacy of the Millennial Outlook in dangerous t imes Studying public management Let the world change you, and you can change the world. –Che Guevara By John Wilkins