ABSTRACT
I want to start with two preliminary remarks. Firstly, I have a problem. Not the problem that I am supposed to address, which I will address in a moment, but quite a different problem. And that problem is that if I compare academics’ expertise in research and teaching I am full of admiration for the knowledge, experience, and training that goes with research, and I feel very different indeed about the corresponding matters in teaching. Now that consideration goes well beyond the question of being a competent or even excellent teacher. It goes to the heart of the problem, particularly in a changing situation: that is, to what extent can we continue with what we have done before, and to what extent should we have some quite radical changes in our approach to teaching and learning? If you want to answer that kind of question you have to study the pedagogy of higher education and I would be very surprised if even in this sympathetic audience there are more than a small fraction who have actually done that. One consequence of this is that I am highly sceptical of basing anything in connection with teaching on a consultation exercise, because it will mean that the traditional will get preserved in a situation in which there is a desperate need for change.
