Students’ narcissism trumps their work ethic

At the same time it is hardly surprising when they are educated through a performative system and narrow curriculum that prioritises teaching to the test. When teachers are judged, promoted and paid on the strength of their pupils’ results, their undoubted aim is to make sure they pass. This is arriving in the University system, and the TEF will soon be reinforcing it.

Considering that my undergraduate university refused to fund PhD students without firsts in my field, forcing me to search around for a department who would fund my lowly 2:1, is it any wonder students simply push for grades? The barrier for entry to academia is often a high 2:1 or 1st, so I find it disingenuous for academics to complain about students learning to the test or pushing for higher marks. Those students will do better than those of us who enjoy learning and are led by curiosity (unless we're fortunate enough to be truly brilliant which is rare even among academics).

If this analysis were essentially correct, up to two-thirds of students would not have come out in support of recent strikes. Some of the ‘responses’ re. expectations, targeted feed forward etc. are basic good practice ... but it is absolutely not my experience (admittedly at only a couple of HEIs) that students are somehow ‘working less hard’, than my generation of younger undergraduates did (in early 80s). If anything, on the basis of my own (increasingly failing) personal (and hence sample of one) memory, the reverse is as likely - perhaps more so - to be true.

the system is constructed within a framework that needs to be completely undone. Learning is not rewarded for the sake of benefiting human progress within an ethos of empathy and long-term existence of justice and equality. It is rather, a negative disfunctional platform that emphasizes competition and profit. Education for learning about ourselves and others, as opposed to gearing towards profession, isn't elitist. It's humanist.