Desirable and realistic futures of the university: a mixed-methods study with teachers in Denmark

• Autores: Magda Pischetola, Maria Hvid Stenalt, Liv Sofie Nøhr, Danielle Hagood, Morten Misfeldt
• Localización: International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, ISSN 2365-9440, Nº. 21, 2024
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In this paper, we put in dialogue the local dimension of a nation-state with the global challenges faced by universities worldwide. We focus on the case of Denmark, a nation that was exceptionally active in implementing international university reforms and where digitalisation is a high priority of the public sector governance. The article seeks to contribute to speculative research and critical studies by presenting a mixedmethods study that explores higher education teachers’ views about desirable and realistic future scenarios in Denmark. The study draws on data from a survey applied at a large Danish university, analysed both quantitatively (N=755) and qualitatively (N=53). The fndings show that teachers share clusters of concern about uncontrolled digitalisation and teaching automation, commodifcation of education, and modularisation of university courses, the latter being a contested but realistic perspective in the latest political reforms. They reafrm the mission of the university as preparing students for solving real problems and contributing to the challenges of the present time. The paper concludes with a call for university management to recalibrate future imaginaries to the values expressed by the teachers, and the university they wish to create.