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Monday, 25 June 2012

Perfectionism Central?



I went to a school HSC prep night tonite for one of my kids and was very interested to hear what the careers advisor had to say about us...basically that when she visited the speakers was so busy telling them that we were the best university in Sydney that all the careers advisers were put off and swore never to return....they really wanted to hear that our uni had its place and how it was unique but they felt all they were getting was a competition where we thought we were at the top... embarrassed :(

I fits in with alot of my thinking recently about academic culture and the messages we can send out to students...are we really interested in their development as individuals? Is the academic narrative superseding the intellectual one? Is space made for the students voice on campus? If all we care about is being the best on a league table rather than pursuing excellence for its own sake arent we risking alot? I know this must be obvious to most but its taking a while for my rose colored glasses to come off..........

On the positive side I confess to being  impressed by the culture of openness in Psychology...we are happy to have qual stand alongside quant, to have psychodynamic thinking stand alongside CBT, reflective practice alongside the scientist practitioner model...im proud of the fact that we are being rigorous, having very high standards but also encouraging our students to think and individuate during the course..

Your thoughts?








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