A very brief history

When we talk about the higher education sector, we need to be aware that we are examining a relatively recent phenomenon. It's really only since the Industrial Revolution that governments and societies have started to think of higher education institutions collectively as a system or identifiable structure in itself. Universities, on the other hand, are very old indeed, as Kerr (1972) pointed out:

“About eighty-five institutions in the western world established by 1520, still exist in recognisable forms, with similar functions and unbroken histories, including the Catholic church, the Parliaments of the Isle of Man, of Iceland and of Great Britain, several Swiss cantons and several universities.” (p. 152)

These universities include (among others): the University of Bologna, which is over 900 years old; the University of Paris, founded in the mid 12th century; and Oxford University, the first in the English-speaking world. The establishment date of the latter is unclear, although teaching is known to have occurred there from the end of the 11th century. The University of Sydney was the first university established in Australia, in 1850, followed shortly by The University of Melbourne in 1853, then the Universities of Adelaide (1874) and Tasmania (1890).

The 1904 Final Report of the Royal Commission on the University of Melbourne (Clark, 1969) describes the function of a university:

“In a country like this, where there are no leisured classes, and where everyone has to make his living, a University can only be truly national by association with the life’s work of the people. It is too commonly supposed the object of a University is to train students to obtain degrees. Although this is doubtless an important function, yet, its chief object is to educate-that is, to fully develop the faculties of the students, and to extend the bounds of knowledge … In fact, a student should be able to get the best instruction and education in all branches of knowledge and, what is more important, actual training in the methods of research, so as to be able himself to add to the existing stock of knowledge.” (pp. 698-699)

Do you agree with this? Have the functions of a university changed since 1904?

For the history buffs, here is a BBC radio podcast (45 minutes) that gives a historical overview of institutionalised, formal, structured education. In The Medieval University Links to an external site. podcast:

“Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval universities. In the 11th and 12th centuries a new type of institution started to appear in the major cities of Europe. The first universities were those of Bologna and Paris; within a hundred years similar educational organisations were springing up all over the continent. The first universities based their studies on the liberal arts curriculum, a mix of seven separate disciplines derived from the educational theories of Ancient Greece. The universities provided training for those intending to embark on careers in the Church, the law and education. They provided a new focus for intellectual life in Europe, and exerted a significant influence on society around them. And the university model proved so robust that many of these institutions and their medieval innovations still exist today.”

For a briefer history, this Thin Tweed Line – Learning in the Shadow of God: The Medieval University Links to an external site. video describes the foundations of the medieval university.

How are these foundations visible in Australian universities today? Would a student or teacher from a medieval university find anything familiar in a contemporary university’s organisation, culture or purpose?

 

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurentius_de_Voltolina_001.jpg