We often hear that education is a tool for life: an asset that contributes to both individual and economic empowerment. Yet Australia is facing both languishing levels of productivity and stubbornly unequal participation levels. Those two facts are not unconnected.
In our view, universities have a somewhat ugly past when it comes to access and inclusion. There has been a long-held but misguided belief in many corners of our sector that educational excellence and equity are near mutually exclusive. This has given rise to elitism and academic gatekeeping, which flies directly in the face of building more cohesive and prosperous societies.
The biggest lottery in life is the circumstances we are born into. And while this doesn’t equate to our intrinsic abilities, in many cases it does predetermine the opportunities afforded to us. But education is an equaliser and it should be designed that way – to give everyone a fair go regardless of their success in the circumstances lottery.
As a classic Danish fairytale about an apparently misshapen duckling teaches us, our job is to develop individual talent to its full, not turn people away based on a perception that they are somehow not “cut out” for higher education. Through acceptance and creating spaces of belonging, we can help more people spread their wings and take flight. And this is a commitment we have made through the founding legislation for the new for-purpose Adelaide University that will open its doors at the beginning of next year.
For those concerned about these things, however, let us emphasise that excellence and equity are, in reality, perfectly compatible. A commitment to widening access does not mean we are in the business of lowering our academic standards and creating degree factories. We are simply broadening traditional conceptions of what it means to be “smart” and what a legitimate route into university looks like given that intellect and capability are not limited by specific indicators, postcode or high school attended.
What our society needs is greater diversification of skills, experience and perspective – enabling more people to succeed and become masters of their own destinies. That is why we are offering a host of pathway programmes that provide individuals with the opportunity to augment their base-level preparation and make university study a reality.
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Such scaffolded learning and teaching for student needs is, rightly, where the Australian system is heading and is aligned with the government’s raft of recommendations for driving lasting reform in our national education system.
As part of this revolution, we are also redefining university attainment in a way that is more accessible and backs personal development rather than viewing traditional student attrition as failure. Through our distinctive Adelaide Attainment Model, we’re offering stackable qualifications with award-bearing credit and multiple exit points, giving people the flexibility to fast-track their learning and enter the workforce or to come back when life permits. And our degree apprenticeships combine tertiary study with paid learning on the job, partnering with industry to meet critical needs in areas such as software engineering and defence.
We will also be adopting the University of Adelaide’s existing Children’s University to give young people an opportunity to experience and be inspired by lifelong learning. The programme breaks down physical and perceived barriers to education in the formative years of primary school. Starting early is another crucial element to transforming lives.
The fact that our very first open day recently welcomed more than 14,000 visitors suggests that there is strong demand for our approach. And while, over time, Adelaide University will define its own character, it will always have a DNA formed of our foundation institutions’ combined qualities, allowing it to span the whole breadth of need and excellence, ranking highly and catering to traditional students just as much as to first-in-family entrants.
As the first in our families to attend university ourselves, this is the legacy we will be most proud of as co-founders of this pioneering new institution.
