Knowledge for sale? The impact of a consumerist hermeneutics on learning habits and teaching practices in higher education

E.M Conradie

doi:10.4102/koers.v76i3.36

Abstract

The impact of the commercialisation, if not the corporatisation of higher education institutions in a globalised economy, has been widely discussed in recent literature with regard to the ethos of institutions, management, research, as well as teaching and learning. Indeed, in the „knowledge industry‟ knowledge is offered for sale. This article makes a contribution to this discourse by exploring the impact of consumerist hermeneutics on the basis of critiques of consumerism in Christian discourse, drawing especially on the work of Vincent Miller, „Consuming religion‟ (2003). The notion of consumerist hermeneutics is related to the impact of culture commodification in a consumer society. Given the overload of information, consumers have to adopt shallower forms of attention as a survival strategy. If such a shallower engagement is applied to virtually all cultural products,this leads to a reductionist understanding of knowledge. The impact of such consumerist hermeneutics on learning habits and teaching practices in undergraduate university education is then discussed briefly. In conclusion, some possibilities for resisting the hegemony of a consumerist ideology are noted.

Highlights

Die impak van die kommersialisering en korporatisering van hoëronderwysinstellings in ‟n geglobaliseerde ekonomie word wyd bespreek in eietydse literatuur, met betrekking tot die etos en bestuur van instellings, navorsing, leer en onderrig
1 For the use of this term, see especially Mamdani (2007:118-119). He makes a distinction between privatisation and commercialisation. He explains: Privatisation was an external relationship between the market and the university, whereby the university opened up its gates to fee-paying students but did not change the curriculum to suit the demands of the market
Where students come to a university with the interpretative habits defined by a consumerist hermeneutics as outlined above, this would necessarily have an impact on teaching practices

Summary

Introduction: the commercialisation of higher education

Financial considerations play an increasingly decisive role in managing universities in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. That the previous connotation of „excellence‟ as the highest conceivable standard of scholarship and research has been displaced by a notion of „excellence‟ that shows assiduous regard for evaluative devices and machineries rather than the didactic component content Such corporatisation may well imply that the social transformation of higher education is sidelined or at least in conflict with financial considerations. Knowledge may be power but in circumstances where it becomes measured in terms of financial power alone, the virtue of gaining knowledge for the sake of intellectual curiosity, expanding the frontiers of knowledge, transferring such knowledge to a generation, and for serving the needs of society would be undermined On this basis can academic programmes be brought in line with community needs and struggles. I will draw on Christian discourse on consumerism and endeavour to make it relevant to the South African discourse on the commercialisation of higher education

A consumerist hermeneutics

Knowledge and learning habits

Teaching-learning processes

Conclusion