Suggestions for improving the relevance of higher education to social change from the case of the Margaret Trowel School of Industrial and Fine Arts at Makerere University

Abstract

This chapter reports the findings of a study that scrutinised attention to social change at the Margaret Trowel School of Industrial and Fine Arts at Makerere University, with a view to identifying the reasons as to why higher education institutions (HEIs) are ignoring social change and, subsequently, to propounding suggestions for reform. Relying on an analysis of the School’s curricula, academic staff and final student studio practice, and the research and community engagement activities of the academic staff, the study concludes that the School is ignoring social change because the specific objectives of its programmes do not emphasise it and (teaching/administrative) units haven’t been instructed to promote attention to it either. Recommendations for the improved relevance of HEIs to social change are suggested.