The Commentary that follows is a collective effort. The opening assessment of Dr. Batat's “Introducing” paper is the work of Stan Shapiro, now long retired, but over a span of fifty years first the product and then an unquestioning career-long practitioner of the kind of atomistic education that Dr. Batat considers incomplete and inadequate. From that perspective, he found much of merit in the Batat paper, not only in the advocacy of executing skills but also the presentation of educational outcomes as various forms of learning capitals and the emphasis on adult development. On the other hand, the complete absence of any discussion of the role of research and the governing assumption, one with which Stan could not accept, that academia would quickly and willingly adopt the revolutionary approach Dr. Batat advocates were seen as weaknesses in the paper. Stan's overall conclusion: the right direction but “too much, too soon.” But was there any midway position that could gain widespread acceptance at this time? This is where Dr. Burnett makes her contribution. She is currently the Senior Vice-President of the Acsenda School of Management, a privately owned, teaching-focused, and provincially regulated undergraduate degree-granting institution. Located in Vancouver, Canada, Acsenda has a student body made up almost entirely of international students. Shortly after joining Acsenda, Dr. Burnett was instrumental in that School adopting both the Learning Methodology and the Workforce Readiness model she describes in the closing paragraphs of this Commentary. This material is being presented as an example of the significant pedagogical change that could be made even within the framework of research-focused universities.
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