Taylor, Abstract

Taylor, Peter G. (1999), Making Sense of Academic Life: Academics, Universities and Change, Open University Press, Philadelphia

Universities and academics are today facing challenges that require more active and self-interested management. The book argues that higher education in the future will not become more ordered, but will become more complex, more fractured and less bounded, and that academics will have to respond with new ways of thinking.

The book also suggests that while academics' work will change, the change will focus more on the intentions that underlie it and the tools used than on the development of entirely new roles or loss of existing ones. For academics this means a new focus on structuring learning environments and helping students make use of information, rather than being their primary source of information.

Finally, the book reviews the relationship between academics and their institutions, particularly in terms of the relationship between academic and institutional values, priorities and practices.

The book's chapters cover: contemporary challenges, views of past and future changes in higher education; academic identities; changing academic roles; models of personal change; challenges of managerial roles; issues of self-management; learning new work practices; academic careers; the academic 'profession'; making teaching count; anticipating new opportunities and challenges; and moving on.