Pedagogically sound responses to economic rationalism

摘要

Economic rationalism, which rests decision-making power with market forces, has established a ubiquitous presence on a global scale. Certainly, educational administrators are feeling the effects of economic rationalist policies and in turn make managerial decisions that reflect this essence to the practising academic and, ultimately, to the classroom. The effect is often one of despair. Teaching - long pitted against other roles of the academic, such as research - now faces additional threats from the pressures to operate in this environment, often regarded as antagonistic to the traditional values of liberal university education. This paper discusses the nature of economic rationalism using the Australian context as an example, and presents some means by which teaching in computer science may respond to this threat in pedagogically sound ways. Such negotiations are essential in approaching a future for CS education in which this policy context is almost guaranteed.