A sit in at the NCAD college boardroom this week (top)
As academics in Ireland and those working abroad, we write to express our solidarity with the students currently taking action at the National College of Art and Design [Dublin. We are concerned by the continued corporatisation that has consumed higher education in recent years. This has led to shortsighted management decisions based on little more than a drive to ‘balance the books’.
We urgently need another model of what higher education might be – one guided by the pursuit of learning rather than the pursuit of profit, driven by radical enquiry rather than bogus metrics, and committed to creating a space in which everyone who teaches, works and learns is afforded the entitlement and responsibility of equality. The students who are now taking action at NCAD, like those elsewhere in Europe right now, are committed to exploring the possibility of that other model. We give them our support at this time.Mairead Enright, University of Kent
Eoin O’Mahony, St. Patrick’s College / DCU
Dr Patrick Bresnihan, Maynooth University
Zoë Lawlor, University of Limerick
Dr Jones Irwin, St Patrick’s College / DCU
Dr Sinead Kennedy, Maynooth University
Dr James Carr, University of Limerick
Dr Kylie Jarrett, Maynooth University
Dr Audrey Bryan, St Patrick’s College / DCU
Bryan Wall, University College Cork
Aggelos Panayiotopoulos, University of Limerick
Dr Charles Travis, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Henry Silke, DCU
Dr Rory Hearne, Maynooth University
Dr Gavan Titley, Maynooth University
Rory Rowan, University of Zurich
Illan Wall, University of Warwick
Aileen O’Carroll, Maynooth University.
FIGHT!
Previously: Occupy NCAD
The sooner these hippies realise that Irish 3rd level isn’t about educating the next generation of citizens to a professional level the better, Irish 3rd level education has slowly morphed into a cheapened profit making cog in a global market, competing with other small economies for the wealthy middle-eastern and east Asian student, at the expense of those for whom the local 3rd level education system was primarily designed. Because the market, marlet, free market, market, lassez faire, gecko, no regulation, dodgy ‘english’ schools, etc…will balance itself…
Ncad students, the same students I seen yesterday at 5.30 sitting outside the Clock pub in Thomas Street drinking a crate of excelsior (cheapest lidl muck). And then stumbling around locked dressed, this is no a typo, dressed in a penguin costume.
and?
A unique breed among college students then.
What has the extra curricular activities of these young people got to do with the profit-mining of of 3rd level education in Ireland?
Loads actually, anyone who drinks that excelsior muck either has no taste buds or is a complete alcho and I would not be taking the opinions if a taste budless alcho serious. I was a classy student. Skittle vodka and jd all the way.. Oh and I have witnessed one of them, I don’t expect to be believed, poo in his hand and then try to draw a picture with it. But maybe I don’t get art.
if you’ve ever had the opportunity to play vantastival, this is what they give the bands for ‘refreshment’.
Sorry no one liked you in college.
hmm. disappointing lack of DIT signatures on that. Where are ye now, Mr H Browne!
All well and good until they try to cut the academics €150,000 wages for 6 hours teaching a week. Then money is important to sustain the best talent.
It’s poorly paid adjuncting staff that do the bulk of teaching at third level, particularly in the institute of technology sector. Contracts are short, low paid and contain no entitlements to pensions. I know of very few academics on that kind of money who would even deign to teach that many hours a week. http://www.irishleftreview.org/2014/02/27/casualisation-labour-level-institutions/
For the actual working conditions of many who work in third level see here: https://3lww.wordpress.com/postcards-from-the-periphery/
The higher paid academics invest huge amounts of time into research and writing papers, not to mention sourcing investment for Ph.D programs from external sources and to fund other projects. High paid academics aren’t the issue, it’s the higher paid admin and management staff that need to be evaluated.
None of those signatories are setting the world alight with their academic prowess. Education is both an industry and a business. Most relatively thoughtful thinkers know this. I’m sure there is not one NCAD student that would not welcome their works exchanging hands for copious amounts of money. Fools.
Quite right. People should only learn about Thomas Gradgrind is if it is of measurable financial benefit.
Limited.
if only the art colleges were *actually* taking on real free market principles. the sooner public funding is withdrawn from the arts, so they can live and die by their market demand alone, the better.
What have the arts ever done for Ireland, right?
Oh blessed sweet and holy, ever effective, ever efficient, state free market, blessed art thou and blessed is the fruit of thy Rand, Hayek.
Cursed be the state, oh evil black state, and public servant boo and hissssssss, look at that public sservant treating sssomeone, boo to that, look a teacher, why don’t you get a proper job oh teacher instead of teaching children? Sssstupid teacher.
Get out of my holy way oh sstate, with your fullisssh ssocialist infrastructure and roads and functioning sewage, I have read the ssynopsis of Atlass Shrugged and have the mentality of a teenager, get out of my way I sssaid, if I want to paint my bedroom black and lissten to A7X too loudly, I will and everyone is just ssselfish anyway, just like we are oh holy sssacred free market free us from the evil ssssstate so we may totally not jack up prices and act irresponsssssibly, even though our entire ideology and worldview is premised on the idea of the primasssssy of selfisnessssssssss, trustssss usssss, we more efficentsssssssss, precioussss, you have my precioussss taxesssssssss, give me precioussssssssssss, also money ssssssssssssssssssss, free market, ssssssssssssssssssssssssss.
Meanwhile in reality, a man who got very rich via understanding markets says something:
“I’d be a bum on the street with a tin cup if markets were always efficient.” -Warren Buffet.
the guilt is strong with this one.
There’s a few bleeding heart liberals on that list namely
Eoin O’Mahony, St. Patrick’s College / DCU
Dr Sinead Kennedy, Maynooth University
Dr Kylie Jarrett, Maynooth University
Dr Gavan Titley, Maynooth University
Permanently outraged.
Dr Rory Hearne, Maynooth University
Dr Gavan Titley, Maynooth University
Aileen O’Carroll, Maynooth University.
All cronies. I bet Gavan had fun at school with nicknames. Obviously UCD wasn’t “grassroots” enough for Aileen.