education

I was recently asked by Anthony Cody, who blogs for Education Week, to explain how the commons paradigm might apply to the public schools.  The topic is of special concern to him and others who are alarmed at the attempted takeover of the Los Angeles school board by billionaires financing the election campaigns of candidates who favor charter schools and “choice.”    

Here are a few select paragraphs from my commentary, “Viewing Education as a Commons.”  You may want to read the comments as well, including the one from the inevitable nut who equates the commons with communism.

Enclosures in higher education consist of corporate research "partnerships" with universities, in which the corporations essentially commandeer the research agenda, dictate many terms of the research and how it may be used, and leverage publicly funded resources for private, corporate purposes. It may also consist of treating student bodies as captive cohorts to be advertised to or given educational loans at exploitative interest rates. At the K-12 levels, enclosure may consist of the imposition of corporate-promoted educational curricula; marketing to students via sports, textbooks and student events; and educational priorities that suit the market-oriented interests of corporate leaders, such as school vouchers and "competition" as a way to improve school performance.

Enclosures bring with them a pathology that most markets entail, however. Their success often stems from "externalizing" as many costs as they can onto the community, students or future generations, so that the business enterprise can become more "efficient" and "productive." This is how markets routinely function -- by generating externalities. It is why industry does not take adequate account of the long-term health of nature.

A non-moderated online course, “Introduction to Global Commons,” is just getting underway again at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) website.  UNITAR, based in Geneva, Switzerland, developed the course in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

The course, which debuted in March 2012, is a four-part, self-paced course that is estimated to take about 25 hours over a period of two weeks.  The course introduces the commons as a distinct system of governance and resource management, and as a new way of looking at the world.  It includes a variety of readings and videos, including a public talk by Professor Elinor Ostrom.  Registration is open until March 1.

I helped develop this course in 2011 with Professor Leo Burke of Notre Dame and Robin Temple, an online education expert. I also do the video introductions to each learning module.  Leo, a longtime commoner, has been a tireless pioneer in bringing education about the commons to business schools and executive education. 

The course includes a Participants’ Forum that lets students interact with each other.  For more information or technical support, you can contact Rosario Marra of UNITAR at rosario.marra /at/ unitar.org or register here.

Update:  I just learned that the course (unlike the previous one offered last year) now costs US$400 except for people from "least developed countries" (as the term goes).  This may be a catalyst for all of us to explore other, more accessible (yet sustainable) ways of hosting commons e-learning courses.  Or perhaps UNITAR can find the means to offer the course at no cost in the future.

A four-module online course on the commons has just been launched by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) based in Geneva, in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. The four modules focus on the history of the commons, the special value proposition of the commons, the dynamics of enclosure, and a survey of commons-based strategies.  Officially called “Introductory e-Course to the Global Commons,” the self-paced course, taught in English, consists of videos, online readings and resource links, as well as self-test quizzes.

I helped develop this course over the past year, working closely with Professor Leo Burke of the University of Notre Dame and e-learning specialist Robin Temple.  There are, of course, many ways to introduce and teach the commons.  This is just one path into the subject.  We were especially mindful that we were devising an online course that could be interesting and accessible to a highly diverse general audience -- a special challenge since there is no moderator.

We think the course pulls together some notable talks and readings to introduce the commons to UN delegates and government officials, who are the target audience/participant group.  However, students, academics, businesspeople and the general public are also invited to take the course.  To register, just go here. The deadline for registration is April 20.

It's a pleasure to see Professor Leo Burke is getting some attention for his pioneering work in teaching the commons at..... a business school. In a wonderful profile, Notre Dame Magazine describes Burke's adventures in developing a commons curriculum for students and business executives at the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame University. The courses are arguably the first and only such pedagogy about the commons in the world of business. The profile, “A World That Works for Everyone,” was written by Jay Walljasper, my former colleague at On the Commons.

Full disclosure – Leo's a friend. He and I worked together last year in developing an online course, “Introduction to the Global Commons,” which is expected to be available soon on the United Nations Institute for Training and Research website.  When I met up with Leo, he had already launched the Global Commons Initiative at Mendoza College of Business, and was teaching both executive MBA and undergraduate courses in the commons. Leo has also assembled a commons curriculum for the School of Commoning in London.

Why should a business school teach the commons?  Carolyn Woo, until recently the Dean of the Notre Dame business school, told Walljasper: