Middlesex University has pioneered the development of work based learning within higher education since the early 1990s, gaining a Queen's Anniversary prize in 1996 for excellence and innovation, and awarded a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning by the Higher Education Funding Council
The totalising effect of consumerism, well-being and satisfaction is a discourse which may negate the value of struggle and mastery of complex subjects and a realization of personal potentiality. Published open access, Why Universities Should Seek Happiness and Contentment considers the consequences of a hedonistic and well-being centred model of student education as one of the goals of higher education and proposes an alternative goal for higher education. In a globalised consumer society where the anxiety for an identity leads to the fear of not reaching the standard, Paul Gibbs shows how anxiety can be harnessed to secure contentment with one's own future without the fear of consumer-induced emptiness. He conceptualises higher education in a counter-valued way to the current dominant discourse of higher education institutions and educational policy while placing students at the centre of their own educational activity. In doing so, Gibbs proposes contentment as a guiding principle of higher education. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Knowledge Unlatched.
In this incredible world of diversity, there is a darkness that blinds us from recognizing the beauty and value of all humanity. We are held hostage by our misconceptions, prejudices and fears. How do we break free? There is hope in the darkness. Beacons of light shine amongst us revealing the goodness of mankind. These courageous ones are moved by the people before them. They see into the human heart and respond with compassion. They understand their responsibility to partner for justice, creating a Radical Resilience that causes people to rise above their circumstances to thrive. May the power of partnership create a Radical Resilience that changes the world.
Meet Colleen, the third-born child of parents who share a chaotic relationship. Set against the backdrop of Cape Town in the 1940s, this is Colleen's journey. It is a time of religious fervor, baptisms, conversions and Sunday school picnics. Apartheid can't be escaped and is experienced by the children, who are bemused and confused by the flawed and unjust system. The pages are crowded by a host of odd characters, at once lovable, eccentric and troubled. There's Aunty Bubbles who teaches the children to jitterbug and Uncle Nicholas who speaks the Queen's English and plays a trumpet in the Royal Navy Band. There's Aunty Beryl, who carries a Chihuahua around in her handbag, and a midwife and home-undertaker named Two-Coffee-One-Milk. But not all is rosy in this richly peopled world. There is a human thread recognizable to anyone who has ever been in a co-dependent relationship, been abused, grown up poor or had an alcoholic father, which gives this book universal appeal. Sharp, insightful, and abundant in measured humor, it will resonate with many.