This paper draws on discourse analysis to offer a critique of the unbundling movement. Arguably, the move to unbundle many traditional products, services and educational transactions is one of the big issues facing Irish educators, institutional leaders and policy-makers in the age of supercomplexity. The potential impact of unbundling on higher education is often illustrated by the example of when in 2003 Apple unbundled the CD with the launch of iTunes. For the first time people could purchase the music they wanted rather than the bundled package compiled by record labels. Drawing on this example, Craig (2015) argues the traditional degree is higher education's version of the bundle, which has been the business model of universities and institutions of learning for centuries. However, this conception of unbundling is overly simplistic as the movement has many different faces.
At a macro level the unbundling movement has its roots in the contested terrains of globalisation, neo-liberalism and the commodification of higher education. Many of the drivers for unbundling promote laissez-faire principles of individual freedom, education as a personal commodity, and the ultimate goal of the creation of a global higher education market (Brown, 2016). At the same time unbundling opens up many interesting possibilities for new models of teaching and learning and related student services. In many respects the current language of crisis, disruption, democratisation and re-imagination in the age of unbundling and supercomplexity requires a type of double vision: that is utopian and dystopian. That said, the unbundling movement is far more complex than simple dichotomies of good or bad, as the discourses or competing languages of persuasion are entangled in interwoven and contradictory arguments.
Set against the backdrop the paper attempts to reveal and peel away some of competing and co-existing drivers influencing the unbundling of higher education. It adopts a metaphorical lens to help illustrate two overarching perspectives: the tradition of the Learning Society and the growing influence of the Knowledge Economy. The basic premise is that a strong Knowledge Economy discourse is imbued in the current digital languages of persuasion surrounding the unbundling movement. Yet, in the tradition of de-schooling the language of unbundling also promotes increased openness, the democratisation of higher education and new learning pathways.
In this critique the entangled discourses and different faces of unbundling are explored through recent examples ranging from content, credentials, delivery modes, temporal considerations, traditional borders, infrastructure, and teaching and learning services. These examples serve to illustrate the multi-dimensional nature of unbundling and some of the challenges and opportunities likely to impact the future of Irish higher education—for better and worse. Finally, the paper invites discussion and critical engagement in both the light and dark sides of the unbundling debate. It asks the question in today’s supercomplex and globally connected world how do Irish educators ensure they are around the right decision-making tables to (re)shape the future of the unbundling movement?
References
Brown, M. (2016). The unbundling of higher education: A tale of two valleys. Keynote presentation at 5th HEA Forward-Look Forum, "Unbundling of Higher Education:� What are the Implications and Opportunities for Ireland?" �Dublin, 19th May.
Craig, R. (2015). College disrupted: The great unbundling of higher education. New York: Palsgrave McMillan.
Topics: Global challenges in Higher & Further Education , Topics: TEL Policy & Strategy
