Unity at the back of the class, please
The revelation this week that the University's Conference of Colleges is due to discuss the long-awaited 'stint reform' to teaching in Oxford brings both an opportunity and a threat to The Oxford Student's campaign to save the tutorial. It is more proof that this is an issue on which we need to act, however it is also the beginning of a process that will surely mark the erosion of the tutorial's position at the head of Oxford teaching.
Sceptics and defenders of the proposals have offered several counterpoints thus far - either that tutorials are not incredibly important, that their fate has been sealed for some time, or that classes are a sufficient partner to fewer tutorials. Unfortunately, none of the three justifications are satisfactory. To allow tutorials to be scaled down on the basis of resource and research considerations is to concede a fundamental principle - that the level of teaching that is appropriate for students should be determined by market forces. It is a fallacy to claim that students are merely clients; the public education system is based on investment, not direct transactions.
Classes are not the worst way to learn, and tutorials are not a panacea. However, by allowing tutorials to become a sacrificial lamb in the fight for resources we will really make sheep of us all.
31st Oct 2002