Towards a new measure of success: developing independent learners

The following article is from Towards Open Management: Leadership and Integrity in Open Learning and Distance Education, a new book by Ross Paul which will be published by Kogan‐Page in the spring of 1990. Based primarily on the author's experience as Vice‐President Academic of Canada's Athabasca University, the book applies a value‐driven leadership philosophy to a number of basic practical concerns in open learning and distance education. The article is derived from a chapter on 'Managing for Success: Learner Interaction and Independence'. It follows an analysis of such standard measures of success as completion and persistence rates and advocates a higher order objective ‐ the development of independent learners.1 The last part of the chapter, which explores the practical implications of this strategy for the operation of open learning institutions, is not included here because of space limitations.