Current educational reform and the significance of problem-based learning

ABSTRACT The present predicament of higher education resulting from government-imposed reforms is, it is argued, partly a consequence of the education to which members of government have themselves been subject; consequently, higher education carries some responsibility for the nature of the reforms. Government and higher education share a conception of knowledge, understanding and education which, paradoxically, predisposes the parties to act in opposed ways in regard to educational reform. Problem-based learning, understood in a problem-focused way, avoids significant features of the conception and points to more constructive ways of thought and action. Problem-focused understanding is significant for the light it throws on the general nature of current reforms and their implementation, for the prospect it offers of dealing constructively with changes resulting from reforms, and for longer-term benefits for both education and the wider community.