There's also a trend against individuality in university teaching - jeez, don't I know it! This is due to cultural mindthink, the pervasive dominance of quality systems and departments which are increasingly required to safeguard institutions against being sued. The whole drive towards standardisation of courses in mass higher education is necessitated because lots of presenters are needed to present to large numbers of enrolled students. This "lectures" need to be planned and scripted. This is another discussion but stems from viewing higher education as a mass consumer service so more money can be made. It also attempts to devolve power & control away from the individual academic who can be easily replaced by another speaker. It also effectively requires an academic to effectively hand over at least part of their intellectual capital to the institution.
We need to consider what the implications of these developments are. If the wrong kind of knowledge were being purchased by very few people, with only limited relevance to their actual, future careers, there's only surely a certain amount of time before the results speak for themselves? I'm getting not to get sued, or fired, so I'm treading carefully for wisdom's sake. But I'm getting to engage you in a discussion ;one I think we really need to have, even if it's only a case that we are the ones with a more sensible way forward. That's even assuming that we're even considering any merit at all in helping ordinary people to take control over their own lives, assuming that they really want it.
I know this 5 parter is a jumbled, stream of consciousness, but I hope you enjoyed reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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