In The Real World....?

I have just finished reading an article in a newspaper were yet another senior academic begins his thoughts by using the words “in the real world”.
In my 17 years in academia I hear this phrase again and again (and often from senior academics) and every time I hear it my brain "shivers"! I "shiver" not because I do not realise the intention of a metaphor, but because accepting this metaphor as an academic suggests that our work and the work of our students happens in some other dimension in some world that it is not real at all! This notion also suggests to me, that the theories we create and teach have no application or impact to the real world.

If the world of academia is not a real-world then we must be doing things wrong! A rather large number of us ensure that the world of professionals is not removed from the world of academia. We integrate professional colleagues either as guest speakers as assessors of student portfolios or even as our clients. My students have developed solutions or products for many a number of businesses, charities, local government organisations, consumers and even other educational establishments.   And I happen to know that many of my colleagues across the globe do the same.

We expect our students to be professional, to be punctual, to work hard.  There were times I begun training of debating teams at 6:30am and other times I have gone to expos with my students only for us to return to base late in the night! Sure we protect our students more than some businesses protect their staff but that’s because academic institutions are designed to be sustainable, we care deeply for our students who are also our clients, and we are lucky to provide mentorship for some long after they left our “not so real world”.

Half my professional life has been in businesses and the other half in academia, and I can vouch that teaching or learning in universities today is not easier than working in fast paced professional environments.  Our students have to work 5 times as hard to stand out of the crowd! Not only because they have to pay 3 times as much for their degree but because there are far more super qualified people out there and because knowledge is easily accessible and more easily produced than ever before. Distinguishing between not so great reading and great reading (beyond the reading we can vouch for) is becoming increasingly difficult for our students, and skills of speed reading and time and project management have become a must.

So I ask any academic who believes that out there is “the real world” why do you think that? And what does it say about you? Your teaching and learning methods? Your skills in coaching and mentoring or your perception of the very world you live in?

Next time you utter the words “in the real world” to your students, to media or to anyone SLAP yourself REAL HARD and if it hurts then you are in the real world! Please weak up from the lethargic state you have brought yourself into. If a couple of strong FACE PALMS, do not wake you up then go to a colleague to help you out, you need help to master the technique!

Those of us that are still awake know very well that theory without practice is a boat without sea! Practice without theory is a wreck in the middle of the ocean, some survive out of luck many perish! Please teach your students how to build & sail boats....in the real world.