{"id":53182,"date":"2013-03-15T18:07:23","date_gmt":"2013-03-15T17:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/attivita\/creating-excellence-strategic-choices-and-indispensable-resources-educating-leaders\/"},"modified":"2013-03-15T18:07:23","modified_gmt":"2013-03-15T17:07:23","slug":"creating-excellence-strategic-choices-and-indispensable-resources-educating-leaders","status":"publish","type":"attivita","link":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/attivita\/creating-excellence-strategic-choices-and-indispensable-resources-educating-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating excellence. Strategic choices and indispensable resources for educating leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The title of this 12<sup>th<\/sup> Annual Conference of the Aspen  Junior Fellows group was conceived as embodying the Aspen Institute\u2019s  core mission, namely, that of promoting and instilling values-based  leadership. The theme of this year\u2019s session was chosen with a view to  specifically focus on the growing international dimension of knowledge,  and to examine whether a multidisciplinary knowledge model (of the  European humanist tradition) or a specialized knowledge model is to be  preferred.<\/p>\n<p>The Conference debate initially focused on the future  outlook for university education in Italy, and the need to balance the  value of inclusiveness (\u201cuniversity for all\u201d) with that of excellence  (\u201cselective and elitist universities\u201d for the \u201ccapable and deserving\u201d,  as per the wording of Article 34 of the Italian Constitution). An  in-depth discussion ensued on the issues of the productivity of Italian  universities (by international standards), the quality of teaching (with  an eye to the internationalization of teaching staff and students), and  the legal status accorded in Italy to educational qualifications.<\/p>\n<p>The  participants then turned to consider the value of school education in  generating culture and employment opportunities, with calls for a  balance to be struck between the notions of \u201ceducation as edification\u201d  and \u201ceducation as a commodity\u201d. The questions to be addressed \u2013 it was  felt \u2013 are not only what to teach, but also how to go about learning. In  this regard, the participants cited Alvin Toffler\u2019s observation that  \u201cthe illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read\u2026  [but] the person who does not know how to learn\u201d. It was thus suggested  that digital innovations (such as distance learning) as well  organizational innovation (promoting learning through student teamwork)  will become central in tackling these issues. Such objectives could,  however, be constrained by the current centralized organizational model  for schools and the lack of application of performance evaluation  methodology. It was also stressed that the problem does not lie entirely  with the education system, and that the role played by families,  associations, institutions and the media is sometimes wanting. The  participants felt that input from these quarters should be considered an  essential resource for education, as well as serving as a complement to  classroom studies. In 1964, Gianni Rodari numbered televisions and  newspapers among the ranks of teachers in what he called \u201ca school as  big as the world\u201d (citing the important contribution towards literacy  made by Italian educational TV programs of the time, such as <em>Telescuola<\/em> and <em>Non \u00e8 mai troppo tardi<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>Wrapping  up the conference discussion was an analysis of the link between  postgraduate education and industry, with particular reference to the  technological transfer made possible by value chains that connect  training, innovation, enterprise and the market in a virtuous cycle. It  was emphasized that tried and tested success stories with a strong  international focus should be replicated, with cases in point being the  Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Institute for Advanced  Studies in Lucca (IMT). Efforts were called for to promote industrial  doctorate programs as a bridge between universities and industry, in  order to strengthen applied research and the value it brings to the  market. Lastly, it was hoped that the success which young Italian  researchers and managers achieve abroad will also help reinforce a  belief in the quality of the Italian education and research system, so  as to unleash its full vigor and potential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The title of this 12<sup>th<\/sup> Annual Conference of the Aspen  Junior Fellows group was conceived as embodying the Aspen Institute\u2019s  core mission, namely, that of promoting and instilling values-based  leadership. The theme of this year\u2019s session was chosen with a view to  specifically focus on the growing international dimension of knowledge,  and to examine whether a multidisciplinary knowledge model (of the  European humanist tradition) or a specialized knowledge model is to be  preferred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2357,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"freetags":[1561,1649,1344,1305],"tipologiaattivita":[2334],"tag_tecnica":[],"temi_aspen":[],"attivita_internaz_in_essere":[],"attivita_internaz_concluse":[],"studi_e_ricerche":[],"primi_nel_tema":[],"tag_tecnici":[],"tag_formato":[],"class_list":["post-53182","attivita","type-attivita","status-publish","hentry","freetags-education","freetags-italian-universities","freetags-leaders-en","freetags-leadership-en","tipologiaattivita-conference-for-the-aspen-junior-fellows"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attivita\/53182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attivita"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/attivita"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attivita\/53182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"freetags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/freetags?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"tipologiaattivita","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tipologiaattivita?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"tag_tecnica","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag_tecnica?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"temi_aspen","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/temi_aspen?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"attivita_internaz_in_essere","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attivita_internaz_in_essere?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"attivita_internaz_concluse","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attivita_internaz_concluse?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"studi_e_ricerche","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/studi_e_ricerche?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"primi_nel_tema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primi_nel_tema?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"tag_tecnici","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag_tecnici?post=53182"},{"taxonomy":"tag_formato","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspeninstitute.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tag_formato?post=53182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}