Having a field day: managerialism, educational discourse and the fifth province of Ireland

Abstract

From the perspective of lecturers in English and Humanities, this paper addresses the current crisis of managerialism in higher education, grounding the discussion in the realities of smaller institutions in Northern Ireland. It begins with the premise that the language of auditing, bureaucracy and accountability has achieved hegemony within such institutions and within the broader academic community. In Field Day's notion of a “fifth province”, we find a particularly useful model for developing the case that the space sought is most likely extra‐mural with respect to institutions, but critically engaged with those institutions at the same time. We then ask what intellectual and educational role the activity of such a “Field Day” should play with respect to public discourse and to the role of the public intellectual.

Citation

Martin, M. and D’Agostino, L. (2004), "Having a field day: managerialism, educational discourse and the fifth province of Ireland", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 180-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540410527176