Transforming Education.

In my experience, university faculty typically fall into two camps: (1) teachers who care deeply about their students, and (2) political types who care more about their own prestige. Sadly, the professors most often featured in the press come mostly from the political group—teachers are too busy teaching to waste time on political spin.

In September, we were blessed to gather at Acton a roomful of educational and business leaders of the first type—teachers and leaders who care about students—to have a serious discussion about future challenges and opportunities in business education.  

Over fifty business educators and entrepreneurs from Harvard, Rice, the University of Texas at Austin, Baylor, and more than a dozen other universities from around the country came to discuss the following questions:

1. What should be the end goal of business education?
2. What were the most pressing challenges facing traditional business schools, and did any of these really threaten the sustainability of the current models?
3. Did business curriculum or pedagogy need a serious overhaul? If so, what needed to be done?
4. Who was most qualified to prepare graduates for productive and meaningful lives in business, and how should these teachers be recognized and rewarded?

Here are the two cases discussed at the event: The Unsettled Future of Business Education and A New Frontier.

UPDATE: Video of conference participants.