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ACSC 23 and the Evolution of Professional Military Education – Autumn 2019
Dr Ellen Hallams, ACSC Academic Programme Director
AS CDRE ACKLAND NOTES, UK PME is in the midst of a period of what
will arguably be profound and far-reaching change. From diversification
of choice to digitisation of content, from traditional residential classroom-based learning to blended and online, the ‘E’ in PME is likely to look quite different in the future. Educationally, students are eager both for greater choice in what they study – as well as how they study it. Over the last two years we have begun to embed new programmes and pathways that will offer precisely that.
The KCL Masters by Research (MRes) programme that begun on ACSC22 has been a central means through which we are developing new and different ways of assessing student abilities, such
as portfolio-based assessments that require students to use blogs and video summaries as means of communicating their research findings, as well as Lightening Talks – quick-fire pitches that capture the essence of a particular issue or piece of work, presented to a wider audience. All these have – and are – helping students disseminate and
showcase their research beyond the walls of the Defence Academy out into the wider Defence community – and beyond, supported by emerging digital platforms like the Cormorants Nest as well as our own Defence-in-Depth blog.
Students on the Advanced Vocational
Stream are using the innovative Hacking “
4 Defence methodology to help tackle
real defence problems, testing their Climate ideas and hypotheses in a fast-paced, change, flipped-classroom environment, getting
‘out of the building’ and developing terrorism and interview and networking skills. cyber power Students on our long-standing MA
in Defence Studies are engaged in
a variety of different approaches to
learning; primary-source analysis, critical
literature reviews, oral presentations,
small-group work. Each of these
programmes is testing, honing and
refining the ability of students to think
critically, interrogate existing biases and
assumptions, embrace new concepts,
ideas and theories and to be self-
reflective in how they learn.
Our Masters programmes are also good indicators of some of the
wider strategic themes and trends that students wish to develop their knowledge and expertise in. As PME is changing, so too is the international context in which Defence sits. Indeed, it may not be an exaggeration to say
that future scholars and historians may well look back on the present
era as one marking a profound and fundamental shift in international order. The rules-based ‘liberal’ order is under threat – from within and without –
and nations and states – are finding themselves grappling with rising waves of nationalism and populism, as well as the opportunities and threats afforded by new and emerging technologies.
Over the last two years MRes and MA students have sought to engage with some of the profound challenges raised by AI and the role of technology as a catalyst for change within Defence.
The role and future of traditional mechanisms and levers of power – including deterrence - in the information age, as well as the evolving character of strategy feature prominently, as do the implications of the growing power and assertiveness of Russia and China in the international system – and the future of the US as the leading hegemonic power. Climate change, terrorism and cyber power pose very real threats to international order and stability, with
the potential to disrupt and destabilise, while the Middle East remains a volatile and unstable region, generating security challenges that ripple far and wide. All of these issues are placing significant pressures on existing international and regional institutions to adapt to meet
the demands of an increasingly unstable world. These big strategic questions dominate student thinking and are themes that resonate through the syllabus and core modules of ACSC.
But we also risk becoming distracted by the latest themes and trends. While these have very real implications for Defence that students must indeed grapple with, PME is also about giving students firm intellectual, conceptual and theoretical tools and foundations that can and should form part of a through-life learning journey, irrespective of the continually shifting sands of
the wider strategic context. ‘Critical
pose very
real threats to international order and stability... ◆◆◆