In this episode of our Talking Transformation podcast, host Fiona Lennoxsmith speaks to Professor Harriet Dunbar-Morris and Dr Helen Murphy from South East Technological University (SETU) in Ireland, to explore the evolving purpose of lifelong learning in higher education.
Episode 12 of Advance HE’s Talking Transformation podcast brings together Professor Harriet Dunbar-Morris, currently on a visiting fellowship at Oxford University before joining South East Technological University (SETU) in Ireland as Deputy President, and Dr Helen Murphy, Head of Faculty Education and Lifelong Learning at SETU, to discuss how universities should approach lifelong learning.
The conversation opens with terminology. Harriet proposes “lifelong scholar” as an alternative to “student” or “learner”, arguing it conveys intellectual seriousness without displacing the other identities – parent, carer, employee – that adult returners hold alongside their studies. Helen’s team at SETU consulted learners directly and found preferences split across all three terms, underscoring the importance of institutional context.
On curriculum design, both guests champion genuine co-creation through structured, time-bounded processes such as charrettes, which bring together learners, academics, employers and community partners. They caution that employers need to move beyond advising at the outset and reviewing at the end, becoming active partners throughout.
The episode closes on a sharper note: both speakers resist the drift towards a purely workforce-focused model of lifelong learning. They argue that the purpose of higher education is learning to be – not merely learning to be productive.
You can listen to the episode below, or search ‘Advance HE’ on Spotify, Amazon Music or Apple Podcasts.
