1. IAU Sao Paulo Conference, July 25-29, 2004
12th General Conference: The Wealth of Diversity
Parallel Workshops – Session III
Beyond Tolerance: Higher Education a haven for intercultural dialogue and sustainable
development ?
Dr Walter Baets, Director Graduate Programs, Euromed Marseille - Ecole de Management
BP 921 Luminy Science Parc 13288 Marseille Cedex 9
Phone : +33 4 91827922
E-mail : walter.baets@euromed-marseille.com
Abstract
Intercultural dialogue is today a matter of necessity, not choice. Faculty members, staff and the
student body are rarely a homogeneous group nowadays. Too often, higher education is based on one
prevailing cultural model: in business education it is the Anglo Saxon model, as created, mainly, by
the US Business Schools. Textbooks and teaching/learning approaches are designed in order to fit
that culture. Even the entry criteria (in business education the GMAT test) fit that one prevailing
culture. With a growing internationalisation of the world, we have not paid enough attention to the
cultural diversification of (higher) education. Textbooks and learning approaches are indeed highly
context bound. However, different learning approaches, translating cultural diversity, can seriously
enrich mutual learning. The modern university has grown out of the creative co-existence of different
‘cultures of learning’ – both termed disciplines and pedagogical models – out of different ways of
seeing the world and of defining and studying it.
In this workshop, a different pedagogical model is proposed, that allows not only to host cultural
diversity, but even more so to learn from cultural diversity. This model advances the notion of
diversity as an asset of outstanding value.
This model has been used for the first time, as the basis for the Euro-Arab Management School
(EAMS), a joint project of the EU, the league of Arab States and the Spanish Government. The
briefing for this school was to create a pedagogical approach and pedagogical material that could be
used through a network of partner schools (in Europe and the Arab countries), allowing them each
and all to adapt to their specific settings. For obvious reasons, this model is a hybrid one, combining
face to face and virtual learning (and no teaching). The eventual network of schools and students,
then could exchange in a second round their experiences in order to reinforce learning.
In order to make this paper as practical as possible, it is completely related to the example of EAMS.
However it should be clear that this is only one example of a possible realisation of higher education,
fostering cultural diversity, with the aim to contribute to sustainable development.
Keywords: diversity and higher education, sustainable learning approaches, virtual business school,
networked organisation, Euro-Mediterranean region.
1 Theories on learning and teaching
There are roughly four groups of theories on learning and teaching which are briefly described below
(for detail, one can consult the references). It is important for a tutor to understand these theories in
order to be able to judge the advantages and the disadvantages of each one, but primarily such
knowledge equips the tutor for a discussion with potential students on the choices EAMS has made
regarding the form of its Euro-Arab Management Diploma (EAMD).
The first theory is called the transfer theory. Knowledge in general and, more specifically, subject

2. matters, are viewed as transferable commodities. A student is viewed as a vessel positioned alongside
a loading dock. ‘Knowledge’ is poured into the vessel until it is full. Whereas the student is the
empty vessel, the teacher is a crane or a fork lift. The teacher delivers and places knowledge into the
empty vessel. Courses applying the transfer theory would be very much lecture-based, would include
talks from leading figures in the relevant fields (the more the better) and would provide students with
duplicated course notes. Once the vessel is filled, a ‘bill of loading’, which is the diploma, certifies
the content of the vessel. Monitoring a student means monitoring the process of filling the vessel and
sometimes sampling the quality of the contents. When students fail, teachers will say that the vessel is
no good, that it is leaking, whereas the student will blame the fork lift. This type of course is still the
prevailing one in most business schools.
Another theory is called the shaping theory. The student comes to school as a piece of inert raw
material: say, a piece of wood or metal. The piece is shaped
using shaping tools, which are the subject matters. The teacher is the craftsman who is able to work
the wood or metal. This theory is behind some of the educational reforms which have taken place in
some business schools. The shaping theory, in conjunction with the transfer theory, accounts for most
business school curricula.
The travelling theory is one by which the teacher initiates and guides the students through an
unknown terrain which needs to be explored. The student is the explorer and the teacher/tutor is the
experienced and expert travelling companion and counsellor. The guide not only points out the way,
but also provides travelling maps and a compass: by the way, it is not by accident that this document is
named a road book. The ‘teaching methods’ (if one can still call them such) which are most used in
applying this theory are experiential methods: simulations, projects, exercises with unpredictable
outcomes (as in certain case-studies), discussions and independent learning. In courses applying this
theory, monitoring means regularly comparing each other’s travelling notes. Tutors blame failure of
this theory on the student’s unwillingness to take risks. From the student’s point of view, the tutor can
be blamed for poor guidance, poor equipment and imposing too many restrictions. Some criticise this
theory as limiting student initiative (compare this with the following theory). Tutors using this
approach, which is very much the EAMS approach, need specialised skills, equipment and expertise,
as well as the basic requirement of possessing a good knowledge of the ‘terrain’. Experiments have
shown that this theory is particularly effective in adult education (Walker and Baets, 2000).
One step on from the travelling theory is the growing theory. In many respects, this theory does not
differ greatly from the previous one. Rather, it is an extension of it which focuses more on the self-
initiative and personal development of the student. Subject matters are a set of experiences which
each student should incorporate into his/her personality. The aim for the student is to develop his/her
personality. The student is like a garden in which everything is already planted. Now, it just needs to
grow. The tutor (it would be impossible to speak here of a teacher) can be considered to be the
gardener. The methods used are very much the same as those used when applying the travelling
theory, only they allow the student even more freedom and room to experiment. In this theory, the
monitoring process consists of monitoring the personal development of the student. It should not be
forgotten that becoming a manager, in many respects, is working on one’s own personality. Student
commitment and realistic expectations in combination with a tutor who is competent in coaching
personal development is the ideal learning situation. Some business schools have opted for a complete
‘learning by doing’ approach; for instance, learning while creating one’s own company or learning by
carrying out a large project. This approach, however, is rather experimental. Although it was
EAMS’s conviction that management development has a lot to do with developing managerial skills, it
did not want to go so far as to make it the one and only approach (in those days). Today, Euromed
Marseille is going all along the road in offering this pedagogical model for projects in sustainable
development.
It is important for each tutor to position him or herself somewhere within the framework of these
theories. Many tutors will have a background, education and experience which is based on the first
and/or, to a lesser extent, on the second theory. Since, for reasons explained below, EAMS has chosen

3. to adopt the third approach to learning and teaching, in many cases new EAMS tutors will be required
to radically adjust their concepts on teaching and tutoring. EAMS thus ran a Masters in Management
Development Programme (MMDP) with the aim of supporting and guiding tutors through that
adjustment process by means of the travelling theory. In particular, MMDP sessions on ‘Theories and
Practices of Learning’, ‘Tutorial Skills’, ‘Management Competencies’, ‘Case Writing and Use’,
‘Business Simulations’ and ‘Electronic Tutoring’ contribute to achieving such a paradigm shift.
2 Pedagogical philosophy of EAMS
EAMS has undeniably based its pedagogical philosophy on the European experience in management
development and business schools. The business school phenomenon is much more recent in Europe
than in the US. In Europe, pre-business career education can be in almost any discipline. In general,
student pre-career education is less of a requirement in business than in other disciplines such as
engineering, law and the arts; consider the limited success, outside of the UK, of the Bachelors Degree
in Business Administration. In terms of post-graduate education, ‘business’ becomes more of an
option, but still a lot of business education is undertaken at post-experience level. Practising
managers, often without a formal business degree, want to improve their managerial know-how and
their managerial skills. In the case of sustainable development programs, it are often practising (SME)
managers that are targeted.
In order to cater for practising managers, courses must offer a high degree of flexibility. Programmes
do not need to focus on detailed and specialised knowledge in any particular field(s). Rather, the
desired outcome is for the manager to acquire a holistic view of managerial practice. A skills-driven
approach is therefore the best way to teach/tutor management at the post-experience level.
Applying the travelling theory to any particular management development programme requires a
number of different components. The EAMD includes these components. Some are better addressed
by a process of self-study (the concepts), while others are better addressed via discussion groups,
tutorials1 or project work (the cases and activities) (see figure 1). Knowledge acquisition is an
important component of any programme. In the case of the EAMD, knowledge is acquired through
the self-study of formal concepts presented in electronic format. Acquisition of skills, such as the
power to motivate, is achieved via activities which need to be developed during the tutorials. Other
skills, such as problem solving, are better dealt with through developing project work. A third
component of any programme should be the development of aptitudes and attitudes, such as
judgement and flexibility, and these skills are most probably best addressed via a project on a real life
case. Eventually, and particularly in the Euro-Arab setting, one should focus on acquiring the skills
required to deal with different cultures. The use of cases during tutorials could help foster this
component of the programme.
For the above reasons, EAMS has opted for the travelling theory of education and learning. In
practice, many EAMS partner institutions needed to shift from the subject-centred paradigm to the
learner-centred paradigm. EAMS decided to characterise this learning philosophy in a number of
different ways. EAMS programmes attempted to broaden rather than deepen knowledge. These
programmes should, as much as possible, provide flexibility in terms of time and content. Attention
should be given to developing managerial skills particularly in sit-in sessions such as tutorials. Any
programme should in one way or another be project-based, not only for the above-stated reasons, but
also in order to co-create new pedagogical material, in particular new case material. Given the need
for flexibility and the time constraints of practising managers, self-learning is part of the EAMS
programme. EAMS aimed not to train a chosen few, but rather to organise its training programmes so
as to be able to reach as many people as possible. The local cultural component should be present in
any programme. The tutor plays a crucial role in adapting any EAMS material to local conditions.
EAMS will never be able to produce pedagogical material to accommodate all particular sub-cultures
1 Tutorials are group sessions involving one tutor and six to eight students.

4. in Europe and in the Arab world. Local adaptation must thus take place during the tutorials.
3. Pedagogical material in electronic format
Reasons for choosing to present the pedagogical material in an electronic format are pedagogical in
nature and include the efficient maintenance of the material and the flexibility of its use that such a
format offers (for an extended discussion, please consult Baets and Van der Linden, 2000 and 2003).
The process of materials development has involved de-constructing the pedagogical material from its
classical text-book format and isolating three categories of material (see figure 1):
concepts (contextualised definitions with examples)
company case-studies and more extensive examples
activities (possibly based on short examples).
The electronic pedagogical material is organised along these three axes in the form of a hypertext
database. A hypertext database (compare this to the Internet) allows the user to inter-link concepts,
cases and activities. So, as a student reads a text about one concept and encounters reference to
another, with a simple click on the mouse, he/she can link up to information about the other concept.
The same is true with examples. As the student reads a text about a concept, a link can be made to an
example which will illustrate the concept and thus make it much clearer. Similarly, a text about a
company case-study will provide links to any concept that is mentioned. This allows a reader to focus
on exactly what interests him/her, thus enhancing learning possibilities (see below). Such a format
allows fast, constant adaptation and adjustments to be made to the case-base without having to alter
the concepts at the same speed. Over the next few years, with the continuous input of case-studies
from MMDP and EAMD participants, the pedagogical material offers an ever-growing number of
case-studies and will touches on all concepts relevant to the Euro-Arab business environment.
Hypertext
Euro-Arab Management Diploma Database
450h self-study
150h tutorials Internet
250h project
S
IE
IV S/
IT
CT L
A KIL
S
C
A PC
S CD Rom
E
S
CONCEPTS
Lotus Learning Space
EAMS WWW site
Executive Books
Courses
Copyright © 1998 by Walter Baets on the Design and the Form of the ‘Hybrid Business School’
Figure 1: The Concept of a Hybrid Business School applied to EAMS

5. Efficient maintenance of the pedagogical material
Publishing books takes time and any minor change requires a complete reprint. As a result, printed
pedagogical material is very often out of date. In terms of concepts, this may not be too much of a
problem. In terms of cases and examples, however, it could reduce the value of the material especially
in a rapidly changing economic environment such as the Mediterranean. By using an electronic
format, EAMS can continually update its central electronic version, which can be made available to all
partner institutions by the very next day. If a partner institution chooses to use material in print form,
only that part of the material which has been updated can be printed and it can be done immediately.
Flexibility in course design
Although its initial target is to launch the EAMD, the ultimate target of the EAMS network is to
organise any possible and imaginable courses relevant to management in the Euro-Arab business
community. There is an interesting demand from companies, for instance, not so much for degree
courses at present, but rather for short, specific courses: finance for engineers; telecom in the Maghreb
etc. It would be impossible to support such courses with existing textbooks as there are almost none
available on such specific subjects and those that do exist are usually too general. In any case, a
textbook seldom accommodates cultural diversity. With the pedagogical material presented in the
form of an electronic database, partner institutions can download the material they specifically need
for any particular course. Course design and assembling pedagogical material go hand in hand. Once
the database is complete, having the appropriate volume and quality of case-studies, it would be very
easy to access pedagogical material in order to create specific and specialised degree courses. In
general, electronic learning formats facilitate the process of curriculum design.
Pedagogical concerns
The presentation of pedagogical material in an electronic format is very apt in terms of applying the
travelling theory metaphor which forms the basis of the EAMS philosophy. The general orientation
of the project is well complemented by a system which allows tutors to easily access and isolate those
concepts relevant to their students and their projects. This is the main advantage of the electronic
format over the text book format. In addition, the hypertext structure facilitates learning and discovery
for the student who browses through material.
Typically, business schools use IT as an alternative to the classroom situation in order to reduce their
marginal costs. However, it has often been unsuccessful as a learning delivery mode since it still
supports the delivery paradigm (the transfer theory): the student is an empty vessel; a degree is an
intellectual bill of loading for ‘knowledge-on-board’; teaching is a delivery service; universities are
loading docks; IT plays the role of intellectual fork-lift truck. As argued earlier, the transfer theory
has its limitations and the use of IT in order to support this approach only magnifies its weaknesses.
Any use of IT, particularly in terms of learning technologies, should be based on the conversational
paradigm. Knowledge is shaped by the tools of inquiry and therefore by conversation: hence, the
important role of tutorials. It is this centrality of conversation which makes the Internet such a success
and EAMS’s hypertext approach is based on that Internet technology. Tutorials should reinforce that
conversational paradigm, rather than be based on a one-to-many or teacher-centred structure.
It should thus be clear that the approach which EAMS has chosen targets students who are already
socialised, that is students who already contribute to human networks whether social, professional or
educational. IT-based education, or any other form of open learning, is not appropriate to groups of
people who are not yet socialised, which is the case of undergraduate students.

6. 4 The role of the EAMS tutor
The EAMS tutor has a double role, one with respect to EAMS (which we are not going to highlight
here) and one as guide and facilitator to his/her students. In this section, the latter role is discussed. A
general description of the role of the tutor is given and then specific aspects are highlighted.
A tutor is a counsellor to his/her students. The tutor does not possess all the ‘knowledge’ and all the
‘answers’, but is rather someone who can counsel students and direct them to where they can find
answers to their questions. The tutor makes a selection of the appropriate learning material for
every student at each particular phase of the learning process. Naturally all students go through the
same course curriculum, but certain students may need different or additional inputs. In order to
monitor students, the tutor and the student need to agree on a plan which will support the learners in
their learning needs.
The tutor needs to assess learner progress on a continuous basis. In order to do this, a procedure
needs to be set up which is transparent to the student and which will enable him/her to learn. A
combination of tutor assessment and self-evaluation by the student him/herself is one possible
procedure. A discussion based on comparing tutor assessment with the student’s self-evaluation,
would result in a constructive learning process for the student. The tutor should assist the student
with any particular learning difficulties and if the tutor feels unable to deal with them, he/she
should direct the student to someone who can.
The most time-consuming activity for EAMD tutors will be running group sessions. These will have
a variety of purposes. In the first place, group sessions facilitate group learning. Learning takes
place via the exchange of ideas and experiences and it has been noted that, particularly with a group of
experienced managers, peer-learning proves to be very efficient and interesting. The tutor should run
the group session, rather than teach a group of students in the traditional teacher-centred way. In
addition, in group sessions, learners can apply what they have learned. The application of
knowledge is more important than theoretical knowledge itself specifically for practising managers.
This relates back to the discussion on the balance between knowledge, skills and attitudes which
should be part of any management development programme. Group sessions need to help learners to
develop managerial skills (managerial competencies). As discussed during the MMDP, these
managerial skills or competencies are primarily skills which facilitate the application of knowledge or
which allow you to do things. In addition, managerial attitudes are related to the manager’s ability to
deal with people, rather than with applied knowledge. It is the tutor’s role to make sure that during
group sessions, some of these managerial competencies, such as problem analysis and negotiations,
are developed.
A tutor is also responsible for nurturing a holistic view in the student, including the (local) cultural
component. Students will probably view management as consisting of a combination of different
disciplines, such as marketing and finance, which is not the case in practice. A good manager is one
who can integrate these different views, even transcend such functional views, in order to manage in a
wide variety of corporate settings. Such a holistic, corporate-wide view is not something which comes
automatically. Group sessions should be used as an opportunity to focus on the holistic approach to
management, for instance, via case discussions and through the project work). The project work is
important for integrating, applying and focusing on managerial competencies. Tutors need to
comment regularly on any material produced by the student, in particular with regard to project
tutoring (see below). The feedback process is an important learning moment for the student.
Last but not least, the tutor plays an important role in adapting any pedagogical material created by
EAMS (or other sources) to the local circumstances in the different countries. It is unrealistic to
think that EAMS could ever produce material which is directly relevant to each of the European and
Arab countries in the network. The EAMD pedagogical material should be ready for use in a ‘general
denominator case’. In each particular country, however, it is certain that some cases or even concepts
would not apply, or some concepts may apply differently. It is not the role of the tutor to write

7. specific pedagogical material. Rather, it is the role of the tutor to organise tutorials in such a way that
they make complete sense in terms of the country in question. If a case does not apply to a particular
country, then do not use it. Instead, ask students to find their own examples/cases.
Each tutorial should be prepared in order to include a number of the ‘tutor tasks’ stated above. It is the
tutor’s involvement and preparation for the tutorial which will make the quality difference between
tutorials. A tutor is a personal counsellor for his/her students, a guide in the process of learning.
References
Baets W and Van der Linden G, [2000] The Hybrid Business School: Developing knowledge
management through management learning, Prentice-Hall
Baets W, Browaeys M J, and Walker R, [2001] ADAGIO: A methodology for designing corporate
virtual universities, Nyenrode University Press,
Baets W and Van der Linden G, [2003] Virtual Corporate Universities: A matrix of knowledge and
learning for the new digital dawn, Dordrecht Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003
Walker R and Baets W, “Designing a virtual course environment for management education: a
learner-centred approach”, Indian Journal of Open Learning (IJOL), September, 2000