The Corporate Analogy Distracts
There is an enormous difference between a discussion about the activity of educating and a discussion about educational institutions. A failure to appreciate this difference can lead to confusion on...
View ArticleIs Society Committed to Education?
Written with Mary Churchill Mike: I agree with your criticism of the corporate model, but it is worth talking a bit about alternatives to it, as far as faculty is concerned. From the point of view of...
View ArticleEducation as an Instance of Life
Critics of the “blame the teachers” mentality seem to agree with several educational principles that we have promoted in our blog, and that continues a tradition initiated in the United States by John...
View ArticleLearning Through Hanging Out
The principles of John Dewey’s “pedagogical vision,” applied to postsecondary education, should not be evaluated according to the techniques of teaching with which they are often identified. Many of...
View ArticleThe Sciences vs. the Humanities: a Power Struggle
The problem of reconciling the humanities and the sciences poses a greater crisis for the humanities than for the sciences. One solution proposes a core curriculum consisting fundamentally of science,...
View ArticleTenure and the Administration Problem
The tenure process should be as transparent as possible. However, certain legitimate criteria for tenure may not lend themselves to precise instructions in advance and there may be reasons for a given...
View ArticleAn Attempt to Tame the Humanities
There has been considerable debate in the U. K. over the announcement by the philosopher A.C. Grayling of the launch of a private for-profit liberal-arts college in London, with tuition comparable to...
View ArticleSaving Education From the Right
Short-term economic goals are insufficient to justify sacrificing longer-term goals, and there is agreement among economists and sociologists that job creation in the short run is no longer on the...
View ArticleYou Can’t Keep Politics Out of Education
Should we agree with Stanley Fish and others who feel that we should eliminate references to politics in debating the importance of the humanities and the future of higher education? Is it even...
View ArticleReward and Punishment for Public Engagement
Faculty who choose to act on their sense of social responsibility, beyond research and teaching, are not often rewarded by universities, and perhaps should be. I do not feel confident in what I believe...
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