". . . we should view the privilege of a higher education much as we did the privileges that we enjoyed as children. We knew we couldn't get ice cream if we didn't help wash the dishes - we worked for the privileges that we enjoyed, and we shared in the responsibility of earning them. Those special activities were available to us, but we did not enjoy them as a 'right.' We were expected to contribute.
". . . We need to break down expectations based on entitlement and focus on educational productivity and outcomes. Institutions should review redundancies, rethink staffing models, and streamline business practices. Productivity measures should be applied in all areas. . . .
"For example, we should re-evaluate the notion that large classes are inherently pedagogically unsound. . . . Although no one would advocate for large classes in every discipline or instance, we should review what we do in light of new financial contingencies . . ."
- Hamid Shirvani, president of Calif. State Stanislaus, writing in the Oct. 23 Chronicle of Higher Eduction.
May I have my ice cream now, please?
Revised mortician vignette
-
"Where's your aria this morning?" I asked the singing mortician as he
leaned out of his red car in his dull scrubs to put on his new and very
white tenni...
5 days ago
1 comment:
Hamid Shirvani seems to position himself within a venerable line of American educational reformers who often mark their start with Horace Mann and quickly begin to show the influence of Ford-style models of factory efficiency. Notice how Shirvani ties pedagogy and classroom practices to corporate financial interests?
A democracy would seem to require that all citizens be treated equally, as reasoning adults, but paternalism is everywhere in our society and educational systems. Such condescending attitudes imply a hierarchical power structure.Do financial and class structure interests provide the final justification for patronizing people? Obviously, where funds are tight the powers that be soon set aside all but minimal lip service to democratic ideals.
Post a Comment