I'm going to draw a parallel here: you are aware of the people who decry games like tag in schools in some kind of misguided rush to avoid conflict during developmental stages when kids should be learning to deal with conflict? You are also aware of the people who decry the university professors who bring their politics to the classroom and make dissenting students feel uncomfortable at a time when said students should be learning how to debate effectively in hostile ideological environments?
Same team.
I fought my alma mater on a number of issues, and you know what? I consider that to be among the more valuable lessons of higher education: taking on an institution that holds all the cards. Because I hate to break it to you if you were unaware, but that's life, kid. When I was in middle school we played a game at recess called "Smear the Queer" wherein one kid had a ball and every other kid in the game (and there was no limit to participation) would try to take that kid out and take the ball from him (this was generally a boy's game, not by design, but by nature). The educational value of that game cannot be overstated. It's just you against an overwhelming force, success is only fleeting, and defeat is assured. When I was in college we played a game called "Divestment" wherein a small group of students with no money would try to get the university to stop investing in wealthy companies that conducted business with oppressive regimes such as those in Burma and Afghanistan. It was just us against an overwhelming force, success was only fleeting, and defeat was assured.
It is these experiences that foster growth, understanding, and character development. It is these scenarios that will recur ad infinitum throughout life, and those who are unprepared for them are weaker for it. So I say to those complainers, you are opposing the very thing that makes you strong. Your success will ensure the failure of those who follow you. Educational environments require these elements, for the same reason that gyms don't prohibit weights over 5 pounds.
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3 comments:
Yup, it's me again. I agree with your point nearly completely. I disagree with a portion of your college professor analogy. There are two kinds of people who go to college. Some people go to college to get an education. Some others go to college to get a piece of paper that said they went to college. You absolutely get an education especially when you can take on professors of differing ideology. However, if the college you are going to does not have an adequate spectrum of ideologies, how are you going to learn past debating the limited options available? Furthermore, if you are there more to get a diploma and a nice GPA, who says the biased professor won't give you a low grade just for arguing with his/her ideology?
I have not seen "Indoctinate U" but it is being sold as a documentary that outs a specific ideology as being heavily more prevelant in colleges across the nation than another. While I think I understand the reason for that, where are the people who share their professors ideology going to turn for an argument? Those limited options seem to be creating a vortex of stupid people while those of us who did speak up against those biases got smarter.
The gap between these two is getting wider.
Back in MY day, we had discussions in class, and everyone who had a viewpoint had to defend it against a group of people who disagreed. Some people liked that. Others would just get cranky, furrow their brows, and stop talking. I imagine the latter group got great comfort from the popularization of the idea that they were being oppressed by the Vast Other-Wing Conspiracy. It's the same old culture of victimhood rearing its ugly head again. Oh boohoo, I'm afraid to disagree with my professor because he might change my grade, and THAT'S why I can't defend my positions, not because I'm just full of hooey. What's next, affirmative action for conservative college professors? If the colleges ARE full of liberal professors, then conservatives are getting a considerably more valuable education than a good old liberal like me, so I have no patience for their bitching. I'd be concerned for the state of liberal thought if it weren't for the constant right-wing drumbeat in the mainstream media.
As far as the kids who just want the GPA and diploma, those can be purchased online for considerably less than the price of a real four-year degree, especially after factoring in living expenses.
as far political ideologies of campuses and professors go, when i was choosing grad schools, i noticed George Mason's literature relied heavily on glowing quotes from Heritage fellow and overall Reagan lackey Ed Meese (on the board of visitors) and neo-con history-ender Francis Fukuyama (prof). not even the appearance of former Dem. Sen. Chuck Robb as a prof could keep me from casting my lot with the liberal crazies at GWU. the choice is out there, or my name is Bob Jones.
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