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Speaking OutDebating Our Mission, ContinuedLawrence Franke writes in the December 1999 Speaking Out that it is not the role of the university "to promote an anti-business notion of justice, equity, and sustainability." This phrase does not make sense. Justice is about people, not business. In a democratic society, business people have a right to expect that government will take their interests into consideration. All citizens in a democracy have the right to access and accountability. But, as James Madison writes in Federalist Paper #10, interest must balance interest to achieve the national interest. Franke writes that foreigners with no consumer society seek entry into our nation in search of consumerism. Again, I disagree. An individual trying to meet personal aesthetic, cognitive, and material needs is not necessarily an individual seeking consumerism. The university should teach students to develop and nurture these basic needs, but the university should also help students think critically about consumer society. As Tocqueville taught Americans, a society of consumers is not a democracy. Franke praises technology and the market place. But, as John K. Galbraith has pointed out, the market often fails to meet people's legitimate needs. Demand dollars come from the same public who pay taxes. If taxpayers throw their money after frivolous consumer goods, they cannot give the same money in taxes to build schools and roads. Americans need discipline in their consumption patterns. In a democratic society, such discipline can only legitimately come from education. Professor Franke writes that there is "little to fear from a corporate agenda." But this may not be so. The corporate agenda is about maximizing profits. In common moral terms, this is greed. The record of those who could not resist the allure of greed fills U.S. newspapers of the past two decades. With this record before us, to not fear the corporate agenda would be Pollyannaish. We must praise the rational good. This is the university mission. Plato taught that neither the fully rational nor the completely passionate is good for human beings. Both lead to self-destruction and social catastrophe. But a balance between them, Plato advised, was good. The university must teach a balance between economic need and justice.
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I'd like to Say...At my college, we recently discussed the issue of qualifications for faculty (March Advocate Dialogue) when the administration announced "preference would go to candidates with a Ph.D or Ed.D in addition to a masters in the discipline." I feel strongly that anyone who teaches ESL at a community college should have at least an M.A. in TESOL. But I don't think this issue should be so black and white. Why can't we be evaluated not only by the degrees we hold but also according to how our students perform? If faculty do not hold the appropriate degree, but have measured success with the curriculum and students, they should be allowed to teach. —Alessandro Massaro It is particularly frustrating to me—a veteran teacher—to hear from colleagues that education departments at universities are the best places from which to hire faculty as Chad Hanson contends (March Dialogue). My two education degrees can't begin to compare with the value of the latest one, my Ph.D. in English—to me and my students. Teaching is an art, and precious few who don't have some innate sense of that art are great teachers. —Ann Whelan |
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