Academically Adrift with with Arum and Roksa.

Upon reading Academically Adrift by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, I was struck by the data presented on college life and how much college life has changed, ranging from how students spend their time to the cost of higher education to the attitudes and focus of universities and their administration. I also found it frightening how all these aspects are interlinked and, thus, if one aspect is bad, it will greatly influence the others. For instance, because the focus of modern-day professors is often research and scholarship, the time and effort put into teaching is often negatively affected and professors are less inclined to assign challenging work or work that will require a lot of grading and feedback from the professor. It was easier to make sense of why such effects might happen when I considered Freire’s “banking concept” of education. I was appalled to see similar negative patterns and data in higher education not just in Nathan’s book My First Year but also in an article from Inside Higher Ed.

The focus on research and scholarship usually results in the cop-out method of lecturing/teaching a classroom material and administering a multiple choice test on the material. This kind of teaching, thus, encourages students to “learn”, that is through rote memorization, the bare minimum to pass the exam. This concept reminded me of Freire’s “banking concept” of education in which rote memorization is often used and the teacher is the ultimate authority in what is important/what you should “learn”. Any students whom disagree or do not understand this will do often do poorly in the exam.

When one juxtaposes the information presented in Nathan’s My First Year and that presented in Academically Adrift, it is troublesome to see the similar trend of strategic students that seem to care less about true learning than students in the past. This disturbing idea is demonstrated in Arum and Roska’s novel when they present data on cheating in college:

"In a longitudinal comparison of nine colleges, for example, college students who admitted that they copied from other students on tests or exams increased from 26 percent in 1963 to 52 percent in 1993.”

This comes to show, also, how strategic students take advantage of this watered down system of education to get their degree with minimum effort. With modern students studying less hours per week than students in the past, as Nathan reports, and the ease of cheating true learning in this educational system, one can understand why the percentage of cheating students as recently increased.

As if lack of dedication to true learning weren’t enough, the focus of universities also seems to be shifting from academia and students’ education to serving their desires and attracting “customers”, another common theme in both novels. One example of this can be found in the Inside Higher Education article that I wrote about earlier in which the university is aiming to attract customers by approaching domestic violence from a unique viewpoint.

College Life According to Nathan

The two chapters I elected to read from My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan were chapters 2 and 4, respectively titled "Life in the Dorms" and "As Others See Us". I found both these chapters to be eye-opening and relateable in the drastic contrast between how media and the first week of class makes college out to be versus how it is in reality. Below I will discuss what I found to be the most interesting points made in these two chapters. I will also attempt to relate the chapters to a past theorist we have read in class, specifically Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

One of the concepts I found most interesting in chapter 2 was the fact that students, according to recall-based interviews and activity logs, not only studied less than past students but also relaxed/had fun less. Instead, modern students use their time working. I found this particularly interesting because it contradicts the theme of "we are here for a degree" and "school comes first". At the same time, however, I can see how this occurs as prices keep increasing and students feel more pressure to avoid or pay off loans. Another factor that could contribute to this phenomena is the idea that work experience is crucial to finding a job after college. Or, less responsibly, that students need to work to keep up with their spending habits.

In chapter 4, I found it intriguing how different American culture is to other cultures. Having grown up American and being accustomed to the traditions and customs, I never noticed how confused and ostracized foreigners must feel when we are friendly to them but not interested in being more than that, in being true friends. This superficiality reminded me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave when the people merely saw shadows of reality. There was a deeper reality but all the people in the cave were interested in was the surface of their world, that is, the shadows. I found it interesting how people from other countries are close to their classmates, to the point of going out to eat with them after class if the timing is appropriate, as well as to their friends' families. It occurred to me that part of the reason we are so lonely is due to the emphasis on individualism. In part because of this, we do not make the time to forge bonds with others. Instead, we focus on ourselves and our goals. We are friendly to others but we have no friends.

University Student Experience Now vs.Then

This week, our reading came from Rebekah Nathan's My Freshman Year. Her project consisted of an ethnographic study, in which she did her best to immerse herself in undergraduate university life by becoming a student and observing her peers. Throughout the reading, I felt a sense of de ja vu because the description of the university system and its educational methods seemed similar to Freire’s description of the oppressive banking educational system.  Both, for instance, establish a hierarchy in which the teacher is superior giver of knowledge and student is inferior receiver of knowledge format, as demonstrated by the different tones of conversation and conversation topics Rebekah was exposed to as a student versus as a teacher. Both in the novel and Freire's article, there exists a cold, machine-like functioning of the school system that stifles creativity and critical thinking as demonstrated in a passage on page 9:

"Despite the great variety of planned activities, there was a curious sameness to many of them. As an anthropologist, I saw a "script" in these introductory experiences...More important, I could begin to see the repeated (and, after a while, anticipatable elements of the experience that marked shared understandings and  cultural elements."

This passage describes how the system can be so efficient and mechanical to the point of being predictable. Such a system, thus, makes it easy to follow precedence and not think outside of the box or to critically analyze how the repetition of the same types of events and activities impacts the students and posterity. Students and future generations are given the "script" and are often expected to follow it. In a sense, then, the information that is being "deposited" into the students is this undergraduate student life script which they are expected to rotely memorize.

I find the experience Nathan had to be true. When I first came to university I was excited to see all the new and exciting events and people but now that I have been going to school for three years, I see how all these events follow a certain skeleton. I also see how all these events are organized into neat boxes and are scheduled for certain recurring times and days. These events are consistently, mechanically, predictably the same. If you try to stray away from the system, if you are honest that you are straying away from the system, you get hit with fees and with obstacles.

Education and Poetry

This week's articles, Pedagogy of the oppressed (Freire 1993) and Poetry is not a luxury (Lorde n.d.) were on the two types of education, that is, the banking concept of education and the libertarian education/problem-posing method of education, as well as women’s power, especially in poetry. The former article discusses how the banking concept of education, that is, the type where rote memorization, docile obedience, and non-critical thinking are emphasized is beneficial to oppressive systems. It also juxtaposes the concepts of libertarian education. The latter article discusses the power of poetry to set women free and as a vehicle for the courageous expression of their dreams and ideas. Both articles are related to freedom and knowledge.

A particularly interesting passage I wanted to point out was my favorite section from Poetry is not a luxury (Lorde n.d.):

"As we learn to bear the intimacy of scrutiny, and to flourish within it. as we learn to use the products of that scrutiny for power within our living, those fears which rule our lives and form our silences begin to lose their control over us."

Essentially this passage is talking about how, once we learn to accept scrutiny as a way to learn from our weaknesses and mistakes, we are stronger and more able to live our lives without being controlled and in fear of scrutiny. This is significant because a lot of people can be held back from their full potential due to fear of scrutiny or doing something wrong. This fear can be very controlling and limiting in one's growth and, thus, this statement helps to rectify that fear and paint scrutiny in a different positive light. Since we are interdependent and social beings, it is in everyone's best interest for individuals to reach their full potential because their talents and skills can make a positive contribution to the world in some way. Thus, if we all accept scrutiny and free ourselves of fear and control, the world will probably be better.

I agree with the argument in the above passage because as social beings, we are conscious and wary of the opinions of our fellow peers. That is to say, what people think of us and whether they like us, matters. Thus, we tend to filter our thoughts and ideas when presenting them to others for fear of rejection or offending someone(s). If we were, however, to take the scrutiny that comes with rejection or dubiousness, we can grow that much stronger. Criticism and scrutiny, therefore, are not always negative concepts.

Education: Then and Now

This week we also read the article Experience and Education by John Dewey. In this article, Dewey discusses traditional versus progressive education and proposes his ideal form of education. He identifies the true problem with traditional education and the problems that arise when trying to implement a progressive type of education. Dewey also addresses common misconceptions of both types of education. Dewey explains how practical matters cannot be fit into neat black or white boxes but must deal with compromise, just like the education system.

I would like to direct your attention to the passage in which Dewey discusses a student's experience in the traditional educational system:

"It is a great mistake to suppose, even tacitly, that the traditional schoolroom was not a place in which pupils had experiences. Yet this is tacitly assumed when progressive education as a plan of learning by experience is placed in sharp opposition to the old. The proper line of attack is that the experiences, which were had, by pupils and teachers alike, were largely of a wrong kind."

In other words, students in the traditional educational system did have experiences, contrary to what anti traditional educationists would have you think, but they were the wrong kinds of experiences. The experiences from traditional education systems killed a student's desire to learn and have more learning experiences. This is significant because education is dependent on experience, especially good experiences. Thus, the main issue with traditional education was its dealing with experiences.

I agree with the argument that traditional education fostered the wrong experiences. It is, indeed, the learning experiences that the traditional education forced onto youth that played a huge factor in the students associating learning with boring, useless, and long experiences. I am hesitant, however, to say that all the experiences the traditional educational system offered were bad. In fact, even seemingly boring, useless, and long experiences can be beneficial in teaching the students discipline, focus, and determination. If these “negative” experiences were left out of the educational curriculae, students would not have anything against which to compare the “positive” experiences and they would not have a well-rounded education.

Petrach's Life and the Humanities

This week, the article we read was Petrarch and the Origins of the Humanities. In it, the countless sudden and gruesome deaths of Petrarch's loved ones is recounted in relation to how Petrarch's style of writing changed. Petrarch is stated to be a pioneer in the study of Humanities. Petrarch also reflects on how his writing has changed from that of a mature man into that of a young boy, thus making him feel shame to share the letters he wrote, especially knowing he cannot deceive the readers since each letter is dated. Petrarch's main emotions, due to the time period and environment he grew up in, was that he would lose his friends and/or his own life suddenly as well grief for his suddenly taken friends.

I would like to call your attention to the passage where Petrarch's attitude towards death is analyzed:

"What then specifically characterizes Petrarch's attitude toward death? Behind the spectre of death, for Petrarch, lies the abyss of contingency. The grief and feelings of desolation that swept over him when a friend died, and the anxiety that tortured him as he wondered about his own safety and that of friends who were still alive, were intensified, if not actually caused, by his perception that the events of life happen by chance. More than death itself, Petrarch was haunted by change, unexpected, inexplicable change. “For man nothing is calm, nothing is stable, nothing is safe.”"

In this passage, Petrarch's true fear, that is, of sudden change that he cannot control, is revealed. This is significant since humanities is the study of how humans interpret and record the world around them and, inevitably, this changes with time and place. Such factors as technological advances and current events can drastically change humanities. This irony is especially obvious when in light of Petrarch being named a pioneer of humanities. It is also significant that Petrarch was haunted by the change since it affected his writing for the worse, thus, we were never able to take advantage of Petrarch’s full potential.

I agree with the argument that Petrarch's main fear was, ultimately, irreversible change. I would add on, however, a minor specification: Petrarch feared irreversible change that he had no control over. I also agree that Petrarch’s feelings were most likely intensified by the realization that life is a gamble and you never know what is going to happen. I am hesitant to agree, however, with Petrarch’s argument that “For man nothing is calm, nothing is stable, nothing is safe” because any absolute statements present ideas in a very black and white formula and there is a lot of gray issues in the world. I would be less hesitant if he were to state it in a non-absolutist form.