October 27, 2004
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Time Magazine Presents
The story of my current life, as well as the story of the educational crisis at Washington University in St. Louis, are developing into a story fit for a major publication. Call me the whistle blower, exposing the problems of a school that almost all from the outside, and nearly all from the inside, view as one of the finest and best schools in the country.
Things are not right at this school. Things are not right at many schools, but through discussion, I am learning that things are specifically not right at this school.
I had a conversation w/ someone this morning. A conversation that I cannot talk about in any sort of specifics. That alone, is a sign of the seriousness. There are several people at Wash U. in St. Louis who have read my book ($15+ shipping) and have found it in some ways to be “dangerous.” One faculty member said, “You’re saying some amazing and true things, that nobody who works for this school would ever dare to touch, if they wanted to keep their job.” Yes…my book, might be the most dangerous book, without the logistics to explode the metaphorical college bubble that I’m hoping to explode.
One faculty member, who believed strongly in what I wrote, was already a proponant of the educational philosophy which I hold. A philosohpy which puts the students first, and does everything possible to help students not just to learn academic subjects, but to learn about themselves, and the world they live in. One faculty member was involved with helping students to answer the questions that nobody had asked of them. “Why are you here?” Helping students understand that their difficulties with college are not just learning problems, but problems of their not owning their own academic experience. One faculty member was highly valued for their work by many faculty and students, in helping students to get the most from their experience. One faculty member has been fired…
This is a large story, and I’m trying to find a way to procede. It is a story that will reveal much about Wash U. as investigation proceeeds, but a story that will be difficult because of the legal gag orders put on some faculty, and the informal gag orders that keep faculty from speaking out.
My book is dangerous…hmmm…
My book is honest, that’s for sure. It’s interesting how honesty tends to be dangerous.
Having won over a few faculty members, a few students, and a few alumni (by few, the total is only about 5, although about 50 people have my book that i have not gotten any feedback from) I am not convinced, that the project that I took on, is an important one.
Let me switch gears for a minute. People buy cars. Car makers build cars, based on the demands of the people. The movement to safer and more environmental friendly cars, is a result of consumer demand. At Washington U. in St. Louis, students are consuming an unhealthy product. They are spending about $3,000 per class!!! They are spending about $120,000 over four years. They are part of one of the top research institutions in America, but also part of a school with class sizes unconducive for learning, with professors equally worried about research as teaching, with students who possess little self-motivation for college except to gain a degree to the job world. College has changed from a place where people go to learn, to a place where people go to be able to find work. With that change, the institution has remained the same.
In order to change things, we need more informed consumers. More informed students. That is part of my job. To inform students about some of the ills of the traditional form of schooling they’re being pushed through. Once students start thinking, hey, this isn’t the best thing for us, then, they will be able to demand changes.
I’m conflicted by the need and desire to find a job, and to pursue experiences that will build my future. The project I am doing now is risky, in that it does not fit neatly onto a resume. I’m an activist without an organization. A writer without a publisher. An investigative journalist without a paper. I’m working on all three. The pressure to move-on is large, but so is the pressure to carry out what I even said I wanted to carry out in my book.
I WANT TO IMPROVE HIGHER EDUCATION
It’s important, it’s necessary, and if I don’t do anything about it, those who are suffering now at the hands of the current system, will continue to struggle.
Comments (5)
One of the questions we face, is that we often barely understand the questions to ask. Should Liberal Arts schools, for example, be nothing more than Vocational Preps? My sense from being on college campuses is that is what “most” students seem to want. They don’t want the depth and breadth of liberal education, or at least, they won’t say that’s what they want when picking a school. Students coming out of high school only go to college because “its what you do next” and “I need the degree to get a job.” If those are the ideas going in, it isn’t going to be a healthy place.
My first college was a Land Grant one, and that theory has always been more “major-devoted” and more “outcome-oriented.” But the concept of a school where you go because you are fascinated by the world, because you want all your assumptions challenged, where you want to learn both what you don’t know as well as how what you do know might be wrong, where you go to find out what you’ll choose to do… that is a vanishing place. The faculty is at fault, surely administrations are at fault, the American idea that “college is for everybody” is definitely at fault, but students leaving high school are deeply at fault as well.
My biggest suggestion? Everyone take a year off after high school. Go do ANYTHING other than college. Outward Bound is nice, going to Europe is nice, working at McDonald’s is fine, doing something in your community that shows you the world is even better, putting yourself into an uncomfortable situation is best of all. In Germany kids do their National Service, working with the poor (of course they’re not as poor as our poor), working with immigrants, cleaning streets, restoring landmarks, taking care of parks. They get out and see their world for the first time. When they go to college they are really ready to be students again. And any college prof will tell you that though students who “take a break” are more demanding, they’re also far more interested and interesting, and far more open.
i’m freakin’ stagnant over here in my education for my final year. i can see the blame pushed around… but more and more i’m feeling screwed because i basically pay a teacher to tell me what i need to know from a book that i need to do well on a test… and i might learn what is important by this… but why do i need to pay so much for someone to measure the ‘important’ knowledge i’ve learned from a book?
eliminate the professors entirely. just give me a syllabus with a study guide and i won’t feel any differrent about almost all my classes. i’m sure we could eliminate some costs, and hey, all of a sudden i’ve gained ~3 hours of my time per week back per 3 credit class. less cost + more time = double happiness.
i didn’t know what i wanted when i came here, it’s true. but i still don’t know what i want. i’ve found out many things that i do not want though… gee, how useful. where’s my frickin’ job that i was told i would land if i go here? even if i had just that… i might be somewhat satisfied in putting in my time at WU.
My Mum who is a teacher always says ” education is not just so you can get a job its about learning .
I think it’s pretty common that people who are willing to speak the truth have trouble either finding or keeping a job. That’s why so few people in this country are willing to speak the truth, because it’s too dangerous to their livelihoods. People are more afraid of not having money than they are of living with secrets and lies. I’m not sure a year off will ever cure very many of our ills. It’s a minor speed bump, after which one can go on as before — back on the career track. We’ll never be a truly free country as long as we define success by how much money and how many things we have. The problem is that true success — like anything that is truly valuable in life — cannot be given a measurable value. It cannot be standardized or systemized, and by systemizing everything, we’re losing track of what is most important in life.
I was raised to know the four forms of schooling. Elementary, Middle, Highschool, and College. The idea of education being this important, I was unaware untill the age of 15, that highschool after 16 was optional. Not go to college? Thats not an option. The goal of always bringing the level of ones own knowlege should never be met, but always strived for. I realized that you shared this thrist for learning. The thirst that pulled you away from the schools so you could quench that thirst with your hands and your feet and learn imagry instead of text. You, someone I saw in such a dimmer light before I was aware we shared this desire to take education out of the classroom and into the world. Daddy, Dan, Pio Dan, Im inspired, and if that makes you feel just a tingle of satisfaction, then Im glad I could be someone to verbalize it.