If I were king of the world, I'd make education compulsory and free through grade 22. I'd model all elementary and high schools after Summerhill (for those who remember) except those for special students who for neurological or psychological reasons need more rigid structures (what, 10 percent at most?), all schools would have a maximum enrollment of 200. There would be no grades, just evaluations from teachers whose main job would be to know the students and structure their individual lessons according to their needs. I would abolish all athletic programs, but provide a plentitude of footballs and baseballs and basketballs for the students' own devising. All students would be compelled to go to college, even the retards (as we used to call them). College would continue without grades, just evaluations by professors whose purpose was to teach, not publish, not produce research, just follow their students closely and evaluate their educational needs. There would only be 5 subjects studied over the first four years: philosophy, literature, math, music and art. Philosophy would be taught as the history of ideas, literature would be taught purely as language play -- any teacher caught teaching content in a literature course would be shot in front of his students -- math would be taught as a way of experiencing existence, music and art would be from an appreciation and DIY approach. Colleges would be limited to an enrollment of 1000 students. No one would know what an athletic department is or what a fraternity was for. After 4 years of learning what it means to be a human being, then all students, even those wanting to be philosophers and writers and musicians and artists would have to go through a two year apprenticeship program in any manual trade they chose -- I'd choose air conditioning! All students would have to learn how to use their hands as well as their brains. Once they've passed their apprenticeship -- first graded course -- they would then be free of compulsory education but still have 4 more years of free education to pursue any career they chose in graduate school -- even business. After that, they could get married and have children or just go fishing.
Aren't you glad I'm not king. Mike Geary Memphis----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Paul" <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 4:19 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Physics and Philosophy Inside Higher Ed Feb. 7 A University Without Physics and Philosophy? Is a university without philosophy and physics really a university? That's the underlying question that faculty critics at Indiana State University are asking in the wake of a recommendation by the institution's provost that undergraduate degrees in those two fields - which are core elements of most liberal arts curriculums - be eliminated as part of an overarching plan to reduce the number of programs the university offers to 150 from 214. "This is almost a move to become a vocational school that is not only disturbing to people in physics and philosophy, but to people in other departments as well," said Rocco Gennaro, interim chair of the philosophy department. "We're outraged by this." Karen Schmid, associate vice president for academic affairs at the 11,000-student public university, said that the general plan for eliminating and combining various departments and programs had been thoroughly vetted with the faculty and comes after a multiyear process that culminated last September with a list of priorities from a campus task force. The final recommendations were released last week by the provost and must be approved by the Board of Trustees, who will meet in April. Schmid said that the reduction is a response to criticism from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the university's regional accreditor. "When they last did our accrediting review, they said that we have too many programs for a university of our size and too many programs with low enrollment," she said. In fact, the university has found that about 8,800 students are enrolled in 107 programs, and another 1,800 major in the remaining 107. The physics program has only two tenured faculty members and three non-tenured professors, and only nine undergraduate majors. Philosophy has 19 majors and four faculty members. Eric Preston, an assistant professor of physics, said his department is an average size for a physics program that offers only bachelor's degrees. And getting rid of physics, he said, "makes a pretty serious statement about the direction the university is going in." He added: "Can we really call this a university without physics and philosophy?" David Schrader, executive director of the American Philosophical Association, said that dropping core programs like philosophy and physics "can't help but reduce the academic quality at Indiana State." He said that philosophy always attracts a small number of majors but that many students in other programs take philosophy classes. "So the contribution from a program like philosophy should be measured in overall enrollment in courses, not just the number of majors." The elimination of the physics program comes at a time when numerous reports such as the National Academies' "Rising Above the Gathering Storm," call for increased investments in physical sciences, said Ted Hodapp, director of education and diversity at the American Physical Society. "So this institution is going against the grain of the national movement," he said. Schmid said that students could still pursue an interest in both disciplines by majoring in liberal studies with a concentration in physics or philosophy. "Other institutions do not have these as stand alone programs," she said. "We are not alone." Schrader disagreed with this assessment. "I've not heard of something like this at a major institution. Maybe at a community college, but for a major public university, I think that this is pretty much unprecedented." - Paul D. Thacker The original story and user comments can be viewed online at http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/07/programs. © Copyright 2006 Inside Higher Ed --------------------------------- Forwarded by Robert Paul rpaul@xxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
