{"id":30,"date":"2018-05-12T10:40:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-12T14:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/?p=30"},"modified":"2018-05-12T17:50:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-12T21:50:41","slug":"shore-1992","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/2018\/05\/12\/shore-1992\/","title":{"rendered":"The Myth of the University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shore, P. J. (1992).\u00a0The myth of the university: Ideal and reality in higher education<\/em><\/a>. Lanham: University Press of America<\/p>\n

\"\"This is an interesting and readable book, and although it was not well reviewed (largely on account of being impractical, and perceived as elitist and reactionary) I felt the author made some important points.\u00a0 At the crux\u00a0 is the dialectic between the university as an intellectual \u201ccommunity of scholars\u201d (with a nostalgic look back to medieval times) and the socio-political reality of universities as training for profitable employment and the entry of universities into a competitive marketplace.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The book has its shortcomings for sure, but Shore does try to grapple with the key question of \u201cwhat should a modern university be\u201d and as such it has considerable value, particularly for Catholic Universities trying to establish their place in the current economically driven education system.\u00a0 Shore also incorporates a detailed history of American universities which I found interesting.\u00a0 Unfortunately the comprehensive references are mostly buried in chapter-by-chapter footnotes.<\/p>\n

Shore\u2019s assertion that \u201cthe view that an American university must always be accountable in a monetary or practical way for all of its activities, is erroneous and cannot be allowed to dictate the university\u2019s mission\u201d (p.12) is certainly controversial in the current climate of assessment and accountability.\u00a0 To have no accountability seems dangerous as well as impractical, but the point that short-term \u201coutcomes\u201d do not necessarily correlate with long-term individual and social benefits deserves consideration.<\/p>\n

Although this work does not address Catholic universities or theology, Shaw frequently notes the need for critical intellectual and spiritual components, for example \u201cthe most important contribution of the university is individuals who can think individually and purposefully to the conclusions of questions \u2026 who recognize the importance of confronting issues of spirituality and human existence\u201d (p.14).\u00a0 He also argues in favor of what might be seen as elitism but perhaps would be better termed \u201cselectivity\u201d:\u00a0 admission (for faculty as well as students) should be based on willingness and preparedness to commit to the intellectual life.\u00a0 He is opposed to the idea of a university as a \u201cjob training ground\u201d, noting that vocational colleges and similar institutions rather than true universities should be filling that role.<\/p>\n

In historical perspective, he notes that \u201cAmerican higher education continues to be bedeviled by the same competition and striving for status\u201d that led to the demise of many early colleges (p. 39), and also deplores similar competition between departments and majors within institutions (p.72). \u00a0Shore also draws attention to the lack of teaching preparation for PhD students (p.65) and the growing \u201ctension between the competing roles of instructor and researcher\u201d (p.93).\u00a0 He also points out that when students (and faculty) are forced to work elsewhere due to inadequate funding or pay it dilutes the mission and \u201cthe most important aspect of the university experience: participation in a community committed to teaching and learning (p.113), as do excessive paperwork and administrative duties for faculty.\u00a0 He is also concerned about the growing \u201cconsumerism\u201d of education \u2013 the attitude that students have paid for a degree and the university is responsible for granting it, rather than taking joint responsibility for their own education and the \u201cself-transformation which is essential for any real success in post-secondary education\u201d (p.126).<\/p>\n

Shore has plenty more to say, covering a broad range of issues such as over-specialization (a commonly noted problem), student athletes, tenure, promotion and peer-review procedures (in particular, lack of adequate recognition for teaching and an over-emphasis on peer-reviewed publication) and dwindling popularity and support for the humanities as an essential part of a liberal education. However, the major challenge to his proposal for more traditional, more selective, less consumerist and better funded universities is socioeconomic \u2013 for example \u201cwe will have to spend billions more on financial aid\u201d or limit a university education to the few who can afford to pay (p.113). While it is probably true that far more is spent on cosmetics and that the spending would be repaid in public service and reduced crime, this would be a difficult investment to \u201csell\u201d in the current political climate and economy. The following quotation captures this nicely:<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents in American universities, faced with the need to make considerable financial sacrifices in order to complete their education and socialized from elementary school onward to see education as a means to find a higher paying or higher status job, are understandably concerned with the usefulness of what they must learn.\u00a0 Students are also influenced by the pervasive and unrelenting materialism of our society, a materialism in which the university often participates with its emphasis on expansion and fund raising\u201d (p. 199-200)<\/p>\n

In closing, Shore notes that \u201cProfessional training, socialization and perhaps even credentialing are important functions of the university, but without the ability to think and react humanely, the university graduate is poorly equipped to serve society or to experience the best that society can offer\u201d (p. 234-5).<\/p>\n

Questions<\/h4>\n

The challenge of economic materialism and the demand to provide \u201cvalue for money\u201d (which insistently repeats in later publications) is probably the most difficult one that we face.\u00a0 For students, debt and future employment are very real (and distracting) concerns.\u00a0 What is the best approach to addressing this?<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0 Collini (2012) makes an interesting case for not adopting the defensive position of pleading the \u201ceconomic benefits of education\u201d which is foreshadowed in this earlier work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shore, P. J. (1992).\u00a0The myth of the university: Ideal and reality in higher education. Lanham: University Press of America This is an interesting and readable book, and although it was not well reviewed (largely on account of being impractical, and perceived as elitist and reactionary) I felt the author made some important points.\u00a0 At the … Continue reading “The Myth of the University”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-challenges-in-higher-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/cheb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}