Earlier this year, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa created quite a stir with their book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Their central claim: if the goal of college is to teach students how to think critically, then colleges are failing at their primary purpose. With a large sample of more than 2,300 students, we observe no statistically significant gains in critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing skills for at least 45 percent of the students in the study. (36) Academically Adrift is … [Read more...] about Four Things I Learned about Students and Faculty from Academically Adrift
The Purpose of Education
Does Education Need to Have a Highest Good?
While mowing the grass on Sunday, here's the question that was put to me through my headphones: Is it possible to really have education —and hence to nourish imaginations —if schools refuse to define some highest good that is ordering educational life, some higher good that is transcendent or spiritual in some way? Maybe this isn't the typical issue that comes up during your yardwork, but it's not uncommon for me. I was listening to the current issue of Mars Hill Audio, specifically Ken Myers' interview with Anthony … [Read more...] about Does Education Need to Have a Highest Good?
Religion, Education, and the Meaning of Life
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been sharing my reflections on Anthony Kronman's 2007 book Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. While I believe that his core argument is insightful, it's marred by a few blind spots. Originally, I was going to address Kronman's treatement of religion as one of his blind spots, but I've decided that his handling of religion is so problematic —and so harmful to his case —that it deserves its own post. Here's a brief summary of … [Read more...] about Religion, Education, and the Meaning of Life
Three Blind Spots in Education’s End
Last week, I shared my appreciation for Anthony Kronman's critique of higher education and defense of the humanities, Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. This week, I'd like to examine a few of Kronman's blind spots. Next week, I'll take a look at how Kronman treats religion in his discussions of education and the meaning of life. The first two blind spots, in my view, don't necessarily undermine Kronman's central argument, but the book could have been much … [Read more...] about Three Blind Spots in Education’s End
Have Colleges Given Up on the Meaning of Life?
I periodically dip into my ever-growing "to read" pile and select a book that I should have read several years ago. So, a few weeks ago, I started on Anthony T. Kronman's defense of the humanities and critique of contemporary higher education, Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. Kronman served for a decade as the Dean of the Yale Law School. Since 2004, he has taught in the Yale Directed Studies program, which is a one-year "Great Books"-style program for … [Read more...] about Have Colleges Given Up on the Meaning of Life?