Threev'academics give their views
ognition of ones motives interests, and the dev— ment of learning skills. think that if students
e to become aware of.
c they wanted from their erience at U;P.E.I., we 1d need a pluralistic
Ronald. Baker
In an ideal world, as a graduate of an ideal un-
. . iversity, I would be able ver51ty to meet dlverse to say what I think a univer- 15- some StUdenFs WOU1d sity should do, wittily and with originality — in two hundred words, with twenty: two hours notice (sixteen of which are already sched- uled.)
My graduate of the ideal university would be wise, creative, humane, selfless, courteous, and humble - in a word virtuous. (In an ideal society, of course every- one, would be like that.) But virtue, especially for everyone, is a goal that is probably beyond planning of prescription.,MoreoverL we shall never have an ideal university in an ideal world.
Consequently, I set diff- erent goals, though always hoping that they might lead to higher ones. I would like a university (for under- graduates)to be one that tried to see that its grad- uates Were literate, pref— erably in more than one lan- guage; numerate - or at the very least, not afraid of quantification - convinced of the importance of evi- dence in some things and of feeling in others,-and
enhancing their position the labour market, or as iring the necessary dentials for employment.g ers might see their ' rse work as a preparation post—graduate education.‘ ers may seek deep int— ectual involvement and
e may be after armore sonal deVelopment.
haps there should be ernatives available that fl empt to meet each of these erse needs, programs
t provide outlets for
s plurality. Some may - ose structural courses majors,,others a more ely structured environ— t. Each, according to needs. h
f course, we could always er a course entitled sonal Responsibility 101 the Dept. of Personal ponsibility) with assign- ts, mid—terms, lectures finals, but then, we
ht encounter the foll—
ng conversation "well,
e never had a course in sonal responsibility
ore, so if you'll tell
' President.
capable of independent study, indepentent thought, independent learning, crea- tivity, and growth. In a cliché, I would like the graduate to have learned
how to learn and I use learn in its widest sense — to find information, to under— ~ stand theories and hypoth- eses, to evaluate, and to come to conclusions. _
I find it depressing that some graduates of all univer- sities cannot read or write well, cannot use a library (have never heard of Winchell of The Reader's Guide for example) and are guilty of allthe fallacies — the pathetic, the tautological, the etymological etc.
To use the etymological arguement myself, I would also like a university in which the graduates and faculty in the humanities were humane (as I would
.like everyone to be), those
in the social sciences to be both scientific and social (as I would like everyone to be), and those in the sciences scientific
(as I would like everyone to be) about the problems of the university outside their own disciplines - parking etc.
'THE CABRE; OCTOBER 8, 1974, PAGE 9
More'seriously, in my realizable university, I would like faculty to put teaching and students above all else, and since no-cne wants students to learn out-of—date material, that means that scholarship must be equally important. In too many universities, th busy—work of committees and the attendance — during short academic year - at conferences, etc., appears to take precedence over teaching.
Many other things are important in a university, perhaps essential if the above goals are to be rea— ched, but they are secondary to the goals. For example, student publications, studen government, athletics, intramurals, music and theatre, the social life of universities, the resources in money, build- ing , books, and so on, but in the brief space I have been given, my goals remain: literacy, numeracy, the ability to learn without formal instruction, and the ability to weigh evid— ence and come to a conclus- ion. If enough of us were able to reach those goals, we might be able to aim at the highest ones.
what's expected......"
for university organization.
As long as we still 5perate4 as historians, chemists, political scientists, etc., we will inevitably treat 0 knowledge and learning as a
series of separate, airtight
compartments.
Encouraging, not hindering,
experiments in teaching and-
learning that offer better results. -
Encouraging the development
0f closer relationships in
the university community
betWeen students and faculty.
Qdite possibly we could do
this by breaking the university
down into smaller components,
or colleges, each with some
distinCt intellectual basis.
At least two of these suggestions re predicated on quite fundamental tructural changes in the university. would not for a moment deny that here'are a host of problems nvolved. But surely the very rocess of debate on goals and bjectivesis a worthwhile end.
Council it may be for you." V V ,' , I