Comments on: Change?

By: johnosborne

johnosborne — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:29:13 +0000

From my perspective, what is needed is balance. I agree with Stuart that critical thinking is produced by doing research, which is one of the primary reasons why the FASS Academic Plan has the goal of having all students undertake research with a professor as part of their undergraduate experience. But I also think Alex has a point, as do those who point out that if we did nothing but research there would be no income to pay our salaries. We have to find the magic point at which we both maximize the ability of faculty members to have time to undertake research while offering the best possible experience for our students, given the financial resources which we actually have available and remembering that we are not permitted to borrow money or run a deficit. It is not an easy spot to find, and it shifts as resources shift. While I agree with Sarah that we must contineu to press governments, and better still make our case to the public who elect governments, and the Council of Ontario Universities does that daily, I am also aware that the trend is currently in the other direction. One of Alex Usher’s points is that governments of every political stripe in Ontario, since 1990, have been and are continuing to participate in a gradual transfer of resources from education to health care. He doesn’t see this trend being reversed anytime soon, and, sadly, I fear that I have to agree with him.

By: Stuart Murray

Stuart Murray — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:25:25 +0000

Overcoming governmental fatalism, as Sarah Brouillette suggests, will require critical thinking. But sadly, there is little political will for critique of this sort. The push for increased teaching loads in the name of “critical thinking” is actually a veiled assault on critical thinking, because criticism relies on research, the creative application of research methods, and free inquiry. Research is about HOW to think critically, and if we hope to teach this skill, we must be doing it ourselves. Without it, we lose the vital distinction between information and knowledge, and we surrender to a fatalism that works tirelessly to depoliticize the production of knowledge in the name of some greater (usually economic) “good.”

By: Sarah Brouillette

Sarah Brouillette — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:12:49 +0000

I am also troubled by the fatalistic notion that governments are “unable” to increase funding to universities. I’m not denying that making them do so would require significant pressure, and perhaps even a wholesale shift in public attitudes toward higher education. But where will the pressure / shift come from if not from people who have devoted their lives to working as university educators? This is work that we should all be taking on, and conceding from the get go that the government is “unable” to fund universities does not seem to me a good starting position.

By: Sarah Brouillette

Sarah Brouillette — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:07:04 +0000

I would question the implication that there is a difference in quality between instruction by permanent faculty and instruction by sessionals. First, the only justification for that argument would be that the research activities of permanent faculty transfer to the classroom, but isn’t that research precisely what Alex would see diminished? Second, the problem with sessional work is not that it is done by lesser teachers, but rather that it is inequitable.

By: Ryan Dunch

Ryan Dunch — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:30:02 +0000

Thanks for this interesting blog post. Like you, I usually agree with Alex Usher, but the April 5 blog troubled me. If readers do look at it, I suggest looking also at the comments for that day, in which several readers questioned the premises, and Alex responded. See http://higheredstrategy.com/no-to-world-class-research-in-the-humanities/#comments

By: Shane Hawkins

Shane Hawkins — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:10:09 +0000

You can read some of what he thinks here (http://higheredstrategy.com/blog/), under the April 5 entry titled “No to ‘World-Class’ research in the Humanities”. Not that I’m in the least bit persuaded, John :)

By: johnosborne

johnosborne — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:31:11 +0000

Sorry, Jim. i don’t think it is on the web anywhere.

By: Jim Davies

Jim Davies — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:46:34 +0000

Is Alex’s full argument on the web somewhere where we can read it? I didn’t find it with a quick web search, but anyone with the original email can search for a specific string.