Mr. Nocera writes that Fred Wiseman’s documentary is a “big wet kiss” to Berkely. He expresses concern about the cost of education (which he should) and writes that “The real issue is: how do you make college more affordable today.”
I am worried that many people like Joe Nocera and Jon Meacham (See Why Do So Many People Not Ask the Right Question? are just listening to each other. They are not questioning the integrity of higher education because they are not listening to people deeper in the academy (and there are many of them), or to Reisman or Kerr. I keep trying, though. Here is my comment on Mr. Nocera’s editorial. (See if you can find the big, embarrassing, grammatical error:()
“I am a former math professor at an “elite” private university. I cannot overemphasize how prescient Clark Kerr (former chancellor of the UC system) and David Riesman (one of our great sociologists) saw happening in higher education. They didn’t see wet kisses. They saw students being fooled into believing they were getting wet kisses. Here is Kerr in the preface to Riesman’s 1980 book, “On Higher Education”.
“This shift from academic merit to student consumerism is one of the…greatest reversals..in all the history of American higher education..”
Here is Riesman.
“..advantage can…be taken of [students] by unscrupulous instructors and institutions..the student estate often does not grasp its own interests..those who speak in its name are not always its friends..”
Riesman and Kerr did not theorize about education. They observed. I encourage anyone who wants to understand higher ed, to observe, too. You can start by just reading the post “How Competition Leads to “Content Deflation” in One Anecdote”, on my (non-commercial) blog inside-higher-ed.com.
Anyone interested in education should realize that many future high school teachers don’t receive the education they need. That’s because our university system depends so much on marketing to consumers who are, by definition, uneducated. It should be no surprise that our international test scores are so low.
The academy needs outside pressure to change. Unfortunately, “At Berkeley” doesn’t help that.”
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