Tag Archives: education

Education’s Lost Citizenship

This blog was originally published April 27, 2012 on the New Existentialist Blog. It was republished here after the New Existentialist Blog was discontinued.

Anyone in higher education today knows that the field is drastically changing. Nervous academics and
administrators are engaging in intense debate regarding the causes of the problems and scrambling to find solutions before they become imposed upon the academy by accreditation bodies. It is evident that a myriad of factors contributed to the current state of education. I will focus on a few important contributing factors and their role in one of the most substantial sacrifices being made in higher education today: the preparation for citizenship.

Historically, education was about much more than preparing the student for successful employment. Education was about preparing students to be good citizens of their country, the world, and their professional community. With all the public debate about education today, rarely does the idea of citizenship enter the conversation. I worry that if we prepare individuals to be successful in their careers without preparing them to be successful in their roles as citizens that we are moving toward a period of moral and ethical crisis.

Reasons for the Loss of Citizenship

I would like to begin with a brief analysis of some of what prompted the changes in education.
First, the economic recession has played an important role in focusing education on a cost-benefit analysis of education defined in purely economic terms. Listening to students share their fears about their ever-increasing debt, I am quite sympathetic with this issue. Institutions of higher education need to be responsible and accountable for the product they are offering, especially with the rising costs of education. My concern is that this reality has caused a shift toward focusing solely on the economic aspects of education while forgetting citizenship.

Second, the changing landscape of higher education with the emergence of the for-profit schools has led to a cry for greater accountability. While not all for-profit schools are bad, it is evident that a significant number of them have been exploiting students and the education system. The media has focused on a number of issues with these for-profit institutions including high tuition rates, high levels of attrition, high default rates on student loans, poor placement rates, and a poor quality of education. However, a number of other issues are often ignored. For instance, the for-profit schools often spend an exorbitant amount of money on advertising. Traditional schools, in response, have needed to spend more money on advertising to compete with the very aggressive marketing and recruitment techniques of these for-profit schools. Many higher education institutions are increasing marketing budgets and personnel while decreasing funding spent on academics, faculty salaries, and faculty development. Faculty struggle with increased workloads, decreased professional development funds, decreased job security, and decreased support staff and resources while having higher expectations placed upon them. Obviously, this is not a context that helps faculty thrive at teaching and mentoring.

Third, I would be remiss not to mention the impingement of capitalism into education, which also has been influenced by the for-profit model becoming more prominent. When education becomes another cog in a capitalist machine, a degree becomes a product that is purchased. Students become consumers, and the ethos of the institutions becomes one of customer service. This sounds nice until we consider the implications. The customer support model values students because they are important for the financial security of the institution and job security, not because they are fellow citizens being mentored into a professional community. Faculty and administrators want to keep students happy and satisfied because of what they offer to the institution economically, not because they are respected as human beings. A degree is a product bought, not a privilege earned. In the end, the intrusion of capitalism into education often turns students into objects and degrees into products, both of which leave little room for the idea of citizenship.

Fourth, many changes in accreditation have been implemented with the threat of more coming. Two important factors are particularly relevant here. First, the exploitations of certain for-profit schools, sometimes labeled as the “bad players,” has led to pressure on accrediting institutions to call for greater accountability. Second, the emergence of online education has changed how education is implemented, even when the primary medium is the traditional classroom. Accrediting bodies now must consider what this means for education. As accrediting bodies respond to the challenges of the “bad players” while considering the dire job market and increasing levels of student loans, they have focused in on career advancement and increased salaries, leaving out citizenship.

Fifth, in many fields, the breadth of what is needed to be a generalist is ever-expanding, restricting any room for the liberal arts and critical thinking. Educators are under increasing pressure to make sure students accumulate a breadth of knowledge without consideration of their ability to think about this knowledge or use it in a responsible manner. As a graduate instructor, I am frequently amazed at the stories students share about how they have been discouraged from critical thinking or even integrating their own ideas. For instance, often students are discouraged from integrating their ideas into scholarly papers and, instead, are pushed to make sure that they focus on the ideas of “appropriately vetted scholars.” The implicit message is that students with their fresh perspectives do not have anything of substance to offer, at least not until they have been appropriately cultured to think like everyone else.

Similarly, a role of the liberal arts and humanities was to place knowledge in the context of citizenship, or who we are beyond our professional identities. The liberal arts connected us to the meaning level of existence and to social ethics. Too often, this is reduced with learning an ethics code in today’s educational system.

Citizenship and Psychology

The field of psychology ought be particularly concerned as these forces uniquely impact it. The accreditation requirements of the American Psychological Association (APA) for doctoral programs in psychology and internships are increasingly full, allowing for little room for variation. As part of this, students have little room to pursue their own interests until after they graduate. APA justifies this saying its accreditation is for generalists, and their requirements are the knowledge needed to be a generalist psychologist. Yet, in reality a significant percentage of psychologists do not utilize many of APA’s requirements because they are not relevant to what they are doing professionally. Similarly, this restrictive understanding of what it means to be a generalist does not meet the needs of the consumers of mental health who come from various backgrounds with a diverse set of values and expectations of what they want when seeking assistance from mental health professionals. APA, through its narrow focus in training, is essentially dictating what consumers ought to want from mental health professionals, not preparing psychologists to meet the diverse values and needs of the citizens who come to them.

Professional psychology is also the field that, at the doctorate level, is being heavily influenced by for-profit institutions. While, again, not all for-profit institutions are bad, this has a negative influence on the reputation of professional psychology and potentially may have a negative impact on the quality of education students are receiving. Mental health has always had a precarious relationship within the broader health field and does not need additional reasons to question its credibility.

Conclusion

Existential psychology is interested in a holistic understanding of the individual in the context of community. Furthermore, existential psychology has always had an interest in the ethical dimensions of being human. In today’s educational system, there is a great need for an existential critique, but it must not stop here. We need to have a voice in identifying solutions and addressing the current problems in a constructive manner. Right now, most critically, we need to provide a voice advocating for the protection and restoration of citizenship in education.

Higher education is moving in a direction that removes the person from educational process. Instead, people are being trained to function much like machines in a complex system—without critical thought, without creativity, without soul. People are being trained to be professionals without preparations to be citizens in the world in which they serve as professionals. This is a dangerous reality. The fight to restore citizenship in education is really a fight to restore humanity in education.

The Relationship in Academia

This blog was originally published May 12, 2014 on the New Existentialist Blog. It was republished after the New Existential Blog was discontinued. Minor edits were made in the last paragraph for accuracy due to changes that occurred over time.

An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on May 6, 2014 reported on recent research suggesting that a connection with a caring professor may be an important contributing factor to college success (Carlson, 2014). For existential psychologists, this is not surprising. There is a preponderance of evidence suggesting that it is the relationship that heals in therapy (Elkins, 2009; Wampold,
2001). It is not surprising that the same is true in academia.

Yet, this is not as simple as just telling professors to be kind and caring. The article states, “College graduates… had double the changes of being engaged in their work and were three times as likely to be thriving in their well-being if they connected with a professor on campus who stimulated them, cared about them, and encouraged their hopes and dreams” (¶ 1). This suggests that the relationship is also about shared interest and a goodness of fit.

While I think this research is very important, I worry that colleges and universities could quickly try to implement this without really understanding what it entails to cultivate an academic environment where these relationships are common. Some colleges will likely translate this into being nice or “providing good customer service.” But a true, caring relationship is about more than just being nice or saying the right words; it is about cultivating the right type of relationship. In this blog, I’d like to discuss what building this environment really means.

A Time Commitment

Building caring relationships between professors and students takes time. In the past 10 years, I have been deeply bothered by how often I hear students say to professors, including myself, “I’m sorry, I know you are very busy.” Most of the time, the conversation that ensues is connected to why most of us are in academia. This is the good stuff. Yet, students too often worry about asking for anything from professors because they know how overworked and stressed out we are. This is a systemic problem within universities and academia in general.

Building caring relationships between professors and students takes time. In the past 10 years, I have been deeply bothered by how often I hear students say to professors, including myself, “I’m sorry, I know you are very busy.” Most of the time, the conversation that ensues is connected to why most of us are in academia. This is the good stuff. Yet, students too often worry about asking for anything from professors because they know how overworked and stressed out we are. This is a systemic problem within universities and academia in general.

If universities want professors to build healthy, nurturing relationships with students, it is imperative that they be given the time and support to do this. Being overworked and overloaded is now synonymous with the professors’ job description, and it is getting worse. Yet, it is common for these overworked professors to be blamed when students provide feedback that they do not have access to professors. Although sometimes professors do not make themselves available, more commonly this is a systemic problem in which professors are struggling to have time and energy for students. The two most common complaints I hear from fellow professors is that they do not have more time for students and that they do not have more time for professional development and writing.

A Commitment to the Right Type of Student Recruitment

Good relationships between students and professors emerge more readily when students are recruited and accepted into programs that are a good fit. Unfortunately, students tend to choose universities more due to marketing and convenience (primarily location) more so than a goodness of fit. Similarly, most universities do not focus on marketing in a way that brings in students that are a good fit. Rather, they focus on bringing in students who meet the requirements, can pay or receive financial aid, or look good for the university.

Students need to be encouraged to find the right program for them based upon their professional interests. When this occurs, they are more likely to have professors who share their passions and are able to stimulate their interests. When students choose a school because of a good marketing effort or convenience, too often they are just focused on obtaining the degree instead of building a passion about their professional interests and career trajectory.

Most colleges and universities are competing for students and thus reluctant to turn away qualified students, even if the fit isn’t the best. Yet, this is a big mistake. Students who are not a good fit are often less motivated, more likely to struggle, and require more time and energy from professors, which in turn takes away the professors’ time from working with students who are a better fit. It is not necessarily that the students are not able to be good students, but rather that they are not likely to thrive in a program that is not a good fit. Thus, the learning journey feels like a burden to the student and professor.

A Commitment to Stability

Too often universities see professors as easily replaceable. There are plenty of people looking for teaching positions, and often there are several good candidates applying for any given teaching position. However, good professors are not easily replaced even when there are other equally qualified and equally talented professors ready to step in.

Bringing on a new faculty member is a big investment of time and energy. It often takes two years or more for a professor to really hit their stride at a new school. They have to learn the system, the structure, their colleagues, and students before they thrive to the best of their ability. Additionally, when a professor leaves, this has a big negative impact upon students, especially if they chose the college or university to work with this professor.

If colleges and universities want to encourage good relationships between faculty and students, working hard to try to assure faculty stability is key. This means providing job security, competitive pay and benefits, a reasonable workload, and showing appreciation for the work the professors provide. If I were advising a student searching for a college or university, this is one of the key factors I would really encourage them to explore as they consider different schools. It is best to avoid colleges and universities with high faculty turnover rates. There typically is a reason for the turnover, and there is an increased chance that they, too, may experience faculty they are working with transitioning on.

Price

It costs more money to invest in the faculty-student relationship. At many schools, the faculty-to-student ratio is growing larger while professors are asked to take on more diverse roles and responsibilities within the university. As noted before, if universities are really committed to their faculty including faculty-student relationships, then they will protect the faculty members’ time and workload. Yet, financial considerations guide the reasons why faculty workloads are growing and they are asked to take on more tasks. Thus, it often comes with a financial cost when universities invest in faculty-student relationships.

Conclusion

I have been teaching full-time for well over 10 years now. Without a doubt, the part of my job that I value the most is the relationships I develop with students. I enjoy writing, teaching, training, and attending conferences, but what keeps me teaching at the graduate school level is the relationships. I have been blessed with many, many amazing students. Yet, I rarely have I felt that the universities I work at really value faculty building good mentoring relationships with students of the variety discussed in Carlson’s (2014) article. The concern normally is about good course evaluations and good student satisfaction surveys, especially on the years leading up to an accreditation visit.

My definition is different. I have taken students on trips to conferences and other countries. I have made a deep commitment to mentoring students in scholarly writing, including helping more than 100 students co-author conference papers, journal articles, and book chapters. I continue to stay in contact with and collaborate with many former students. Much of this, it seems, is beyond what most universities are interested in these days.

I am very pleased to have taught at a university that, at the time, highly valued the faculty-student relationship. Yet, even with the deep valuing of these relationships, it is often difficult to balance the economic cost of investing in these relationships. I am hopeful that there will be a cultural shift across the academy toward valuing the relationship. It is vital that we commit to creating the opportunity for students to experience caring, mentoring relationships with faculty if we are to keep academia strong.

References

Carlson, S. (2014, May 6). A caring professor may be the key in how a graduate thrives. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/ACaringProfessorMayBeKey/146409/.

Elkins, D. N. (2009). Humanistic psychology: A clinical manifesto. A critique of clinical psychology and the need for progressive alternatives. University of the Rockies Press.

Wampold, B. E. (2001). The great psychotherapy debate: Models, methods, and findings. Routledge.