Defending democracy, defending the university (opinion)

Democracy and higher education have been good for each other. Although the first colleges on our shores were founded in colonies controlled by a monarchy in Britain, this is where the impressive growth of universities that combined research, teaching and education for the whole student took place as the country became more democratic. Slavery was the greatest stain on the nation, and the war to abolish this despicable institution ended with promises that black people would also have opportunities for education. also at colleges.

The exclusion of women from institutions of higher learning began to crumble in the late 19th century, and when the right to vote was finally enshrined in the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, women’s colleges were operational and public universities began enrolling women.

It took time, far too much time, but educational institutions eventually recognized that white supremacy, patriarchy, and the parochialisms that accompanied them hindered learning because they prohibited certain subjects of inquiry and excluded certain people from participation in research and teaching. In the colonial era and shortly after independence, colleges focused on training clergy, but over time they saw their role as providing the country with an educated citizenry.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the research university came into its own, which meant promoting specialized research into areas that professional academics had decided were worth investigating. The professors valued their academic freedom because it allowed them to explore topics and issues that people outside the campus walls might find troubling.

Academic freedom also allowed universities to create educational environments free from official censorship or the soft despotism of pandering to commercial popularity. The classroom was a space for professors to share their professional expertise with students, who in turn could explore ideas and methodologies without fear of orthodoxies imposed from outside. In recent years, of course, teachers have been accused of imposing their own narrow views on those who study with them. They are accused of abandoning their professional role and substituting their own personal opinions for scientific research.

Colleges depend on the professionalism of their faculty to assess claims of bias in the classroom. At the best of times, teachers debate with each other about how and what to teach, and the more advanced the students are, the more likely they are to have their own views about what should happen in the classroom. In most fields (and especially in STEM and related fields), the issue of indoctrination rarely comes up. The classroom is focused on exploring demanding methodologies and complex content.

Everyone knows that teachers are imperfect and that there are times when the classroom is not as free and open as you would like. That’s why there are mechanisms for providing feedback so that teachers can adjust the way they teach. It would be far worse to rely on outside groups – such as government agencies – to oversee education, rather than expecting teachers to self-correct based on regularly received feedback. Education depends on the freedoms of democracy, and these must protect democracy against the interference of politicians.

That’s why what’s happening now is so worrying. During this election season, we have seen a dramatic escalation of attacks on the autonomy of our educational institutions. These went hand in hand with attacks on democracy. Both are directly threatened by populist authoritarianism in this country and around the world. When Donald Trump attacks his opponents as criminals and vermin and threatens to set the army against them, or when he proposes his own army national university To replace the elites so despised by his base, he declares his intention to reshape higher education in the image of the violent cult he leads. Vice presidential candidate JD Vance has stated that the University is the enemy.

Some academics and public intellectuals may shrug and say that “other politicians aren’t that great either” or that politicians don’t really mean what they say. They rely on their privileged status to protect them, even as they ignore the profound threats to freedom of expression and inquiry on which their privilege is based.

The attacks on higher education, democracy and the rule of law threaten to wipe out freedoms that have been hard won over the past hundred years. Education is a process through which people develop their capacities for research, collaboration and creative work. They learn to treat new ideas with curiosity and respect, while also learning to critically evaluate these ideas. They learn skills that will be valued in the workforce and habits of mind and spirit that will help them thrive throughout their lives. They learn to think for themselves so that they can be engaged citizens of a democracy – not the cowering subjects of a dictator.

During periods of cultural and economic change, there is often great pressure on education, as people find it difficult to agree on what is meaningful, let alone admirable. Our period is such a period. But us can agree that fear mongering and prejudice are wrong and that together we should strive to find ways to “cultivate individuality in a manner that increases the social sympathy of the individual,” as John Dewey advised.

In the United States, education and democracy can continue to protect and nurture each other. In the days ahead, we must reject the cultivated ignorance used to fan the flames of hatred. Instead, we must defend the freedom to learn together in our schools, colleges, and universities so that as a nation we can continue our democratic experiment—knowing that we still have a long way to go, but striving toward a more perfect union.