TORONTO, July 9, 2002 -- In an era of volatile change and uncertainty, the contemporary university must be allowed to continue to provide a liberal education in a public system that integrates rather than isolates learning in the arts, the sciences, vocational training and the professions, says York University historian Paul Axelrod in his new book Values in Conflict: The University, the Marketplace, and the Trials of Liberal Education (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002).
He warns that education policies based on the bottom-line demands of the global economy will not sustain us, and cautions against what he calls the growing culture of entrepreneurialism by universities and individual professors. He calls for greater openness and transparency in academic-corporate links, and adherence to strict guidelines for ensuring the independence and integrity of academic research.
"Educators and policy makers should understand that higher education is not equipped to lead or save economies, a challenge that has confounded business and governments themselves," says Axelrod, who is also dean of the faculty of education at York. He says the greatest contribution universities can make to society is to ensure that the values of a liberal education thrive, to equip individuals to cope effectively with change.
Axelrod defines the contemporary liberal education as "activities that cultivate intellectual creativity, autonomy, and resilience; critical thinking; a combination of intellectual breadth and specialized knowledge; the comprehension and tolerance of diverse ideas and experiences; informed participation in community life; and effective communication skills." But he says government funding policies that continue to focus on economic performance and targeted research imperil these values and the university’s ability to generate the discovery of new knowledge. So too do university professors who tolerate no questioning of their own ideas and fail to help students make the transition from fact learning to conceptualization.
Axelrod tackles the gamut of issues at the university today in its relations with government, labour, business and the community, clearing a path through the tangled web of debates over funding and accessibility, technology and teaching, applied and pure research. He offers a balanced way forward that is based on the traditions in education that have stood the test of time, and evolutionary changes that have made critical thinking central to education and opened the doors of the university to greater numbers of people.
"In an era in which the effective manipulation of new media influences public opinion, including the outcome of contests for political power, society requires citizens who are skeptical of rhetoric and informed about important public issues," says Axelrod. He asserts that only the autonomy of scholarship offered by a contemporary liberal education can equip such citizens and preserve the democratic values that enable society to move forward.
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For further information, please contact:
| Paul Axelrod | Susan Bigelow |
| Faculty of Education | Media Relations |
| York University | York University |
| 416-736-5002 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22091 |
| paxelrod@edu.yorku.ca | sbigelow@yorku.ca |
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