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Essays on how neoliberalism affects education
Neoliberalism in education essay
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June 2011 marked a significant, albeit controversial period for academics in Great Britain when the New College of the Humanities (NCHUM) was unveiled to the public as the country’s first private institution of liberal arts (Gopal, 2012, p.383). Some, such as professor Grayling of Birkbeck College London, supported the college’s defense of the humanities courses through privatization, while many academics viewed the NCHUM as a business opportunity in response to students who sought an end to the public funding of liberal arts (Gopal, 2012, p.383). The controversy surrounding this establishment illustrates a number of concerns that have sprung from the seeds of the neoliberal policies for higher learning. These issues include the shift in education from a social right to a market interest, the unintended deemphasis of teaching, a lack of subsidy for humanities courses and the reduced quality of student education. If these issues are branches of modern-day academics, then neoliberalism is the root.
Before the concerns about neoliberalism’s affect on higher education can be addressed, it must first be understood what constitutes neoliberal policy. According to Martinez and Garcia of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, neoliberalism “is a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so” (n.d., p.1). These policies support a number of points including, but not limited to, a liberated free market, reduced government regulation on services that decrease profits, and the privatization of public goods and services (Garcia & Martinez, n.d., p.2). What this all amounts to is a an economic shift in control from the public to the private sector, meaning more profits for the corporate...
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...a more critical perception of the humanities, but one that is nevertheless shared by many neoliberal policy makers.
the cutting in the liberal arts departments represents a trend that has manifested since the 1970s (Beech, 2013, p.1). However, the details of this ‘attack’ on the humanities were planned over the preceding 40 years by cultural economists (Beech, 2013, pp.1-2). It was not enough to simply apply the concept of neoliberalism to the arts, as the field of cultural economics emerged in order to expose culture to the dictating market forces (Beech, 2013, pp.1-2).
Authors Baumol and Bowen published the first novel-length study of economics and art in 1966 (Beech, 2013, p.2). That same year also observed the United States-based Endowment of the Arts, and was followed by a period of increased interest in the humanities from economists (Beech, 2013, p.2).
“Intellectuals and Democracy” by Mark Kingwell (2012) captures the essence of the commonality between higher education and philosophy and democracy. The author, who is a philosopher expresses his notion of the connection between the democratic system and that of the education system. Often, as the article expresses there is a preconception regarding the validation of careers promised with certain university degrees where other programs result in uncertainty or questioning from others. The use of rhetorical appeals used by the author throughout the article works towards building his article. I argue that through rhetorical appeals the author works his audience to grasp his personal stance of the education system as he attempts to persuade
What stands out about American universities today? Is it the academic opportunities offered to students, experienced faculty, or strong sense of community? Or...perhaps they have lost their focus. It is not uncommon for universities to focus their efforts and budgets elsewhere; by building state of the art gyms, for example, remodeling luxury dorms, grooming campuses, or creating more management positions. College students and professors alike are subject to the nationally occurring changes in higher level education. Colleges are becoming commercialized and tuition is rising, but is the quality of education improving? In “Why We Should Fear University, Inc.”, Fredrik DeBoer is able to provide a personal take on the issue of corporate domination
Have you ever read something and thought “What a bunch of crap”? Well that’s the reaction I had to reading Fareed Zakaria’s book, In Defense Of a Liberal Education. Over the course of the book, Zakaria makes the argument that attending college with the specific intention to get trained for a job is “Short sighted and needlessly limiting”. Zakaria also breaks down the differences between the United State’s education system with other countries across the globe. By attending college with the intention of receiving critical thinking skills and being able to express our ideas, rather than just going to train for a job, Zakaria believes that the average student would be much better off in the world after they graduate.
In his essay, “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar advocates that the liberal arts should be everybody’s
Sweetman, George. “The Liberal Arts.” Tyndale University College & Seminary. Toronto, Ontario. 4 Oct. 2013. Lecture.
Smith, R. (1995). The question of modernism and postmodernism. Arts Education Policy Review, 96 2-12.
“A high school graduate who has acquired Hirsch’s core knowledge will know, for example, that John Stuart Mill was an important 19th-century English Philosopher who was associated with something called Utilitarianism and wrote a famous book called On Liberty. But learning philosophy in college, which is and essential component of a liberal education, means that the student has to be able to read and understand the actual text of On Liberty”. (Murray
Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
The higher education system (or lack thereof) is not serving the country and its citizens. The increasing number of admission standards, exponential tuition increases, the financing of the cost through loans, and the boasting of turning students away all contribute to rising disparity between the quality of education that upper class families can afford compared to lower and middle income families. The rising costs of higher education in this country are problematic in that they fuel a disparity between economic classes. Capitulating the problem is the amount of debt college graduates have accrued at the time of graduation. The Institute for College Access and Success (2013) reported that 70% of graduates had and average of $29,400 of debt. This number primarily focuses on non-profit and private institutions. The average annual salary of a college graduate is $57,616 (United States Department of Labor, 2014). So many college graduates have accumulated a debt worth half of what their starting salary may end up being. The Institute for College Access and Success (2013) reported that 20% of that debt “is comprised of private loans, which are typically more costly and provide fewer consumer protections and repayment options than safer federal loans3” (p. 1). This is an oversimplification in that it is looking at a very general population. Based on the degree and the subsequent employment, income will vary as does the institution attended and the student’s economic status affect the overall individual debt.
At first vision proof of such relationships seems to be in two areas. Humanists maintained to perspective performers as experts of the high-status generous artistry, rather than the technical, and hence to desire them to analyze the humanities.
Baugh, T., Brickley, P. and Perryman, L.A. (2006) Making Sense of the Arts, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
“ I read and understood by myself all the books that I could find on the so-called liberal arts, for in those days I was a good-for-nothing and a slave to sordid ambitions. But what advantage did I gain from them? I read them with pleasure, but I did not kno...
Witherbee, A. (2013). Counterpoint: Education, the Masses, and Art. Points Of View: Arts Funding, 6. Retrieved April 19,2014 , from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=12421040&site=pov-live
Many significant questions regarding higher education are in relation to its cost, raising fears that higher education has become unaffordable. Education fee for universities and colleges has continuously grown to become one of the largest expense for most students and parents over the years, especially with the never-ending dramatic tuition fee increases resulting from public funding cuts for education by the federal and state governments. Selingo (para 3) reported that higher education cost definitely has a direct impact on access, thus, the frequent increases in cost are logically of great concern to many, including parents, students, and education policymakers. In other words, this has disadvantaged the poor families, resulting in unequal education opportunities for Americans and putting attainment of higher education in danger of becoming a hereditary privilege rather than a right for all people (Selingo para 6).