Chess, Anyone?
Whenever I’ve looked back on my life, one thing that never thrilled me was that I completed my bachelor’s degree in three phases. But now, I’m grateful because it has given me a perspective that most don’t have. Over time, I experienced first-hand the evolution of the way professors delivered lessons and interacted with students, and the changes were not for the better. In my opinion, they were worse—even detrimental.
My first college professors challenged me in a good way.
My first time in college was my two years after high school in the mid-1970s. What I remember most about those years was how much my professors encouraged me to take a stance other than their own. They liked you to argue with them. They loved it when you did research to back up your position. Your passion was prized. And all references that proved them wrong were revered. Back then, college was truly a think tank, and boy, did I love that challenge. I credit those professors for the journalism awards I received for editorial writing. They encouraged independent critical thinking. They taught me how to formulate an opinion, back it up, and have the references and resources I needed on hand, if I was challenged.
After those two years, I dropped out because I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I went to college to become a teacher, and math was my subject of choice, but I soon realized that I liked math because it was easy for me. Logic. Via numbers. I did not want to teach, nor did I want to use math in business, so what was my goal? What degree was I chasing and why?
When I returned, things had changed.
I returned in 1983 to secure my associate’s degree in psychology, and during that time, only two professors encouraged me to think for myself. The rest seemed amused by the idea, but it was not embraced. I can’t say that I was punished for challenging them, but I did get the feeling that I was going to be remembered, and not in a good way. The message was clear: I was there to learn, so I had better listen.
In 1997, I completed my dual-concentration bachelor’s degree in English writing with a concentration in journalism and psychology with a concentration in human relations. By then, the tide had turned. Creative writing professors gave students leeway, but in other classes, if I didn’t regurgitate what was taught, my grades suffered. I was no longer expected or allowed to formulate an opinion. Critical thinking? A thing of the past.
What are the colleges of today teaching?
Nowadays, when I hear people say that college has become a place of indoctrination rather than education, I tip my head, because I’m not so sure it isn’t true. The definition of indoctrination is the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically. If students have lost the ability to question what is being taught, that is, by definition, indoctrination.
What is the purpose of college if students are not allowed to think independently? If they can’t think critically, they can’t think strategically.
Are colleges preparing students for real life?
If students are not encouraged to look at ideas and philosophies through a discerning lens, how can they formulate an opinion? How can they tell what’s real from what’s fabricated? How can they plan their next move? Life is a real game of chess that cannot be successfully played without critical thinking and strategies.
Something is wrong when young people are old enough to work but cannot count back change from a cash register without the computer. Something is wrong when youths passionately parrot ideas, philosophies, and phrases but cannot, for the life of them, explain what they mean. Students taught to blindly follow cannot lead. Are our expensive colleges and universities producing followers? If so, who is their leader? And what are they following?
Until next time,
Jean
AKA The Strategic Chicken - Making life’s journey one strategic step at a time.
