http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/12/01/ideals-and-higher-education/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:10:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/12/01/ideals-and-higher-education/comment-page-1/#comment-14391 K Weiss-Lefebvre Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:25:49 +0000 http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/?p=9844#comment-14391 “I've never let my school interfere with my education.” - Mark Twain “I’ve never let my school interfere with my education.”
- Mark Twain

]]> http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/12/01/ideals-and-higher-education/comment-page-1/#comment-14275 ABarlow Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:04:29 +0000 http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/?p=9844#comment-14275 It's a shame that the author of the article didn't decide to examine more clearly the statement, "How can we possibly deliberate intelligibly on the relative import of research, let alone the potential role of large versus smaller universities until there are such objectives, publicly defined and expressed, in our country?" The author seems to have taken it to mean that Canada as a country needs national standards for (higher) education, but Dr. Cappon doesn't appear to be saying this at all. Rather, it appears to me that he is saying that Canada needs a national education strategy in any sense of the term. If the goal of our education system is primarily to prepare students for the job market, then it is worthwhile to devise measures to test that outcome. But the implication only works if such a goal is in place--which it isn't. It’s a shame that the author of the article didn’t decide to examine more clearly the statement, “How can we possibly deliberate intelligibly on the relative import of research, let alone the potential role of large versus smaller universities until there are such objectives, publicly defined and expressed, in our country?” The author seems to have taken it to mean that Canada as a country needs national standards for (higher) education, but Dr. Cappon doesn’t appear to be saying this at all. Rather, it appears to me that he is saying that Canada needs a national education strategy in any sense of the term. If the goal of our education system is primarily to prepare students for the job market, then it is worthwhile to devise measures to test that outcome. But the implication only works if such a goal is in place–which it isn’t.

]]> http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2009/12/01/ideals-and-higher-education/comment-page-1/#comment-14271 David Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:13:37 +0000 http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/?p=9844#comment-14271 Improved career prospects may be a consequence of higher education, but should not be the objective of higher education. Improved career prospects may be a consequence of higher education, but should not be the objective of higher education.

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