Critical Thinking @ University

I read with interest the recent opinion piece (Oct 22, 2013) by a collection of BC university presidents, extolling the virtues of a university education.  Indeed, I am a university graduate, albeit of many years ago.  I generally support the notion of a university education as a potential contribution to enrichment of our culture.

I am less convinced by the PR argument raised by the presidents, particularly around the matters of critical thinking and the development of an engaged and thoughtful citizenry.  In my view -- even as the presidents describe -- the university enterprise has become too focused on turning out narrowly-defined, job-ready employees.

The article suggests that a university education today turns out well-rounded, critical thinkers.  This assertion falls flat in the face of recent on-campus displays of student initiation programs rife with sexist and racist themes, apparently replicated mindlessly year after year by more senior students and orientation staff and faculty.

There seems to be some distance between the picture painted by the presidents and what we observe on the ground.  Most recently, the explanation of the reason for including distasteful references to indigenous peoples is that the students were basing their chant on history learned from a Walt Disney animation movie......  Huh?

I do not think such empty-headed undertakings are fixed by more-direct supervisory control of initiation and orientation programs.  It strikes me that universities need to re-introduce in all programs (business and technical programs as well), curriculum elements that deal more broadly with aspects of history, citizenship, arts and culture.

If we want thinking students and citizens, then universities need to return to being more than technical schools. This does not happen through selling us on the ideas that universities are working, but by actually showing us that they are working.