The Idea of Higher Education.

Overview & Synopsis

This book views higher education conceptually and seeks to recover hidden understandings of the term "higher education" and to show what it would mean for educational aims and practices if higher education were taken seriously. The approach focuses on how higher education is understood rather than how it is practiced. The book argues that the idea of a liberal higher education can be recovered and implemented. First it must be understood that the idea of higher education contains an emancipatory element which promises a freeing of the mind. This emancipatory concept is faced with a double undermining, both epistemological and sociological. In the face of this double undermining, it is possible to reinstate a liberal higher education in such a way as to do justice to its emancipatory promise, through critical self-reflection by the student, open learning, interdisciplinarity, and inclusion of philosophical and sociological perspectives in the curriculum. Key concepts in building a framework for serious educational discussion of higher education are analyzed, including culture, rationality, research, and academic freedom. The book then turns to curricular matters and practical suggestions for regaining a liberal higher education. References are provided with each chapter, and a bibliography of about 110 items is also included. (JDD)