Zehara Eckert

9/12/11

A People's History of the U.S. and The Hunt for Democracy

“How Free is Higher Education,” this question from chapter four of A People’s History of the U.S really stood out to me because as a college student I lingered with the same question. The educational environment is the only place where young adults are told to read, write, and discuss topics under the guidance of a mentor. However I always imagined that college would be an educational arena where students were able to freely discuss and hear many different viewpoints from not only other students but from their professors. I remember my high school teacher telling us that we couldn’t disagree with his viewpoint as high school students but once we got to college we could disagree and in fact we were encouraged to do so by professors. I found the freedom to disagree and share our viewpoints in the classroom very interesting and I couldn’t wait to be apart of that environment. Once I got to college this wasn’t my experience, maybe it’s due to my major. The only thing that comes close to the educational environment my high school teacher described to us is this Colloquium course.

I feel like the freedom of higher education is hindered by the fear of the guardians of the status quo. I think that if teachers actually used this freedom and created an educational environment where students were introduced to new subjects, new readings, and extraordinary and unconventional ideas which challenged authority, this would enrage the guardians. So it’s understandable that teachers stick to what they know and is safe because they don’t want to upset the fundamentalists of educators or lose their job. It would have been great if the fundamentalists of education allowed us the freedom to discuss what we learn and find in higher education.

The similarity that I saw between A People's History of the U.S. and The Hunt for Democracy was the importance both the professors emphasized about stating their view on a subject under discussion and they encouraged students to disagree with them. They both taught minority students and they showed their students our history and how it was written from one cultural perspective. They showed their students an inclusive vision of our world the past and the present. As the professor from A People's History of the U.S. stated “They would hear viewpoints other than mine in other courses and for the rest of their lives.” They allowed their students to disagree and question the topics of discussion. For example one of the professors expressed respect for her students who missed class to demonstrate against racial segregation. She was allowing her students to live democracy and encouraged them when they did while the other professors encouraged their students to stick to their studies and refuse to participate in social conflict outside the seminar room.

All education involves selection of book, events, and voices to discuss and I think it’s really crucial that these teachers understand the importance of judgment being made from different frames of reference. This will build tolerance and understanding among their students. Teachers have power and how they want to use it is up to them because the knowledge they impart among their students affects their attitude and the new information they learn can alter how one perceives the world and other humans.