Academic Freedom Goals

Everyone has an equal right to an education (Warnock, 1975), what each individual chooses to do with their education is up to them. Education should be liberating, having the capacity to involve students in the pure joy of learning and increasing their capacity to think. Why get educated if education does not serve any instrumental purpose (Marples, 2010). Society would suffer without individuals trained in the required skills to undertake work that maintains humanity. The most obvious function of

A student benefits from the freedom of inquiry that Academic Freedom allows because it means they can agree or disagree and share the reason why. If a teacher is abusing their Academic Freedom and assuming that they can control the classroom anyway they see fit, the student can object to it. In 1984, J.D. Martin had many complaints filed against him for his profanity and verbal abuse in the classroom. Students did not like his intimidating teaching style and with enough reporting, he was given a warning and then fired (Jones, para. 2). He took the University to court and lost. Following the loss, Martin made an appeal because he continued to believe his language was justified through his 1st Amendment rights as well as his Academic Freedom.

Giving students freedom in their academic lives encouraged students to form their own opinions. Teachers had biased feelings towards those who denied students the right to the whole truth because of specific religions, because it raises an uneducated generation. Fundamentalists needed to realize that as times changed9 modernization of education is necessary, regardless of religious beliefs so students receive the full truth and become liberated people. If students are restricted from certain topics and are only taught one view on a few subjects then there will be no new or different ways of thinking, rendering education pointless. “Without freedom in the intellectual life, and without the inspiration of uncensored discovery and discussion, there could ultimately be no scholarship, no schools at all and no education.” The American Federation of Teachers expressed their fear for the future of education and how it would be constrained due to traditionalism, in contradiction of Sparks and other creationists.

College is a time when most individuals are experiencing major changes and begin to explore new perspectives. The transition in becoming more independent, creating new insights and peer influence are key factors in changing the perspective of an individual. Students are faced with new ideas from their professors, family and fellow peers. Through that acquired knowledge many students decide that they either agree or disagree with the perspectives that they are taught. Allowing the right of ‘Free Speech’ on public college campuses has become an important issue that many public colleges are starting to address. In college students are capable of

Post modernism as a sociological theory argues the fact that no one theory is better than the other. It is a sociological theory very much against the standard ‘assumptions’ of modernist theory. For example relativism: post modernity argues that there is no such thing as valid or invalid knowledge. It is also very much against grand theories and structuralism, and rejects theorists like Marx and Durkheim. Post modernity is a continuation of the previous human history resulting in some additions and some losses, just like everything in life. For example, there was of course an indisputable change in the world after the WW2, especially accelerated by the addition of things like computers and technology into our society. History, just like biological evolution, can only move ahead by small deletions and additions to society and it is only with a sustained period of time that we notice a loss after an addition and an elephant in the room after a loss. It is with this theory

Academic Freedom was a piece written in the early 1950’s describing the social problems that existed in certain universities across the country. Throughout the country there are mostly two types of colleges that are used to mold students into adults and those are conservative or liberal. Buckley goes on to express his experience as a student attending Yale University while there he notices many things he considers wrong with the institutions. What he found was that instead of promoting students to think on their own and formulate their own preferences; he found the professors and universities were trying to manipulate him to into how he should think about certain topics. Buckley felt like his individuality was being taken from him because instead of giving information and lets him decide what he wanted they were forcefully feeding them their ideology. Their liberal agenda he felt was being forced upon him and he did simply fold but rebutted these

According to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), one of the components of academic freedom is “the freedom to discuss subject matter in the classroom” (Ruch, 2001, p. 128). Nelson (2010) interprets this as a “faculty member’s right to remain true to his or her pedagogical philosophy and intellectual commitments and allows faculty members institutional latitude in deciding how to teach the courses for which they are responsible.” While the clergy and entrepreneur faculty of the early for-profit schools possessed academic freedom through self-management, academic freedom is somewhat constrained for faculty employed by the University of

This section will discuss American higher educators’ understanding of academic freedom. The AAUP contributed to the formation of American understanding of academic freedom. The AAUP’s documents that represent their understanding of academic freedom is in favor of limited academic freedom.

This issue exists in my opinion, for a couple of varied reasons. The first and likely most important reason behind this limited academic freedom has to deal with retention and attrition. Working at a for-profit higher education institution the bottom line is often what drives many of the decisions being made. The only way the school makes money is if they have a continuous stream of students enrolling every quarter to take their courses. When instructors have higher than average attrition rates and decreasing retention rates administration feels the need to step in and make changes that prevent this from occurring. Many times, students are not passing courses or leaving the school for various other reasons outside of academics, however, administration

According to the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure academic freedom states that as long as teachers performing their academic duties adequately they are allowed to full freedom in their research as well as publication of the results. If research is for monetary gain then there should be a prior understanding with the university. The statement of principles also declares that while teachers have freedom discussing their subject in the classroom they should not introduce controversial material that is not related to their subject matter. Religious and or other institutional limitations that restrict academic freedom should be stated at time of hire in writing. The statement of principles also states that when teachers

I believe that students should be provided with a set of knowledge, skills and cultural values.

Students need to learn how to take charge of their lives. Students must gain experiences from an early age and while they are in school, so they can be further prepared for life after high school. Subjects such as mathematics and history and essentials like PowerPoints, worksheets and information given to students by their teachers are

The idea of “academic freedom” in American higher education is a fairly new concept. Before a recent change in educational practices, religious ideals were deeply rooted in higher education curriculum. By the late-twentieth century, however, the idea of academic freedom became more prevalent across the higher education community. As a result, the influence of religion played a lesser role in the development of curriculum across colleges and universities as professors seized their newly granted academic freedom. With the advent of the modern liberal movement in the United States, the atmosphere in colleges and universities has become increasingly oppressive of Christianity in the name of “academic freedom”. This issue was effectively

Post modernists believe that it’s important for teachers to teach students their own British values. This is because values are important for an individual’s culture and are important at school to demonstrate to the Ofsted how well they are doing at stimulating the children’s physical and intellectual development of pupils at school. The values that the teachers at school must teach the children include teaching about the rule of law and teaching them respect and tolerance for other students who have different faiths and beliefs. These British values are cultural values which are beneficial to the students at school and also outside of school too because it gives the other person an understanding that we

Academic freedom consists in protecting the intellectual independence of professors, researchers and students in the pursuit of knowledge and the expression of ideas from interference by legislators or authorities within the institution itself. This implies that no political, ideological or religious orthodoxy will be imposed on professors and researchers through the hiring or tenure or termination process, or though any other administrative means by the academic institution. Nor shall legislatures impose any such orthodoxy through their control or the university budget. This protection includes students.