By higher education Tocqueville meant reading the great books of our tradition in their original languages and being accomplished in the high culture of art and music and so forth—the higher education of, say, Thomas Jefferson. He also meant being on the cutting edge of theoretical science—particularly theoretical physics—which Jefferson also surely was.
Tocqueville didn’t mean reading textbooks, taking multiple-choice tests, doing problem-identification group projects, absorbing PowerPoint presentations, being edified by self-helpy TED talks, or for getting squishy credit for internships or being civically engaged or picking up technical or entrepreneurial skills through random life experiences.
From Tocqueville’s point of view, there might be less higher education in America than ever.
Hi Frank, the author, in my view, mixes two views on education: education for self-edification and education as a means to earn a living. He seems to prefer the former at the expense of the latter, an argument that is rather elitist, besides being non-capitalistic.
ReplyDelete