Higher Education

For them, the academy does not foster thoughtful discussion of thorny issues, but harbors the potential at any time to unleash the visceral reactions of their superiors to what students think are their own reasoned political positions. For students, the risk of speaking up is much the same as it is for me: They risk losing the respect of professors and perhaps endangering their long-term aspirations.

A bit from the Chronicle of Higher Education about a conservative prof's sense of identity in a liberal academic environment. The Chronicle churns these out now and again, and while most of it seems a sort of pandering to the minority by the publication, there is a distinct chord struck in the question of academic authority.

Why is it that first term freshmen are vocal and/or confrontational about politics while older students are more quiet about these subjects? Maybe it's not an assumed growing maturity but simply evidence of opinions being driven underground. True, freshman generally don't have a clue to what they're talking about, but it's an inherent criticism any place on the spectrum.

In a classroom, a professor shouldn't openly assault their students' viewpoints but encourage the students to seek evidence and reasoned arguments to develop and strengthen their views. If a stance is ridiculous and incoherent, a student will only discover this when it is engaged, not pounded at.

If nothing else, such an approach signifies fairness in a prof's often subjective grading role.