The word "liberal" derives from the Latin "liber," meaning "free," and describes a mind unencumbered by either prejudice or indoctrination. The adjective "liberal," however, has become, at least in some circles, synonymous with anti-capitalism, anti-business, and therefore anti-American. This author has…

The author began working with preschool-aged children long before becoming a professor, and nearly every element of the author's approach to teaching in higher education is rooted in early childhood theory and practice. In addition to provocations, he seeks to activate the "whole student," promote peer supports, and incorporate…

At a conference last fall, Kirsten Dierking came across "College Girl: A Memoir," a book by Laura Gray-Rosendale that tells the story of a brutal sexual assault she experienced as a college student. While she purchased a copy of the book, it sat unopened on her desk for a while; also a victim of brutal rape in college, she was not sure…

The thought on many an academic's mind today is how to stop it. The "it"? The barrage of reports, papers, and interviews stating that higher education needs to embrace "disruptive change," treat students like customers, and become more entrepreneurial. In short, colleges must adopt a business model, or like blacksmith…

Without a doubt, the movement toward corporatized, standardized, and even sanitized education models in K-12 education impacts the way students at the higher education level view teaching and learning. New York City public school teachers have been trained to focus entirely on measurable outcomes. Writing is taught as a well-structured paragraph…

A substantial body of research, conducted over more than 50 years, makes clear that faculty-student interaction is a key factor in promoting student success, particularly among those students who most need support, such as first-generation college students and students of color. This research is consistent, pervasive, and has informed the…

The miserable pay of adjuncts and the transformation of colleges and universities into business are no longer foreign concepts in the public realm. What is a surprise, though, is that large companies, such as Target and Starbucks, take better care of their employees than those in higher education. This article focuses on the contrast between the…

From Florida to Texas, in states where the focus of higher education "reform" has been on economic costs, state governors have made the pursuit of a high-quality, $10,000 degree a priority of their administrations. The seductive aspect of a college degree at that cost is the simplicity of the idea: 10K is not too much to pay or borrow…

In recent years, issues pertaining to graduate student union organizing have been at the center of several political battles and court cases. This attention is, at least in part, due to the growth of graduate student unions at a time when organized labor's influence is receding in other, more traditionally unionized sectors of the labor…

Online learning has become a permanent fixture on college campuses. For the past decade, enrollment in online courses has grown faster than the overall student body throughout higher education. This phenomenon is not surprising and, in fact, is part of a history of people seeking more flexible alternatives to traditional, face-to-face instruction.…

Making classes larger saves money--and public universities across the country have found it a useful strategy to balance their budgets after decades of state funding cuts and increases to infrastructure costs. Where this author teaches, in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at California State University, Northridge (CSUN),…

Every state in the U.S. has language in its constitution guaranteeing to its citizens a free public education, yet many states are failing to meet this fundamental right. From New York to California, lawsuits have been brought against state governors and legislatures who have not funded schools adequately. The field of false prophets grows and…

When you think of global, online education, the first thing that may jump to mind these days are MOOCs, the "massive open online classes" that are widely publicized (and criticized). The author states that his classes were not these, but rather, closer to what are now being called SPOCs--small private online classes. Enrollment is…

The author of this article reflects on a study in which she and her two colleagues, teacher educators all, examined prospective students' college applications to gain insight into the discourses with which students entered two early childhood teacher certification programs. They then built on these findings to hypothesize how the identified…

Policy and practice in higher education today are defined and limited by what many have claimed are "new realities" confronting colleges and universities. Gary Rhoades contends that three of these are embedded in the just-in-time hiring practices, the at-will conditions of work, and the depersonalized curricular delivery models assigned…