Coachella, or the Burning Man are good exercises in postponing judgement, as well as in civility, as are so many interesting alternative music gatherings. These festivals have been a hallmark of western youth throughout the sixties until now, and are a unique form of education that is too easily underestimated.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Postponing judgement (2)
Coachella, or the Burning Man are good exercises in postponing judgement, as well as in civility, as are so many interesting alternative music gatherings. These festivals have been a hallmark of western youth throughout the sixties until now, and are a unique form of education that is too easily underestimated.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
French Higher Education
French higher education is good, especially the Grandes Ecoles. That is normal since they get 30 percent of the budget for 5 percent of the students. The elite that makes it into the Grandes Ecoles, after passing entrance exams, is very well trained.
There are various problems with the present system. Since the entrance exams are very competitive and extremely important for the future careers and lives of the students, children need to be prepared to have very high problem solving capabilities at eighteen. That requires that children enter very good schools at an early age. That jeopardizes the otherwise democratic nature of the entrance exams. The influence of the direct environment on the children's far future is big.
The Grandes Ecoles are separated. They are not universal (as universities are) in that they usually have a single department with a single vocation (e.g. electrical engineering). That compartmentalizes the elite and makes for little cross-discipline and cross-professional fertilization. That takes its toll on the flexibility and creativity of French administration, technology, research and industry, etcetera.
The university students (which remain an important resource of talent) suffer badly from the fact that the head of the student body is chopped of by the Grandes Ecoles. The university degree is devalued in the presence of the close knit Grande Ecole elite.
Long term the only solution that one can envisage is the joining of Grandes Ecoles to form elite universities within France. Or the joining of Grandes Ecoles to universities in such a way that they retain their exceptional quality.
Grandes Ecoles cannot disappear since they are of the highest level. They must however allow their elite students to communicate more freely with students from other domains, and they may take the task of leading the whole of the French higher education body closer at heart. Universities should aspire to cooperate and compete with the Grandes Ecoles, with the conviction that they are expected to find talent in numbers, or in latebloomers or disadvantaged youngsters.
These are changes that can only be implemented gradually and in the long term, through careful and informed planning, by both the higher education community and central administration. There is no easy changing of more than 200 years of impressive history.
There are various problems with the present system. Since the entrance exams are very competitive and extremely important for the future careers and lives of the students, children need to be prepared to have very high problem solving capabilities at eighteen. That requires that children enter very good schools at an early age. That jeopardizes the otherwise democratic nature of the entrance exams. The influence of the direct environment on the children's far future is big.
The Grandes Ecoles are separated. They are not universal (as universities are) in that they usually have a single department with a single vocation (e.g. electrical engineering). That compartmentalizes the elite and makes for little cross-discipline and cross-professional fertilization. That takes its toll on the flexibility and creativity of French administration, technology, research and industry, etcetera.
The university students (which remain an important resource of talent) suffer badly from the fact that the head of the student body is chopped of by the Grandes Ecoles. The university degree is devalued in the presence of the close knit Grande Ecole elite.
Long term the only solution that one can envisage is the joining of Grandes Ecoles to form elite universities within France. Or the joining of Grandes Ecoles to universities in such a way that they retain their exceptional quality.
Grandes Ecoles cannot disappear since they are of the highest level. They must however allow their elite students to communicate more freely with students from other domains, and they may take the task of leading the whole of the French higher education body closer at heart. Universities should aspire to cooperate and compete with the Grandes Ecoles, with the conviction that they are expected to find talent in numbers, or in latebloomers or disadvantaged youngsters.
These are changes that can only be implemented gradually and in the long term, through careful and informed planning, by both the higher education community and central administration. There is no easy changing of more than 200 years of impressive history.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The education of postponing judgement
Freedom of expression is limited in Alabama, as experienced by the Top Gear crew in their famous caricature of the US.
There is no doubt that one can paint slogans on cars that are experienced as insulting in any given place, while claiming their place in the global debate. However, it has struck me multiple times that most locals at least seem to have the acquired ability to postpone judgement during a brief encounter. Exceptions may be triggered by the construction of a sharp artificial local identity in the face of economic hardship, strong cultural pressure or other extreme strains. Postponing judgement should be an integral part of education in a just society. A debating culture, a mix of expressed identities at school, the surprise experience of learning any type of new fact may add to feeling that postponement and deliberation are useful reflexes.
There is no doubt that one can paint slogans on cars that are experienced as insulting in any given place, while claiming their place in the global debate. However, it has struck me multiple times that most locals at least seem to have the acquired ability to postpone judgement during a brief encounter. Exceptions may be triggered by the construction of a sharp artificial local identity in the face of economic hardship, strong cultural pressure or other extreme strains. Postponing judgement should be an integral part of education in a just society. A debating culture, a mix of expressed identities at school, the surprise experience of learning any type of new fact may add to feeling that postponement and deliberation are useful reflexes.
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