praise for
Degrees of Failure
Most students today have given up on the utopian dreams of earlier generations and now simply seek certification in order to gain access to what are often disappointing, precarious jobs. This, in turn, has meant deteriorating working conditions for professors, researchers, and instructors whose hopes for critical thinking and creativity in their classrooms have largely been replaced by pragmatism, fierce individualism, and efficiency. Under these circumstances, Randle Nelsen advocates for innovative approaches to higher education, replacing schooling with education and credentialism with critical thinking and analysis. For Nelsen, its time to re-embrace creativity and return to the promise of C.W. Mills sociological imagination.
Norene Pupo, professor of sociology, York University
A thought-provoking analysis of the post-secondary education system in North America. Randy Nelsen blends personal experience in the sector with wide-reading and critical research to reflect on the impact of commercialization, technology, and an increasingly managerial culture on the traditional goals of universities in developing and fostering the exchange of knowledge. He makes a convincing argument that these might be reclaimed by prioritizing the interests of students, through problem-based learning, and by closer engagement with the wider community.
Stephen McBride, professor of political science, McMaster University, and author of Working? Employment Policy in Canada
Having written about higher education since before most current students parents were students themselves, Nelsen brings a much needed long memory to the work of identifying and understanding the key socio-historical trends shaping higher education. For students, professors, staff, or anyone interested in ensuring quality education within our post-secondary institutions, this new book is unsettling.
Scott Thompson, assistant professor of sociology, University of Saskatchewan
Once again Nelsen has outdone himself. Not only is this text accessible, he keeps it pertinent in the academic sense as he methodically carves the university and college system into its multi-faceted business-based pieces. He has put into print what I have believed for years as I have watched my universities treat me like a consumer instead of a student, and then as a checkout boy instead of a teacher. This work stands as, not a cry, but a scream for change, and I hope it fuels the debate to an explosive end.
Dr. Stephen E. Bosanac, Department of Sociology, York University
As universities tempt potential students and donors with glossy marketing tools and pundits suggest that youth without degrees have bleak futures, Randle Nelsen warns that higher education today is a morbid mess. Fundamental educational practices have come to be displaced by priorities associated with business and commodified entertainment. Despite what has been lost, however, Nelsen reminds us that genuine education possibilities can be sustained by drawing upon transformative pedagogical practices that engage participants.
Terry Wotherspoon, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan
DEGREES OF
FAILURE
University Education
in Decline
Randle W. Nelsen
Between the Lines
Toronto
Degrees of Failure: University Education in Decline
2017 Randle W. Nelsen
First published in Canada in 2017 by
Between the Lines
401 Richmond St. W., Studio 281
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8
1-800-718-7201
www.btlbooks.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Between the Lines, or (for photocopying in Canada only) Access Copyright, 56 Wellesley Street West, Suite 320, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S3.
Every reasonable effort has been made to identify copyright holders. Between the Lines would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its attention.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Nelsen, Randle W., author
Degrees of failure: university education in decline / Randle W. Nelsen.
Includes index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-77113-334-0 (softcover). ISBN 978-1-77113-335-7 (EPUB).
ISBN 978-1-77113-336-4 (PDF)
1. Education, Higher. I. Title.
LB2322.2.N45 2017 | | C2017-903006-X |
C2017-903007-8 |
Cover design, cover illustration by Maggie Earle
Text design and page preparation by Steve Izma
We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing activities: the Government of Canada; the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country; and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Acknowledgements
Once again I have been fortunate to have Robert Clarke agree to be my editor. As I have noted before, Rob truly is the writer behind the writer. His organizational skills and knack for stating things clearly and concisely offer a role model for me and other writers, especially those of an academic bent, to emulate. His talented persistence in getting it right always makes my work better. I am indeed thankful that, amidst carefully considered plans to scale back his busy editing schedule and devote more time to his own research and writing projects, Rob found time to edit this volume. Thanks, Rob.
I once again counted on Steve Izma to do his usual superior job of text design and page preparation. He managed to work me into his busy schedule in a timely manner. Thanks, Steve.
I want to give special acknowledgement to the efforts of Between the Lines managing editor, Amanda Crocker, who gave strong support to this project. I very much appreciated the effectiveness and dispatch with which she tackled problems and cleared the way for this books publication. Her pleasing disposition and solid efficiency were also to be found in abundance among all the BTL staff, who as a group took away my production worries and replaced them with supportive confidence. It has been a pleasure to work with you, and I thank you all.
Finally, I recognize that it would be extremely difficult to acknowledge everyone who has contributed something to the ideas and analysis found in this book. My thoughts on many of the matters discussed have been developing for half a century, and the probability of leaving out important contributors runs high. However, I do want to offer a general acknowledgement to those close to me for their loving support and inspiration, for the foundation they provided. To my friends and family in Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Montreal, Portland, and elsewhere, while I have not named you individually, please be assured that this book could not have been completed without you by my side. Thanks for your unwavering support and for having my back.
R.W. Nelsen, May 2017
ONE
The University from the
Inside-Out
Thoughts of a Participant Observer
