What is academic freedom and who gets to exercise it? It's a promise that both teacher and student can discuss any topic without interference from each other or some outside authority. Does it work that way? Obviously not.
Our educational institutions, from the earliest to the most advanced grades, are dominated by liberal ideologues who force their views on captive, beholden audiences. The relationship between student and teacher is the same as any other where one party is in a position to help or hurt the other. In the case of teachers, especially in colleges and universities, teachers can intimidate, humiliate, chastise and affect the grades of a student who holds views opposing theirs. Conversely, the student has no such power over the teacher although the definition of "academic freedom" implies equality between the two parties. Complaints to school officials are complaints to officers who are like-minded and poo-poo the complaint.
In this era of concern over fairness in the media, demanding equal representation for opposing views, I propose that colleges and universities be required to have staff that represent all political and religious points of view. We have in the past required quotas for under-represented minorities and I believe this is a comparable discriminatory practice that requires a remedy. Lacking that, students should be protected in a way that they can defend themselves from such treatment by suing the school and teacher for breaching his academic freedom.
Any education which refuses to acknowledge that opposite views which stimulate discussion about the virtues and negatives of a belief is a good thing, is not an education but an indoctrination. Whenever there comes a time that differences in points of view cannot be discussed civilly, resulting in a monolithic society, it will signal the death of freedom.
Our educational institutions, from the earliest to the most advanced grades, are dominated by liberal ideologues who force their views on captive, beholden audiences. The relationship between student and teacher is the same as any other where one party is in a position to help or hurt the other. In the case of teachers, especially in colleges and universities, teachers can intimidate, humiliate, chastise and affect the grades of a student who holds views opposing theirs. Conversely, the student has no such power over the teacher although the definition of "academic freedom" implies equality between the two parties. Complaints to school officials are complaints to officers who are like-minded and poo-poo the complaint.
In this era of concern over fairness in the media, demanding equal representation for opposing views, I propose that colleges and universities be required to have staff that represent all political and religious points of view. We have in the past required quotas for under-represented minorities and I believe this is a comparable discriminatory practice that requires a remedy. Lacking that, students should be protected in a way that they can defend themselves from such treatment by suing the school and teacher for breaching his academic freedom.
Any education which refuses to acknowledge that opposite views which stimulate discussion about the virtues and negatives of a belief is a good thing, is not an education but an indoctrination. Whenever there comes a time that differences in points of view cannot be discussed civilly, resulting in a monolithic society, it will signal the death of freedom.
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