College Classrooms: The New Corporate Playgrounds
Posted on October 23rd, 2006
Just who should decide what material students study in college? Should we go by the classics in instruction and material, learning from past greats? Should we choose innovative ideas? Should we be able to choose for ourselves?
Or, as this article asks, should we let our curriculum be shaped by giant corporations?
Big business spending big bucks to influence what's taught in college classes.
Why do this?
"We can get access to students that already have the technical skills," IBM Vice President Irving Wladawsky-Berger said. "And even more important, our clients, who are eventually the ones who are going to be implementing all those solutions, can get enough skills to do what they need to do."
But critics say businesses should not have such influence.
New America Foundation's Jennifer Washburn writes on the subject.
"We really depend on our institutions of higher education to be independent institutions that train students to be very versatile and creative in their thinking," Washburn said. "We don't turn our institutions into corporate training grounds."
What do you think? Does this trend reduce 'higher learning' to mere job training? Just what exactly is college for?
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