Past, Present, and Future of State University :: Argumentative Essays

Past, Present, and Future of State University The structure and workings of the university are ever changing. The university of the past is not like the university of the present and the university of the present will not be like the university of the future. This â€Å"adaptation† to the times is what can make some universities great or make some universities among the worst in the nation. In the past the university was very set in their ways. They did things the way they wanted them done. They paid no heed to the rest of the society and the way the ones paying the bills wanted them done. In the past the professors would lecture endlessly to the students. This endless lecturing often left the students bored and with no idea what was really said to them in the lecture. This is no way to try and teach students, students need interaction with the professors that are paid to teach them. As Paulo Freire believed there needs to be communication between the students and the professors and the class should not be totally memorization. Freire also believes that when the professors are active and the students are passive there is no learning there is only memorization. This is the way that things were done in the past. All classes were based on memorizing the material with no interaction. When all you do is memorize you do not put the material to use you just remember it for a short time and then you forget it forever. Freire says that when the teachers are rated on how well the student memorize the material, they are just passing the students on ignorance. The university should also teach the process of critical thinking not just how to learn facts. In the present many universities have either changed or are changing the way that they run their university. The universities now are taking on many of the beliefs of the major educational philosophers in order to make changes in the teaching methods. Universities are breaking down many of the divides between majors that they offer. By breaking these barriers the universities are becoming less specialized and more diverse. This goes along with the ideas of Berry.