New Challenges for Education : CSUN: Universities must prepare people for success in a knowledge-intensive society.
In this period of rapid and bewildering change, pessimism--inchoate and debilitating--has caused us to forget, it would seem, that people and ideas are the major shapers of history.
The abundant evidence of human history is that educated people retain a sense of confidence in themselves and in their society. . . .
There can be no doubt that the future of America will be dependent on individuals from many different nations of the world, with customs, languages and talents that will expand and enrich what David Pierce calls “our living culture.”
But racial and ethnic tension remains the American dilemma, its raw nerve exposed anew by the burgeoning demographic changes in our cities and on our campuses and by the continuing message of shattered dreams and deferred promises. . . .
In all we do, we must affirm an unyielding moral vision--that the next generation is entitled to participate fully in reinventing and benefiting from the American future.
If we believe in ourselves, we will find and create a vital and participatory community in which every student, faculty, and staff member is valued and respected, in which we recognize that we share common values as educated and ethical human beings, and in which the bonds of community are stronger than the habits of cultural ignorance. . . .
As we seek to enhance student learning and access, we must find more ways to combine the strengths of technology with the fundamental roles of the teacher, scholar and researcher. . . .
The “internationalism” of the world, in which our ties to every part of the globe emerge in real time, is a second major theme of 21st-Century learning.
Surely it is an anachronism for Americans born in the United States to be the only educated people in the world who are not fluent in more than one language or who do not truly understand the influence of geography and history on national cultures.
Particularly in California, where the national, ethnic and racial diversity we enjoy represents the future of American citizenry, Cal State Northridge should make its already rich array of international relationships available to larger numbers of faculty and students . . . The 21st Century will be one in which intellectual capital, as contrasted with resources and labor, will define our prosperity, security and quality of life. It is essential that higher education institutions like ours commit our intellectual resources to assuring that the elementary and secondary schools of our region can prepare their graduates for success in a knowledge-intensive society.
Particularly as the groups we refer to as “minorities” become the majority population in California, as throughout the world, we cannot afford to waste their economic, cultural and social contributions through the failure of our schools or our universities to teach effectively.
