Replying to LO28086 --
Dear Dennis, dear LO'ers,
> You strike a cord with Leo when he laments [snip]
> - a Dutch professor lecturing to a majority of Dutch students in English?
Dennis, Did I lament? That was not the purpose of my contribution. But if
so, or if the impression is there, I like to say some extra words.
I intended to describe the changements at Dutch and European universities
in a neutral way. The thing is that it is so easy to critisize as older
generations like to do to youth and 'modern' developments. And maybe I
become like my own father :-) in his old days.
I am not sure yet about some of the outcomes of recent developments in the
university world. There are absolute positive things: the beginning of
removing the walls between disciplines and faculties. Inter- and possibly
even transdisciplinary studies are born in recent time. International
relationships between universities and the possibility to exchange
students is a great thing in my opinion. To fascilitate these
exchangements, the language problem has to be solved and it is not a
strange idea to introduce the internationally accepted language of scinece
- English.
The drawbacks of all these positive initiatives is that these initiatives
are developed by policy makers, not by the people who are supposed to work
under these new circumstances. It are not initiatives which grew from
below. And I am realy afraid that therefore a long period of unsuccessful
experiments will start, and tha a new generation of students will not
receive wha they deserve. The strange thing however will be that these
students will not no it. They are so to say the frogs that will be boiled.
And thanks to the mirror that you showed me, I was rethinking my own
student time at the university. I was and am still enthousiastic about my
received education. I studied in a revolutionary time at universities -
the late sixties early seventies of the former century. So also at that
time there was a lot of changement. And who knows the comments of the
older generation at that time?
Dennis, I am still optimistic for the long run. However the trajectory
will pass some deep depressions too. I am optimistc, because I think/hope
that within a few years enough persons at universities will see (again)
the great importance of close relationships between teacher and student.
Distant learning and grabbing blindly all information fron Internet will
diminish soon.
Leo Minnigh
> Mine as well as scores of other cultures are engaged in the struggle to
> regain past learning. While oral not written, with as much emphasis on
> them as you put upon the treasured books that you witness going to the
> recyclers.
>
> While we may quit the institutions that indulge in behaviours and
> practices against our standards and beliefs, it has been my experience
> that there are more than enough potential recruits "out there" that will
> take our places and work in accord with my aforementioned unidentifiable
> power.
--Minnigh <minnigh@dds.nl>
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