ID Number
Introduction
This paper presents a rhetorical analysis of the article titled Teach Me but Don’t Disagree with Me by Jodi Fisler and John Foubert. The primary issue tackled in the article is the protest against “liberal indoctrination of higher education (Fisler and Foubert 2). The role of schools is to educate the students and not to influence their political choice. Maintaining academic freedom among students and school employees is the only legitimate way to create harmonious relationship and avoid strong protests.
Summary
Teach Me but Don’t Disagree with Me by Jodi Fisler and John Foubert started with the message from a student sent to the Students for Academic Freedom website. The content of the message exposed the student’s feelings concerning the notification received from the school. The notification contains the instruction to read Nickel and Dimed to which the student believed was filled with anti-capitalistic views as well as Marxist rants. Because of this the student questions the agenda of the school.
Educators confront the challenge of discontent among members of the community. Many students object to the politically liberal position of the school. Moreover, other students complain regarding their professors manner of interjecting what the youths consider irrelevant commentary in their classes and discussing only one perspective on a contentious and divisive issue and even penalizing the youths for their conservative viewpoints. This mirrors bigger trends in the political, cultural, and educational attitudes of the nation. On the part of educators, they may react to such challenge either by adapting their usual practice to change focus on learning instead or they may simply brush off the brawls and continue interjecting their political agenda.
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
The texts applied logos by stating the importance of education. Education is the delivery of information, skills, and knowledge from educators to learners. This simple definition is not sufficient to captivate what is really essential about becoming and being educated. The proper meaning of education is essentially that it is the method of becoming an educated individual, yet this too, question of what matters as an educated individual. Being an educated individual simply means that one has full access to the ideal state of mind notwithstanding the circumstance that the person is in. An educated person is one who is able to accurately perceive, clearly think, and effectively act in order to obtain self-selected aspirations and goals. Education is more accurately defined as a method of mapping experiences, finding reliable paths to the ideal states of mind. This paper presents a discussion concerning the benefits of education. Education provides various opportunities to enhance one’s skills in order to learn, to live, to work, and to become what one wants to become. It is a process of being able to learn how to come up with sound decisions that will someday benefit the economy and the society. Education is important in cultivating for a more productive society. Through education, learners are provided optimal development they need and to help them develop their sense of worth. Further, learners are properly guided in enhancing creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking skills. School activities are excellent channels in developing all other skills - psychological, social, physical and mental - that the students ultimately needed throughout their lifetime.
Conclusion
Politics is the strongest and the most controversial aspect of the society that tries to influence not only the people but also the youths. It is politics that at times opposes the laws of the church and uses the school to extend its agenda. In exchange the political arena provides financial support to the schools. This, on the other hand, is disliked by many college students because it tends to hamper their purpose of going to college. Further, interjecting ideas that are in opposition to the ideas of the students tend to create doubts as to the real agenda and purpose of the school. Students start to question whether the school is a venue for learning and developing one’s skills in preparation for the future or whether the school is merely one big avenue for politicians to extend their agenda and strengthen their power. Academic freedom is about giving the students the right to have their own choice respected. This, in particular, implies the right to choose the kind of beliefs and values to have as members of the society. College and universities must focus their agenda on educating students about skills necessary for work and refrain from influencing students on their political choices.
Source
Fisler, J., & Foubert, J. (2006). Teach me, but don't disagree with me. About Campus, 11(5), 2--8.
