I don't get it. Some of the recent postings about markets, privatization
and universities seem to posit a "marketplace" that is alien, separate,
and inhabited by some other tribe.
Where is this place? How does one stand away from or above it?
I would think that any person who wants to receive money for using his or
her wits (e.g., a professor or teacher) is standing right in the the
hubbub of a large market.
To change the perspective: as a student, I like to have as much market
information as I can get before I part with my time and my money on a
course or programme or school. Am I going to learn what I want to learn?
Might Ilearn more? Is the teacher the best I can get? Do employers
respect credentials from this school? Could I learn this topic better on
my own? By correspondence? Elsewhere?
Another perspective: Isn't it a good idea for any intellectual worker,
and perhaps especially teachers, to teach, research, listen and observe in
as many markets and forums and businesses as possible? To people
attending a university located on one floor of a commercial downtown
highrise, or to a community reading circle, or to a student in Northern
Ontario doing long distance learning, I think the notion that the
"marketplace" and "business" are inimitable to universities (or to real
learning) would sound pretty strange.
We live in a marketplace, a place of perpetual exchange. I think it
behooves us to better understand our place within it.
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