A Change in the Zeitgeist

Something is changing in the zeitgeist around the relationship between students, their families, and educational institutions. Emma Pettit, writing in the April 5, 2023, Chronicle of Higher Education, captures one part of this shift in terms of the relationship between students and faculty.

“Traditionally, faculty members have been viewed as the rulers of the classroom. They decide what gets taught and how. That could mean expecting students to tackle tough assignments on tight deadlines and to wrestle with ideas and information that upsets them. The underlying assumption is that students defer to the professor’s judgment (or, as some view it, the professor’s dominance).

“But for a confluence of reasons, student attitudes have shifted. For one, what’s considered appropriate for a college professor to say and do in the classroom has changed dramatically, especially around topics of race, gender, and other forms of identity. For another, student deference to their teachers is not nearly as strong as it once was.”

Pettit points out that the shift is more complicated than what is usually portrayed by the political far right. It gets at an assumption that contemporary students in higher education make about the degree to which they should at least be a party to choosing what they learn. We see and hear much the same in our private, independent school clients, when parents demand a greater voice in curriculum design and content selection.

One can debate whether this change in the zeitgeist is positive (for example, a much-needed breakdown in control by a predominately male administrative elite), or a sign of the apocalypse (say, letting the inmates run the asylum). Regardless, we think this shift has staying power, and school leaders need the skills and political savvy to keep up.