Frank Bruni, pictured above, used to write for The New York Times. Well, I guess I should say that he still does write for The Times; however, while Bruni was previously on the staff of The Times, he is now on the faculty at Duke University, as the Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy. Bruni has held that position for five years now, and in a recent column (in The Times), "Being A College Teacher Is Strange Right Now," Bruni says that this year is the most challenging, and indeed the "strangest," he has encountered so far:
That’s not about Duke. It’s about higher education. It’s about America. It’s about dynamics — chiefly, this country’s tilt toward authoritarianism and the rapidly accelerating advances of A.I. — that render our tomorrows even hazier than usual. None of us knows what we’re in for and up against, and that confusion crystallizes on college campuses, which are by definition gateways to the future. They’re supposed to leave students with maps, routes, a destination. Not with compasses whose needles gyrate this way and that.
Let me provide you with my response to Bruni's column - and you can read his column in its entirety by clicking the link provided above. No paywall will block you - or so I am assured.
Here is my reaction to what Bruni is saying. As a former newspaperman, Bruni may be leaning too heavily on his former career "reporting" the news. In fact, "reporting" on the realities in which we are enmeshed is critically important, but being an "observer" is different from being an "actor."
I would like to think (as a former college instructor myself) that education needs to be more than an introduction to what "exists," to "reality," to what we can "observe" as we look around. Education needs to open an avenue to "possibility," to what "might be," and should not be limited to what already "is."
Persons interested in etymology might want to see what Teachers.Institute has to say about the etymology of the word, "education." Here is a section from the website discussion that I thought most important (emphasis added):
What the etymology tells us about education’s deeper purposeWhether we approach the word through its Latin roots or through the Sanskrit concept of Shiksha, the same fundamental truth emerges: education is not – and has never been – simply about the delivery of information. Britannica describes the Gurukula as a place where students studied “religious teachings and traditional scriptures, as well as politics and science” – a curriculum broad enough to prepare learners for full participation in civic and social life, not just for a single trade or examination.
The etymology of “education” therefore carries a profound message for educators today. Educare reminds us that students need structure, guidance, and the transmission of accumulated human knowledge. Educere reminds us that every learner carries latent capacities that no curriculum can manufacture – they can only be drawn out through trust, inquiry, and the right environment. And the Indian tradition of Shiksha adds that genuine education is always transformative: it disciplines the self while liberating the spirit.
Together, these roots suggest that the ideal educator is neither a passive transmitter of facts nor simply a facilitator standing on the sidelines – but someone who both nourishes and leads forth, who both instructs and inspires.
True education "draws out from us" what exists within us, as possibility, but that is not revealed until it is "realized" - made into "reality" - by action.
That was the lesson I tried to deliver to the Legal Studies students I taught at UCSC. I am sharing this thought with you!
https://sanford.duke.edu/profile/frank-bruni/
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