Word: whitla
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...dialogue between men, as well as the imparting of a discipline; frequently what is of lasting value in a course is not its content, but the chance it has offered to meet a great teacher. In the most recent Harvard Educational Review there is an article by Dean Whitla, instructor in Education and Director of the Office of Tests, concerned with education as the interaction of human beings. Part of a forthcoming book, it is worth reading...
There could be nothing but an operational definition of what contsitutes a liberally educated man, so few would quarrel with Whitla on that score. It is quite another matter, however, to set up a tautology--even an operational one. The men whom House Masters are likely to rate liberally educated, are those with initiative in meeting people. Thus, in this portion of its results, what the survey shows is that students who meet people easily met the faculty often. Fortunately, this does not damage the usefulness of the survey, for the revealing parts of it are the students' own statements...
...taped sessions, most of the graduates revealed that they had come to Harvard expecting to achieve something beyond academic growth. They expressed vague expectations such as finding an identity or a direction for their lives to take. Whitla quoted one as saying, "what I wanted out of Harvard was something of a personal growth rather than actually an intellectual achievement, although I have had aspirations toward intellectual achievement, of course." In many cases, what they sought was a model, someone who would motivate them toward becoming a particular kind of person. Whether or not the student did in fact find...
Tutorial was a blessing, redeeming the careers of some but for others it was not enough. All the men the House Masters and Senior Tutors rated high reported fine tutorials; all the men rated low found tutorial disappointing. Whitla maintains that tutorial alone was not sufficient contact with a faculty member, especially since individual tutorial comes only in the senior year. Also many did not qualify for Honors tutorial...
Many of the students rated low felt that anonymity had been a cause of their weak efforts and low grades. Such men declared they had no faculty contact whatever, Whitla says, and they related this causally to their apathy and indifference. These average students in the survey. Whitla says, "could have made far more effort academically throughout their college years, and the lack of direction recognition, and personal challenge from the faculty seem in large part responsible for their marginal participation...