p1 Study Question #1

Academic Freedom - Study Questions

#1. • the roles of community colleges and universities are fundamentally different
$ in Ontario the mandate of community colleges is to prepare individuals for work ,
the emphasis is on teaching students that they will need to get a job, often these
skills have been referred to as vocational skills
$ while this role has gradually evolved over time it is still the major distinction
between the two systems of post-secondary education in Ontario

$ the role of the university is not to prepare students for the workplace, it is to
generate, preserve and disseminate knowledge and as a result there are two major
activities - teaching is one but the focus is on research, is on the activity that sets
universities apart from community colleges
$ so the pursuit of research and publishing the results of research is one of the
primary responsibilities and activities of university professors, but not community
college professors
$ research activity requires academic freedom to enable/free professors to pursue
“intellectually legitimate’ (Shils) activities
$ in the course of engaging in research activities, a professor may discover/find new
information which is different than some popularly held idea in
$ in this situation academic freedom affords the protection needed for the professor
to continue to pursue the object of his/her research regardless of the fact that his
findings may be somewhat controversial

$ perhaps then it is the extent of academic freedom which varies between university
and community colleges
$ community college professors are not expected to generate new knowledge or
pursue research, so the protection afforded by academic freedom is not as
significant an issue n this sense

$ the principles of academic freedom and the obligations associated with such
freedom apply to the teaching activities of community college and university
professors, the same rights and restrictions/obligations apply
$ for example, if an individual demonstrates academic incompetence, they are liable
to sanctions in both settings, academic freedom does not include the freedom to
be academically incompetent
$ however, community college faculty do not teach whatever they want within a
particular subject area
$ the Ontario government has identified learning and program outcomes for all
ministry funded programs
$ in some very real ways, these outcomes restrict what faculty teach, generally do
not restrict how faculty teach
$ but for a university professor teaching English literature, the learning outcomes
are not prescribed, more freedom what and how to teach
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$ As Shils indicates, academic freedom means that, “ professors may choose what
they will assert in their teaching”
$ and what a university professor teaches is generally tied into their research and
publication activities
$ community college professors do not have this freedom
$ while community college professors may choose how they teach, what they teach
is generally prescribed by learning and program outcomes identified in ministry
documents.
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Study Question #2 - Academic Freedom

i. re the impact of discretionary funding on academic freedom
- is this an infringement? on AF?
#2. • targeted funding can be seen to be a threat to academic freedom
$ by targeting funds to a specific type of research, the external (print.) funder is
directing the research activity of the university and therefore, the research
activities of individuals within the university
$ funding certain, selected activities and not others controls research activities,
particularly in post-secondary settings where obtaining adequate funding for any
activity is challenging
“when the water hole gets small, the animals get nasty”÷they are also “thirstier”,
so which funding is available the research activity will align with, or follow the
funding
$ if there was limitless funding for post-secondary education, this might not pose a
threat to academic freedom, as it may not restrict other research activities
$ targeted funding limits research activity supported by targeted funding may be
restricted
$ thus, targeted funding restricts the freedom to investigate
$ academic freedom includes the professor’s right to choose subjects for research,
directed funding limits this choice, this is at the heart of the infringement
research for which there is limited funding will be restricted and this
constitutes a limitation to academic freedom
$ “academic freedom” = the freedom to think and act ÷ these are both
compromised by targeted funding when choices are restricted
$ one could also argue that the academic freedom of a few us enhanced by targeted
funding is aligned with an individual’s ongoing/previously established research
interests
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Study Question #3
#3. • Re judgements by or tenure committee about the nature of an individual’s
work - infringement of academic freedom?
$ appointments are not a matter of academic freedom
$ appoints do involve academic ethics
$ if the individual is employing sound methodology in their research and is
pursuing intellectually legitimate aims, then judgements about what that individual does
may constitute an infringement where those judgements restrict or limit the research,
activities, publications of that individual
$ in fact, the answer is “it depends” . . .
$ it depends on what the individual is doing÷ if the work can be judged to
be intellectually legitimate, then any prohibitions or restrictions associated with the
decision of the committee constitute an in infringement of the individual’s academic
freedom
$ it also depends significantly on how the individual expresses his/her
opinions and whether or not the expression of the point of view is a reflection of the
individual’s area of expertise and therefore a “fit” with the content area of instruction
$ for example, if the individual teaches astronomy but consistently uses the
classroom as a platform to express his/her anti-abortion/pro-life point of view, this would
be deemed inappropriate and this individual would be sanctioned ÷ in this case, the
decision of the tenure committee would be influenced by this behaviour
$ on the other hand, if the individual teaches economics and expresses an
“unpopular” point of view about government funding in his/her class, indicating that the
comment represetns a personal point of view, then this would be appropriate and should
not be judged otherwise
$ it would not be inappropriate for the tenure committee to ensure this last
individual by making a decision on this individuals points of view

ii) a professor’s academic freedom may also be violated when those in authority
make statements against him/her for stating a belief which, while may be
“unpopular” may also be “intellectually legitimate” (Shils)
$ when those in authority, those in power make statements against a
professor under these conditions then the impact of this individual out of
fear of being disciplined or dismissed
$ it may also compromise the individual’s credibility with peers, students,
possibly funders
iii) Shils describes how teaching and research in genetics and the theory of relativity
were prohibited for many years in the Soviet Union
$ this is only one example, there are many other examples of governments
constraining or prohibiting specific research activities
$ as Horn points out, in the 60's comments made outside the university that
struck
some major stakeholder or group as unacceptable would “draw fire”÷” . . . professor had no
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business . . . “
$ in these cases the university would defend the academic freedom of the
individual while at the same time indicating to that person that they needed to be more
“prudent” . . .
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p2 Study Question #3
Study Question # 4 - Academic Freedom
a) when the academic freedom of a professor imposes limits on others e.g. students
$ in situations where a professor’s academic freedom affords him/her
the freedom to hold an “unpopular” (not widely held) point of view that
the individual speaks about and publishes, students are likely to feel
uncomfortable expressing a different point of view, one perhaps contrary
to that of the professor
$ there is an issue of power at play here whether or not it is true in
every situation, students perceive that professors are more powerful than
they are
$ professors make decisions about grades and promotion, therefore, a
student often perceives that it is not in their best interest, academically to
express an opposing point of view
b) there are several examples of how (when) the freedom of “others” constrains
professors:

i) in Horn’s discussion of the “Zero Tolerance” document published by the

Ministry of Education in 1994, he indicates that the document would offer others
the right to “complain about aspects of university life, including the content of
teaching and research”
$ the result of this ministry policy might be to avoid discussions of ethnicity,
sex, etc. for fear of violating ministry policy
$ while this is one example offered by Horn, I don’t necessarily agree with
his opinion of the impact of this policy
$ while it may have silenced a few, its had the opposite effect on others