The Values Question in Higher Education

From "The Introduction" by Arthur J. Schwartz, director of character development programs at the John Templeton Foundation, in a special issue of Peer Review.

In his introduction to this special issue of Peer Review, Schwartz calls for "resisting the pressures to reduce a college education to the facts, tools, and skills needed for future occupational success." He argues that college should instill in students "intellectual virtues—such as courage and integrity—to pursue truth in a spirit of humility."

He also argues that college educators must renew their commitment to providing a "purpose-centered education" and to "transmit core values" to their students. Finally, Schwartz argues that a "liberal education ought to be about providing ample opportunities for students to identify, articulate, maintain (and perhaps be transformed by) what is sacred to them."

Ultimately, he argues that while the academy is far from reaching this goal, there is promise in many new college practices and in new research that suggests a new focus for college learning guided by four principles:

1) We are truth-seeking creatures.

2) A life without purpose is a life wasted.

3) Educators have a responsibility to transmit core valures.

4) We are searchers of the Sacred.

To read Schwartz's article, visit Peer Review, Summer 2002: Vol. 4, No. 4