Dr. Michael S. Russo

Educational Philosophy

As we enter the 21^st century, it will be more important than ever to have citizens who are educated enough to understand the complex issues that challenge the human race. Global problems such as the degradation of the ecosystem, the radical imbalance of the world’s resources, and the widespread use of violence and genocide can only be effectively addressed if human beings are trained to look beyond their own narrow self-interests and to search for creative solutions that can ultimately benefit the entire human family. Such training requires not just a technological or vocational knowledge, but the kind of wisdom that can only come from an authentic liberal arts education.

Despite opinions to the contrary, I do not believe that the goal (or telos) of higher education is simply to help students to maximize their earning potential later on in life. Rather, our aim should be to create well-rounded, morally upright citizens who aspire to excellence in their chosen fields of endeavor. As Aristotle understood several thousand years ago, the goal of authentic education is to build the moral and civic characters of the students, not simply their bank accounts.

On the most basic level, an authentic liberal arts education should enable students to convey important ideas effectively using any and all available forms of media. It is of paramount importance, therefore, that the tools of effective communication be taught in all classes.

Of these tools, none is more important than the development of higher order critical thinking skills. We need to train students to move beyond the comfortable platitudes and paradigms of the past and to reflect in more innovative ways about solutions to the world’s problems. To put it in the words of a recent advertisement, we need to help students to learn to "think different." College classrooms, therefore, need to be places where students are given the freedom to think unconventional ideas, to test out their theories about the human condition in a supportive environment, and, ideally, to feel confident enough even to challenge their instructor’s opinions on important issues.

To encourage higher order critical thinking skills of this kind, it is vital to expose students to as wide a variety of great ideas as possible. To do this effectively, I believe that instructors in the liberal arts should reject the facile approach of using mass-produced texts (typically written at the ninth grade reading level) and instead have students read the great works in their entirety. Having taught such eclectic texts as Sophocles’ Antigone, Plato’s Republic, Augustine’s Confessions, and Freud’s The Future of An Illusion, I am well aware of the challenges involved in having students read the classics, but I am convinced that their growth as human beings and as critical thinkers can only come from struggling with the kind of difficult ideas that one encounters in the great works.

Having exposed students to a wide variety of great ideas, it is also the job of the college instructor to help them to express their own ideas as clearly and persuasively as possible. I believe that it is important for all students—regardless of their majors—to develop the ability to write effectively, since this ability will serve them well in whatever their chosen careers. It is for this reason that I include a heavy research component to all of my classes and spend a significant amount of time teaching students how to argue a position persuasively in written form.

Finally, for better or worse, we live in a technologically oriented society. Many students, however, are still uncomfortable using the latest forms of technology to access information and to communicate ideas. This reticence of theirs is indeed unfortunate, since, in a communications age such as the one in which we are living, the ability to master technology is a major key to all future success. College instructors, therefore, need to make greater efforts to incorporate various forms of technology into their classes and to help students to integrate technology into their own lives. I have tried to work towards these ends in my own classes by putting all of my course materials on-line and by incorporating web-based assignments into many of my classes.

I also think that we must get beyond the notion that, simply because the students who graduate from their institutions are able to find high paying jobs, we have succeeded in their mission of educating students. The guideline for educational success, rather, should be the degree to which these students are actively involved after graduation in working for the good of the local, national and global communities. Thus, the question that we as educators must constantly ask ourselves is whether the educational structures that we have created have adequately exposed students to those types of transformative ideas and experiences that will infuse them with a spirit of active community involvement and a commitment to serve those in need. If the answer is yes, then the institution can rightly claim to have been successful in educating its students, even if not one of them goes on to careers commanding six-figure salaries after graduation.

I have found that one of the most interesting pedagogical tools available for college educators to inspire a love of service and a concern for social justice among students is service-learning. By combining the experience of service with critical reflection on societal problems in the classroom, students not only gain a better understanding of complex social issues, but also feel that they are working for the good of their communities. And it is precisely when students have a sense of making a difference, if only in the life of a single child, that they begin to develop a sense of civic empowerment. As those faculty who have become actively involved in service-learning recognize, service-learning has the potential to increase students’ sense of civic responsibility, their sensitivity towards those in need, and their tolerance towards those who are different from themselves.

I also believe that it is vital for college educators to actively promote social justice both within and outside of the classroom. In the words of Pope John Paul II, we must be willing to "engage the culture" and inspire our students to do likewise. It is difficult to deny that we live in a society where a tremendous disparity exists between those at the top levels of income and those at the bottom, where the most weak and vulnerable individuals are often regarded as expendable, and where inner city children are regularly deprived of the kind of education and social resources that will enable them to compete effectively later in life. In the face of the tremendous injustices that exist in our society, academics at both secular and religiously-affiliated colleges have an obligation to act as voices for the poor and vulnerable. It is, therefore, essential that principles of social justice be taught throughout the curriculum and students be given the opportunity during their college years to work individually and collectively with at-risk populations in order to better understand the mechanisms of social injustice.

Finally, because the world is becoming smaller through technological developments and a globally interconnected economy, it is also important for students to develop a sense of global citizenship. We need to help our students to get beyond their own cultural prejudices and to break down their provincial ways of looking at the rest of the world. The best way to do this is to provide them with the experience—or better still, various experiences—of living and studying abroad at some point during their college years. I believe that if we are truly committed to providing students with an education for the 21^st century, faculty and administrators must find ways to provide as many students as possible with these kinds of overseas opportunities. This means creating a wide variety of programs for students in all disciplines and making a commitment to keep these programs as affordable as possible so that all students (not only the affluent ones) can take advantage of them.

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