Self-aware and Better Human Beings

In 2013, Hart Research Associates issued a report on an online survey they conducted “from January 9 to 13, 2013…among 318 employers whose organizations have at least 25 employees and report that 25% or more of their new hires hold either an associate degree from a two-year college or a Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college. Respondents are executives at private sector and nonprofit organizations, including owners, CEOs, presidents, C-suite level executives, and vice presidents.” The gist of the report, "It Takes More than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success: Overview and Key Findings," is that most employers value innovation, critical thinking, ethical judgment, communication skills, and problem-solving acumen.

It’s hard to dismiss these as desirable traits, and I think that both eportfolio and active learning do more to achieve and hone these skills than traditional classroom methods. The interaction with other students common to active learning and the reflection common to eportfolio discourage isolation and solipcism, and this double awareness of self and others should ideally help students make better informed ethical decisions. So, yes, this information from Hart Research would certainly be helpful in convincing students of the relevance of these styles of teaching and learning, and I’m also pleased to see that so many employers profess to value things like ethics, intercultural skills, global knowledge, and community involvement as the report suggests. However, what I’d like is a way to draw attention to these positives without contributing to the trend that state and community colleges are vocational training for corporations and similar institutions. We probably should equally, if not more forcibly, stress the idea that the students are here to become more self-aware and better human beings, particularly as some of them will one day soon assume leadership positions making ethical decisions that will affect them and their communities. Of course, I think it’s possible to hit on all these points sufficiently over the course of a semester.