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About EAU > Philosophy of what we do

Philosophy of what we do

 
The Society for Humanistic Potential
The University was founded and is directed by the Society for Humanistic Potential (SHP), a religious organisation whose philosophy honors lifelong learning as a key aspect of the holistic development of the individual. Persons of all creeds or none are admitted to the University's programs, which do not require adherence to particular beliefs. SHP is strongly influenced by the philosophical and spiritual work of Carl Jung and Carl R. Rogers, among others.

>>Click here to learn more about SHP

EAU's distinctive philosophy
The philosophy of education that informs European-American University is not new; indeed it is older than that of many more traditional universities. As an institutional philosophy, we conceive the University as a frame of reference for the learning undertaken by the student, rather than a coercive force seeking to control that learning. European-American University understands that lasting change in any area - most notably in the transformative process of genuine education - cannot come about through coercion. This is why it offers the learner freedom in its place.

The Tao Te Ching tells us that education comes not from the accumulation of knowledge but from the abandonment of belief. Similarly, Socrates tells us that education is the "drawing forth of that which is already known but has been forgotten". Through placing faith in the individual, European-American University acts to facilitate his or her potential rather than forcing the square peg into the round hole. Through allowing the insights of different disciplines to bear upon and compliment each other rather than being artificially divided, European-American University honors the diversity and flow of human life in all its variety. The result is a sustainable vision of education designed to assist world citizens in the betterment of the human condition.

There are many links throughout this website to sources in support of the EAU philosophy.

Alfred North Whitehead, who would surely recognise the learning processes European-American University endorses, said in his "The Aims of Education",

"Education must pass beyond the passive reception of the ideas of others. Powers of initiative must be strengthened...The valuable intellectual development is self-development."

Emeritus Professor Russell Ackoff held the Anheuser-Busch Professorship of Management Science at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a leading critic of the system of tenure and the way traditional universities work to stifle innovation and dynamic change in their curriculum.

"Today, 6 years after they're hired, they get tenure or they're out. So now a 31-year-old gets tenure and has 40 years or more of commitment from the university. Many of these people get secure and retire intellectually at middle age; they stop thinking. So to answer your question, we must get rid of subsidy and tenure if we're going to get these institutions to change and improve the learning process.

Tenure has become a protection of incompetence and that's the problem. It's a very difficult problem and I don't see it being solved any time soon. I tried to do it when I was at Wharton. I'd written an article attacking tenure and the local AAUP chapter attacked me. So I challenged the chapter to a test. I said let's hire a research firm acceptable to both of us to investigate the following question: Does tenure protect incompetence more than academic freedom? If it turns out it protects academic freedom more than incompetence, I'll pay for the research. If it turns out the other way, you'll pay for it. Well, they wouldn't take me up on it."

Dr. Ackoff once created a program at the Wharton Business School that worked just like many at European-American University do. Here is what happened,

"We had a program at the university that I created and ran in which there was no curriculum, no classes, no examinations, no admission requirements—only exit requirements—in which the students designed their own education, not only the content but the process of it, and by the criteria that the university employed, we were the most successful department in the business school, Wharton. Because we had the largest number of doctoral candidates, the largest number of job offers when they graduated, and they went out to high salaries. And yet we broke all the rules. And that was a threat. In the university, the worst thing you can do for the long run is to be successful while breaking rules. You can fail as much as you want to, as long as you follow the rules. Then they can't blame you, because you're following the rules. And if you succeed following the rules, they'll tolerate that. But what they won't tolerate is your succeeding by breaking the rules, because that's a challenge to the validity of the rules. It's a threat to the status quo, and they don't want to change. So the easiest way to handle that is to get rid of the thorn in their side."

Dr. Ackoff speaks to the issue of how to improve education,

"I think it's fine as long as it focuses on learning instead of teaching, because there is the implicit assumption in most educational institutions that learning is the converse of teaching, that an ounce of teaching produces an ounce of learning. The fact is that teaching is the major obstruction of learning. Most of what you're taught you never use and is irrelevant, and what you do use you've learned on the job, usually in an apprenticeship relationship. So the whole concept of education as being taught is wrong. Kids learn in school and some adults learn in university not because of the school or university, but in spite of it. People learn from others by following their curiosity, but they learn very little from courses. Certainly very little that is useful."

"...to think creatively about learning, every single aspect of the educational process ought to be questioned and systematically denied and the consequences explored. When considering how to improve learning, get rid of curriculum, get rid of courses, get rid of examinations, get rid of accreditation, get rid of degrees - and what would education look like? Compare the potential of this with what we currently have, from the point of view of stimulating effective learning. Until you do this, you'll never have transformation. That's the difference between transformation and reformation. Reformation is keeping the current system and modifying its behavior, with modest change. But given the potential we are not now realizing, I would argue for creative transformation that focuses more effectively on learning."
(Source)

In the UK, the National Council for Vocational Qualifications in England has said (UPDATE, No. 1, 1989),

"... assessment which is only available to those enrolled on a course severely restricts the variety of methods of learning which may be used. We must therefore seek to separate assessment from courses or programs of learning. If we can do this, it will mean that any means of learning - by course, employment, open or distance-learning, private study etc - can be used to gain the competence needed for an award. It would greatly increase flexibility if assessment could also be offered to all who are ready for it; in other words, we should seek to provide assessment on demand."
 
Libertarian Library Online Project (LLOP)
The University's ongoing Libertarian Library Online Project (LLOP) aims to collect together online resources exploring different aspects of libertarian philosophy in a convenient single-source location, thus providing a comprehensive virtual library of libertarianism. As well as providing access to complete texts of such key writers as Henry David Thoreau, Ludwig von Mises and Adam Smith via online libraries, it includes links to libertarian organizations, political parties and to thousands of shorter articles and papers. All resources are free at the point of delivery and fully digitized for easy searching and printing.

>>Visit LLOP here

Understanding how the University works
>>Who is the University for?
>>The business approach to education
>>An independent viewpoint