Historical discourses of American higher education and the preparation of future practitioners
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Citation
Abstract
Across the United States, graduate programs in Higher Education Administration (HEA) strive to prepare their students to be competent stewards of the profession. While supporting an ever-growing and more diverse population of students, the need for practitioners with a deep understanding of the lived experiences and contexts their students bring is critical. HEA practitioners, particularly those in student-facing roles, set the tone for how welcomed an increasingly diverse student population feels on campus. Future HEA professionals are tasked with creating socially just contexts in which their students can thrive. Therefore, it is paramount that their own education dives deeply and critically into themes of social justice, inclusive practices, and support around these complex ideals.Over the course of a semester or an academic year, HEA students engage with coursework that surveys the long history of higher education from the colonial era to the present day. This survey course weaves the fascinating narrative of the American post-secondary institution, persisting through civil and world wars, social movements, and the introduction of federal laws. This dissertation is concerned with the preparation of future HEA practitioners, specifically in the context of the aforementioned foundational course. When engaged in a study of the history of American higher education, a seminal text, the Yale Report of 1828, makes an appearance. In the field of Higher Education, there is an element of reverence for the Yale Report of 1828 and what it says about the past and future of higher education. What relevance does an almost 200-year-old text have and how does it relate to modern higher education practitioners? If we are to ask aspiring leaders of higher education to grapple with this text, it is imperative that we guide them to examine intentionally what the text attempts to tell the reader about its era, about the purpose of higher education, and about the quintessential student who deserves to be educated. In order to facilitate this deeper learning, this dissertation situates the Report in conversation with another, less cited historical document, The Future of Our Culture Dillard University commencement address by educator, Leslie Pinckney Hill.
Through a critical race framework, this dissertation presents a discourse analysis on these two historical texts, the Yale Report of 1828 and Future of Our Culture, before considering best practices and pedagogical choices to be used to teach these documents in a HEA classroom. This research will be of particular interest to course instructors of Higher Education Administration programs.
Description
2025
License
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International