Values in Conflict: The University, the Marketplace, and the Trials of Liberal Education

Alexander D. Gregor is director of the Centre for Higher Education
Research and Development at the University of Manitoba and coeditor of
Postsecondary Education in Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

Among the few constants in higher education is the perennial concern
about the health and well-being of liberal education. The perceived
enemies of liberal education change with the times, and for contemporary
defenders of the cause, the enemy has assumed the garb of the market and
of the enigmatic forces of economic globalization. Paul Axelrod, an
established York University social historian of education, is nicely
placed to assess the current state of that controversy—bringing a
personal and professional commitment to the historical principles of
liberal education, but ready and able to subject the issues to a
disciplined and informed examination.

The book begins with a useful review of the evolution of liberal
education as a concept, and of the attendant curriculum content and
teaching approaches. From this base, Axelrod moves to an examination of
the forces shaping the university today, particularly the effects of
market forces and vocationalism on both teaching and research. Although
not entirely persuaded that the university will be able to maintain its
current range of freedoms, Axelrod is cautiously optimistic that an
accommodation can be found between the goals of liberal education and
the legitimate and appropriate claims of vocational preparation.