About
"One of Forbes' Best Higher Education Books of 2020" Derek Bok is the 300th Anniversary University Research Professor at Harvard University. He served as the twenty-fifth president of Harvard from 1971 to 1991, and as interim president from 2006 to 2007. His many books include The Struggle to Reform Our Colleges, Higher Education in America, Our Underachieving Colleges, and The Shape of the River (all Princeton).
How our colleges and universities can respond to the changing hopes and needs of society
In recent decades, cognitive psychologists have cast new light on human development and given colleges new possibilities for helping students acquire skills and qualities that will enhance their lives and increase their contributions to society. In this landmark book, Derek Bok explores how colleges can reap the benefits of these discoveries and create a more robust undergraduate curriculum for the twenty-first century.
Prior to this century, most psychologists thought that creativity, empathy, resilience, conscientiousness, and most personality traits were largely fixed by early childhood. What researchers have now discovered is that virtually all of these qualities continue to change through early adulthood and often well beyond. Such findings suggest that educators may be able to do much more than was previously thought possible to teach students to develop these important characteristics and thereby enable them to flourish in later life.
How prepared are educators to cultivate these qualities of mind and behavior? What do they need to learn to capitalize on the possibilities? Will college faculties embrace these opportunities and make the necessary changes in their curricula and teaching methods? What can be done to hasten the process of innovation and application? In providing answers to these questions, Bok identifies the hurdles to institutional change, proposes sensible reforms, and demonstrates how our colleges can help students lead more successful, productive, and meaningful lives. "A useful though eminently debatable case for reform in the interest of teaching to today's needs." "In this highly readable and engaging book, he delineates how colleges can better prepare students to gain the skills and develop the habits of mind necessary to succeed in life, especially in a fast-moving, knowledge-based society. . . . Highly recommended for college faculty and administrators, and anyone interested in how college students can find meaning and purpose in life." "Higher Expectations provides a helpful guide for those who hope to fortify and reform this dwindling but essential collection of institutions. Bok's vision of the purposes of higher education is unlikely to become the official state religion, but it could serve as a beautiful hymnal in dissenting churches."---Jay P. Greene, Education Next "Building on his clear-eyed assessment of the state of teaching in higher education, Derek Bok has turned to society's expectations for the preparation of college students for all aspects of life in the world: can teachers convey life skills beyond class content? Higher Expectations provides a wide-ranging, pragmatic, and at times critical map for the enterprise that Bok has served for seventy years."-James L. Shulman, vice president of the American Council of Learned Societies "Higher Expectations is a remarkably fresh and candid look at what higher education can and cannot do to meet today's challenges. Derek Bok's temperate prose cannot conceal his passionate concern that our colleges and universities are falling critically short of equipping students with what they need in the twenty-first century, making his proposed curricular remedies all the more compelling. Remarkably fresh, deeply informed, and persuasively written, Higher Expectations embodies Derek Bok's work at its best."-Michael McPherson, President Emeritus, The Spencer Foundation "As higher education grapples with epochal disruption, Derek Bok-the n
How our colleges and universities can respond to the changing hopes and needs of society
In recent decades, cognitive psychologists have cast new light on human development and given colleges new possibilities for helping students acquire skills and qualities that will enhance their lives and increase their contributions to society. In this landmark book, Derek Bok explores how colleges can reap the benefits of these discoveries and create a more robust undergraduate curriculum for the twenty-first century.
Prior to this century, most psychologists thought that creativity, empathy, resilience, conscientiousness, and most personality traits were largely fixed by early childhood. What researchers have now discovered is that virtually all of these qualities continue to change through early adulthood and often well beyond. Such findings suggest that educators may be able to do much more than was previously thought possible to teach students to develop these important characteristics and thereby enable them to flourish in later life.
How prepared are educators to cultivate these qualities of mind and behavior? What do they need to learn to capitalize on the possibilities? Will college faculties embrace these opportunities and make the necessary changes in their curricula and teaching methods? What can be done to hasten the process of innovation and application? In providing answers to these questions, Bok identifies the hurdles to institutional change, proposes sensible reforms, and demonstrates how our colleges can help students lead more successful, productive, and meaningful lives. "A useful though eminently debatable case for reform in the interest of teaching to today's needs." "In this highly readable and engaging book, he delineates how colleges can better prepare students to gain the skills and develop the habits of mind necessary to succeed in life, especially in a fast-moving, knowledge-based society. . . . Highly recommended for college faculty and administrators, and anyone interested in how college students can find meaning and purpose in life." "Higher Expectations provides a helpful guide for those who hope to fortify and reform this dwindling but essential collection of institutions. Bok's vision of the purposes of higher education is unlikely to become the official state religion, but it could serve as a beautiful hymnal in dissenting churches."---Jay P. Greene, Education Next "Building on his clear-eyed assessment of the state of teaching in higher education, Derek Bok has turned to society's expectations for the preparation of college students for all aspects of life in the world: can teachers convey life skills beyond class content? Higher Expectations provides a wide-ranging, pragmatic, and at times critical map for the enterprise that Bok has served for seventy years."-James L. Shulman, vice president of the American Council of Learned Societies "Higher Expectations is a remarkably fresh and candid look at what higher education can and cannot do to meet today's challenges. Derek Bok's temperate prose cannot conceal his passionate concern that our colleges and universities are falling critically short of equipping students with what they need in the twenty-first century, making his proposed curricular remedies all the more compelling. Remarkably fresh, deeply informed, and persuasively written, Higher Expectations embodies Derek Bok's work at its best."-Michael McPherson, President Emeritus, The Spencer Foundation "As higher education grapples with epochal disruption, Derek Bok-the n