The Relative Wisdom of Tough Love Pedagogy

Consider the following hypothetical:

Imagine a student in our class who has followed the Ivy League track his whole life. He probably chose Moglen’s class because his first semester of law school scared the crap out of him and he heard rumors that there was no final. The class catches him off guard and turns his world upside down; he’s reading stuff he’s never read before and thinking in ways he’s rarely thought before. In the back of his mind, doubts begin to form: What if the goal that has propelled him forward for the past decade will ultimately not be all that fulfilling? What, then, is the meaning of his life? Why has he been pushing himself so hard to achieve a goal that is rapidly appearing less and less appealing? This guy feels totally conned – by life, by his parents, by society. He writes an essay about it to see if the ice will hold. It is a big step. But instead of constructive criticism and reassurance that he’s on the right track, he is told that the insight that shattered his reality is old news around here. When accused of beating a dead horse by a professor he wants to see as a mentor, how does he react?

My sense is that the “tough love” approach leaves a lot of students out in the cold. Some of us – myself included – would probably benefit from more carrots and less of the stick. Thoughts?

-- AnjaHavedal? - 07 Apr 2009