WHAT PRICE SUCCESS?

A university may have an idea, it may sometimes be a place for the teaching of universal knowledge, but it is also the arena in which young minds are probed, irritated, extended and weighed in the balance of life chances. Evaluation is painful and hard on the ego. Judgements translate all too readily into a string of numbers or letters indicating different levels of proficiency. If there is a single aspect of pedagogy that promotes anxiety and makes students petrified, it is exam-taking, especially and most acutely in the form of competitive examinations. The thought that there is only so much room at the top is chilling. Even success in academic studies can instil or widen an inherent sense of inadequacy. ‘Success’ is an elastic concept: after all, one may only be relatively successful. It is often afterwards, when memories of fright and anxiety have eased, that the mystery and surprise of place are strongly felt. The passage of years allows for many of the less agreeable aspects of the university's examination culture to diminish. Time permits the acquisition of skills and knowledge other than those emphasised by teachers, although a self-conscious liberal arts instructor will take credit for establishing the foundation upon which future success is built.