Perry L. Glanzer – författare

American educators have consistently splintered our humanity into pieces throughout higher education’s history. Although key leaders of America’s colonial colleges shared a common functional understanding of humans as made in God’s image with a robust but vulnerable moral conscience, latter moral philosophers did not build upon that foundation. Instead, they turned to shards of our identity to help students find their moral bearings. They sought to create ladies and gentlemen, honorable students, and finally, good professionals. As a result, fragmentation ensued as university leaders pitted these identity fragments against each other inciting a war of attrition.As the war of identities raged, its effects spilled out beyond the bounds of the curriculum into the co-curricular dimension that struggled with moving beyond being en loco parentis. The major identity they cultivated was that of being a political citizen. Thus, the major identity and story of students’ lives became the American political story of democracy—what I call Meta-Democracy. In higher education guided by Meta-Democracy, students lose their autonomy to administrators who reduce the student identities they try to develop along with the range of virtues that comprise the good life. The Dismantling of Moral Education: How Higher Education Reduced the Human Identity explains why and how we arrived at diminishing ourselves.

American educators have consistently splintered our humanity into pieces throughout higher education’s history. Although key leaders of America’s colonial colleges shared a common functional understanding of humans as made in God’s image with a robust but vulnerable moral conscience, latter moral philosophers did not build upon that foundation. Instead, they turned to shards of our identity to help students find their moral bearings. They sought to create ladies and gentlemen, honorable students, and finally, good professionals. As a result, fragmentation ensued as university leaders pitted these identity fragments against each other inciting a war of attrition.As the war of identities raged, its effects spilled out beyond the bounds of the curriculum into the co-curricular dimension that struggled with moving beyond being en loco parentis. The major identity they cultivated was that of being a political citizen. Thus, the major identity and story of students’ lives became the American political story of democracy—what I call Meta-Democracy. In higher education guided by Meta-Democracy, students lose their autonomy to administrators who reduce the student identities they try to develop along with the range of virtues that comprise the good life. The Dismantling of Moral Education: How Higher Education Reduced the Human Identity explains why and how we arrived at diminishing ourselves.

American higher education—historically and inherently—is a morally formative endeavor. Yet, in order to respond to America’s moral pluralism, higher education has increasingly taken a reductionistic approach to moral formation. Consequently, it abandoned the effort to supply students with moral expertise. Current approaches help students learn how to be excellent professionals and citizens, but they fail to provide the necessary tools for living the good life—in college and beyond.Identity Excellence: A Theory of Moral Expertise for Higher Education addresses this problem by setting forth a multi-disciplinary theory of moral expertise for fostering moral excellence in an array of important identities. To this end, it teases apart the essential elements of what it means to be excellent in an identity before discussing the philosophical, sociological, psychological, and educational processes necessary for students to internalize traditions of identity excellence as part of their own moral identities. Overall, the emergent theory exposes the shortcomings in contemporary general education, professional ethics, and co-curricular education.Finally, this book sets forth a bold but compelling vision for a more hopeful future for American higher education. As outlined within, such education involves teaching students’ excellence in the Great Identities, as well as how to prioritize and integrate their pursuit of identity excellence.

American higher education—historically and inherently—is a morally formative endeavor. Yet, in order to respond to America’s moral pluralism, higher education has increasingly taken a reductionistic approach to moral formation. Consequently, it abandoned the effort to supply students with moral expertise. Current approaches help students learn how to be excellent professionals and citizens, but they fail to provide the necessary tools for living the good life—in college and beyond.Identity Excellence: A Theory of Moral Expertise for Higher Education addresses this problem by setting forth a multi-disciplinary theory of moral expertise for fostering moral excellence in an array of important identities. To this end, it teases apart the essential elements of what it means to be excellent in an identity before discussing the philosophical, sociological, psychological, and educational processes necessary for students to internalize traditions of identity excellence as part of their own moral identities. Overall, the emergent theory exposes the shortcomings in contemporary general education, professional ethics, and co-curricular education.Finally, this book sets forth a bold but compelling vision for a more hopeful future for American higher education. As outlined within, such education involves teaching students’ excellence in the Great Identities, as well as how to prioritize and integrate their pursuit of identity excellence.

This account of the CoMission--a group of 83 Christian organizations formed to instruct Russian public school teachers in how to teach Christian ethics--provides unique insights both into postcommunist Russia and Western evangelical movements. Interviews with over 100 people intimately involved in Russian education, politics, and evangelism make the narrative's analysis thorough, accessible, and personal. The author's comprehensive research and first-person experience result in an informative, instructive, and compelling book.

Young adults today face an identity crisis. They can fill their social media bios with half a dozen labels, but they lack a coherent sense of self. Christian college students often feel a disconnect between the faith they profess and their everyday lives. It's no coincidence that these emerging adults struggle with their mental health and self-worth.In this book, experienced educator Perry Glanzer combines original qualitative research and the Christian theological tradition to help readers rediscover their core identity: image bearers of God. Glanzer shows how embodying one's true self sheds light on one's purpose, vocation, and moral identity.This brief yet profound guide frees readers from the burden of self-definition and empowers them to discover God's purpose for their lives.

The writings in this collection on American educational thought represent the many stories, individuals, and ideas that have shaped American education during the past several centuries. This book should serve as a useful primary or supplementary text for any undergraduate or graduate course in the history of American education, American educational thought, social foundations of education, philosophy of education, or curriculum theory. The editors of this volume hope that readers of this book will come to understand, and perhaps develop a desire to participate in, the “great conversation” that is American educational thought.

The writings in this collection on American educational thought represent the many stories, individuals, and ideas that have shaped American education during the past several centuries. This book should serve as a useful primary or supplementary text for any undergraduate or graduate course in the history of American education, American educational thought, social foundations of education, philosophy of education, or curriculum theory. The editors of this volume hope that readers of this book will come to understand, and perhaps develop a desire to participate in, the “great conversation” that is American educational thought.

American Educational Thought: Essays from 1640-1940 contains primary source readings from the mid 1600s to 1940. The goal of the work is to provide teachers, contemporary scholars of education, and policymakers with the most significant arguments made on the subject of American education during this time period. In this second edition of the book, the editors have included numerous new works that open up new possibilities for discussion, represent more wide-ranging viewpoints, and provide even richer context for making sense of American educational thought.

American Educational Thought: Essays from 1640-1940 contains primary source readings from the mid 1600s to 1940. The goal of the work is to provide teachers, contemporary scholars of education, and policymakers with the most significant arguments made on the subject of American education during this time period. In this second edition of the book, the editors have included numerous new works that open up new possibilities for discussion, represent more wide-ranging viewpoints, and provide even richer context for making sense of American educational thought.

Demonstrates how students and educators can resist narrow, utilitarian views of higher education's purpose.While the search for meaning and purpose appears to be a constant throughout human history, there are characteristics about our current time period that make this search different from any other previous time, particularly for college students. In this book, Perry L. Glanzer, Jonathan P. Hill, and Byron R. Johnson explore college students' search for meaning and purpose and the role that higher education plays. To shed empirical light on this complex issue, the authors draw on in-depth interviews with four hundred college students from different types of institutions across the United States. They also analyze three sets of national survey data: the National Study of Youth and Religion, College Students Beliefs and Values, and their own Gallup-conducted survey of 2,500 college students. Their research identifies important social, educational, and cultural influences that shape students' quests and the answers they find. Arguing against a utilitarian view of education, Glanzer, Hill, and Johnson conclude that colleges and universities can and should cultivate and aid students in their journeys, and they offer suggestions for doing so.