20110602 Disoriented education and nation

Disoriented education and nation

By Chen Yi-chien 陳宜倩

I recently invited two guest speakers from the Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters, a sex workers’ rights organization in Taipei, to address my “Gender and Law” classes. They shared their life experiences and gave their opinions on the existing prostitution laws, which were declared unconstitutional in Judicial Interpretation No. 666 in 2009.

According to the Social Order and Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), sex workers are punishable by law and liable to be fined or imprisoned, but these rules do not apply to their clients.

Auntie Li-Jun (麗君阿姨), a former sex worker, won the hearts of the students with her sincerity, frankness and humorous attitude toward her life and the world around her. Undergraduate students expressed positive opinions of her in feedback given on a questionnaire issued by the university’s administration to assess the success of this project, which brings professionals to campus to address students.

However, I was concerned by one question: “Do you think this talk will help you to increase your competitiveness in the job market?” I raised my concerns at a university administration meeting. There we were informed that the university affairs evaluation is approaching and we need to be prepared to answer questions regarding the goals of higher education and the core abilities we want our students to master.

The core abilities of general education include developing critical thinking, cultivating an understanding of and compassion for the local and international communities and so on. At the same time, we are told to prove how effectively our students are being channelled into the job market and how competitive they are after university.

The reality is that the existence of law schools in the future solely depends on how many graduates can pass the national exams to become judges, prosecutors and lawyers. Social conscience is not a motivation.

The case of the unlawfully murdered Chiang Kuo-ching (江國慶) shocked our community. The already distrusted judicial system and the Ministry of Defense are both to be further examined. “Murder by the state” will be in our daily conversation for a while. I would like to review the possible role of the higher education system in creating this tragedy and its potential role in preventing this kind of thing from happening again.

How many high-ranking military officers, judges, prosecutors and civil servants did it take to torture and kill this innocent man? How many well-trained and well-established professionals did it take to end one young life in the name of justice? When we are so busy turning universities into production lines for market-ready workers, what are the true “core abilities” we are trying to “teach” our students? When we are so busy preparing documents to prove we have done as much as possible to “teach” these “core abilities,” what are the “core values” we are teaching? I feel disoriented, don’t you?

Auntie Li-Jun demonstrated that having a job and singlehandedly raising a family is an admirable achievement. For one to perform well in any kind of job, doesn’t one need compassion, ethics, a concern for the community and the ability to think critically about our society? I hope that students can learn from the experiences of a sex worker about how sexuality, gender, class and law intersect, and that the understanding and compassion they show for one of the most disadvantaged people they have met eventually informs their own social responsibility to lessen society’s injustices.

However, my students and I are reminded constantly of how competitive we must be. I assume those high-ranking officials were not educated to become “murderers with badges.” Yet they became who they are today. At some crucial moment in Chiang’s case, they failed to demonstrate the core values of responsible humans.

They were given honors for their speedy work at the time. They were under pressure to perform efficiently at all costs. I imagine there were people involved who saw that this was wrong and yet did not have the strength or strategy to resist them.

We are doing it again and again. This time, it is stated in the university affairs evaluation charts. This is not one isolated case. It is just one case resulting from our nation’s disorientation. I hope reflection on Chiang’s case will extend beyond the judicial system. Where are we heading as a nation, as universities? What are the core abilities or core values we hope to see in our citizens, our workers and our professionals? These are fair questions, and a good place to start.

Chen Yi-chien is an associate professor and director of the Graduate Institution for Gender Studies at Shih Hsin University.