The Nature of the Gift: Accountability and the Professor‐Student Relationship

Abstract

In this paper I introduce the theory of gift giving as a possible means to reconcile the contradictions inherent in accountability measures of 'faculty productivity' in the American university. In this paper I sketch the theory of gift economies to show how, given the historical ideals that characterize the faculty-student relationship, a theory of gift giving could help us better judge the labor of the faculty. I suggest that it is the relational character of teaching that frustrates accountability measures and that perhaps if viewed as a gift economy-and in particular an economy with 'reproductive' ends-we could better grasp the effectiveness of these relationships.As the demand for accountability in American higher education continues to grow, countless efforts are put forth by individual institutions and government policy boards to assess the performance of higher education, in particular the productivity of the faculty. Largely motivated by public demand for standards and accountability given tuition increases, state governments, accreditation agencies and universities develop strategies and programs to evaluate the labor of the faculty inside and outside the college classroom. In these efforts, however, the nature of the facultystudent relationship in the university and its perceived relevance for assessing undergraduate education is relatively free of scrutiny. 1 Accountability efforts in both the public and private university sectors signal a desire to understand, assess and improve this unique relationship yet appear conceptually suspect. Accountability models that seek to assess faculty productivity appear to apply formulae without any clear and explicit articulation of conceptual frameworks that guide their application. These models ascertain the literal value of faculty-student relationship as a metrics borne of unspecified conceptual claims. This paper will present a conceptual account of the professor-student relationship. Specifically, this paper will focus on gift giving or a 'gift economy' as a novel means

The ‘Gift Exchange’: a metaphor for understanding the relationship between educator commitment and student effort on placement

“…Louise's account supports other research findings that negate the necessity for reciprocation or a return gift in exchange for her commitment to students' learning (Titmus 1970, Martinez-Aleman 2007. Because she works in an area in which she feels she has more time to devote to her clinical education role she does not appear to regard her expertise as a commodity; this might change if she moved into a busier area.…”

“…For example, in nursing, Titmus (1970) found no evidence of a demand for reciprocation in the nurse/patient relationship; similarly the professor/student relationship has been found to negate the expectation of a return gift (Martinez-Aleman 2007). Perhaps the important factor is that gifts in these relationships are not commodities; the exchange is about the satisfaction that each giver experiences in the context of the social bonds that allow the gift to move from one to the other (Martinez-Aleman 2007, p588).…”

“…Perhaps the important factor is that gifts in these relationships are not commodities; the exchange is about the satisfaction that each giver experiences in the context of the social bonds that allow the gift to move from one to the other (Martinez-Aleman 2007, p588). Although generally, recompense or reciprocity is not talked about, if it occurs it is not usually immediate or fixed (Martinez-Aleman 2007). Rather there is an expectation that it will live on and that ideas and knowledge will be taken into other relationships and continue their circulation (Levi-Strauss 1949/1957.…”

“…The interdependence of giver and receiver underpins the contemporary understanding of mentorship, apprenticeship and the teacher-learner dyad (Martinez-Aleman 2007). Applied in the context of the student-practice-educator relationship, 'identity recognition work' (Gee 1999, p20) is evident.…”

The Silent Social Order of the Theory Classroom

“…Yet the curious companion of his depth of feeling is an insistence on the moral faults of the students: he finds passivity, intolerance of uncertainty, lack of textual focus, and a lack of predisposition towards the "metacritical mode." Bourdieu and Passeron write that "university exchange is a gift exchange in which each partner grants the other what he expects in return, the recognition of his own gift" (1979,58); although their formula is only an ideal at best, here it is as if the professor perceives his students as having rejected the gift of theory (Falcone n.d.;Martínez-Alemán 2007). It seems peculiar, as I said earlier, that he is hurt by his students' passivity, and surely there are psychological individualities that I need not explain.…”