Academic freedom, achievement standards and professional identity

Abstract

The tension between the freedom of academics to grade the achievements of their students without interference or coercion and the prerogative of higher education institutions to control grading standards is often deliberated by weighing up the authority and rights of the two parties. An alternative approach is to start with an analysis of the characteristics necessary for a system to exhibit integrity in grading academic achievement, and treat the establishment and maintenance of academic standards as a problem to be solved. This would allow the respective responsibilities of academics and institutions to be resolved within a concrete setting rather than in the abstract. Connecting the typical characteristics of a profession with Isaiah Berlin's two concepts of liberty leads to a productive partnership in which the respective interests of individual academics and the values of institutions can converge on a practical solution to the problem of academic freedom.