While we may disagree that these are the images that guide us, the students' viewpoint is nevertheless instructive, if only to remind us of the difference between what they perceive and we intend. The purpose here is to explore what these metaphors reveal, and the implied messages students may draw from them. The Guru When colleges were more exclusive institutions, gurus predominated. Some flourish still, especially in graduate programs. Wrapped in mystery and majesty, loftily aloof, the guru labors to keep the sacred discipline unsullied from congress with the common.
Gurus maintain distance from students and other forms of earthly worry.
Their place is in the eyrie on the summit, where their wisdom is reserved for other gurus. When they teach, they are inclined to lecture behind a lectern, atop a dais, speaking the impenetrable language of their particular priesthood. It is the student's responsibility to climb the glass mountain to commune with gurus in their own rarified air. The students must not only find their own way up but also provide a motivating reason for doing so. Because of this, the guru attitude is most fitting towards graduate students who have already demonstrated commitment to the field, and deem it worth the struggle to learn more.