The Students' Autonomy In The University: It's Idea And Practices

The study of the ideas and practices surrounding students' autonomy in the university emanates from the needs of social democracy. The main idea revolves around the establishment of an autonomous organization by students themselves for the purpose of self-government and self-education. There is a subjective element of free learning and the belief in democratic participation. The thesis includes the origin, the formation and the development of students' autonomy. The ample historical data and various interpretations of students' autonomy have been organized systematically.Free learning is the first principle of students' autonomy in the university, and the core of students' autonomy is democracy participation. This thesis strengthens the practical meanings of the belief in students' autonomy. In the process, it tries to analyze the models and the trends of students' autonomy. The thesis is divided into three parts as follows:1. Part one analyzes the definition, the changing and the practical meaning of students' autonomy. This idea first emerged in the medieval ages. Later on, it was forged in Wilhelm von Humboldt's principle in the 19th century, and it has developed further to ensure the sovereignty of the academic citizen in the latest twentieth century. Humboldt was first proposed his idea on free learning. He believed that students do their academic study individually; so they should preserve their right to independence; stand up to authority in their search for truth. German students asserted the theory of the egalitarian trinity, namely, the principal, the teachers and the students are equal and should have equal rights in the affairs of the university governance. Henceforth, the free learning and the democratic participation became the ideas of the students' autonomy. From the 20th century onwards, the idea of democratic participation has been growing fast in the world's universities. It has pushed the United Nations to recognize the status of students as...