The ideas of academic freedom and centralized curriculum appear on the surface to be diametrically opposed. The notion of academic freedom has dominated the philosophy of college and university professors who are often willing to fight for it if for no other reason than because it has always been a part of the post-secondary faculty culture. Many professors would admit to feeling at least slightly threatened by the concept of centralized curriculum and the loss of control that they perceive comes with it. Conversely, many administrations of institutions of higher learning and particularly institutions of distance learning tend to prefer the centralized curriculum model for its ability to unify the educational experiences of students. A pleasant byproduct of the centralized curriculum is the additional control afforded to the administration by the model.

So, is it actually possible for centralized curriculum and academic freedom to live harmoniously at the same institution? The answer to that enigma actually lies in the foundational philosophic idea of academic freedom. The underlying philosophy of academic freedom is the ability of faculty to teach truth as they know it without fear of reprisal. Academic freedom allows faculty to engage in upper-level thinking skills (analysis, evaluation, creation) as they think creatively, share both pleasant and unpleasant real-world experiences that paint a picture of reality for students, and provide students with varying viewpoints from which to engage in critical thought as learners. The issue is that faculty members often struggle to balance these pursuits against structuring curriculum that meets the lower-level thinking skills (knowledge, comprehension, and application) required to assure that a broad and complete spectrum of foundational content is presented to learners. The end result is often in favor of the upper-level skills to the detriment of the foundational lower-level skills.

This is where a centralized curriculum becomes an asset rather than a liability for faculty. The centralized curriculum frees faculty from the mundane creation and management of the lower-level skills and content and allows them to concentrate on the upper-level skills that bring the content to life and engender the post-secondary experience. Thus, a centralized curriculum may actually afford faculty members greater academic freedom than in the more traditional decentralized model.

In short, academic freedom and centralized curriculum need not be opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum. By allowing the centralized curriculum to relieve some of the burden, faculty members can actually spend time in more significant intellectual pursuits and student engagement activities that ultimately allow them to experience a greater measure of academic freedom than in more traditional models.