Education is not a door that suddenly unlocks when opportunity knocks. It is not a graceful passage from ignorance to enlightenment. Rather, education is more like a dazzling, convivial discotheque arrayed with kaleidoscopic flashes of possibility, scenes of inspiring creative expression, occasional disorientation and over-stimulation, and an unrelenting current of styles acclaimed as new and hot though navigated through moves that are authentic and innate. In an exceptional learning experience, students and teachers alike feel a sense of energy, excitement, exertion, and expansion every bit as engaging as freely twirling the night away on a crowded dance floor. The thrill of solving an impossible problem, understanding an exquisite work of art, discovering a kindred spirit, or finding public language for a deeply personal conviction—students thrive on such experiences.

Having invested in higher education, students crave the excitement of revelation. What they don’t find in the curriculum, classroom, or academic activities, they will pursue by playing games, blogging, watching YouTube, or sharing music. Today’s students want opportunities to be challenged, to use what they are learning, to create, and to experiment. Each student’s stake in learning is unique, but the collective task of education is inquiry, analysis, and engagement. Thus, an effective learning community must be inclusive, stimulating, and respectful; it must make space for debate, exchange, and open-ended questions. This interaction will push students to gain command of the course content while also learning about influence, agency, and civility. A student may not always be the greatest dancer on the floor, but she should never be a wallflower and her education should cultivate a willingness to strut her stuff in the wider world.

If education is a disco and the student is a dancer, the curriculum is music and a teacher is a d.j. The curriculum can never stand still: it must build one piece upon the next to keep students in the groove. It needs to be in tune with popular requests and industry standards, but it should also support sophisticated improvisation and cutting-edge moves. A curriculum needs a logical and progressive structure that can step novices toward virtuosity while increasing the competence and sensitivity of even the most skilled. In the field of communication, a curriculum proceeds from the infectious bubblegum pop of basic written and visual forms, to the more complex instrumentation of media theory or technical writing, and on to mixes and mash-ups involving new technologies, global influences, and myriad professional applications.

Today’s educational curricula are as dynamic as the applied contexts of our changing economy. Contemporary students need teachers who are flexible and adept across a range of disciplines, software platforms, and pedagogies. As d.j., a teacher now needs more than “two turntables and a microphone” if she is to meet her goal of keeping people dancing. A teacher must draw upon her repertoire of knowledge while continuously learning from the latest developments in her field, much as a d.j. selects from bins of LPs while also downloading new MP3s. A skilled teacher must closely observe the outcomes achieved in her courses and adjust any instructional approaches and assignments that have allowed students to drift. Thus, an excellent teacher is both tuned-in and self-reflective, both of her time and open to change.

The sparkling, faceted light of the disco ball holds incredible allure—it is the college that welcomes a diverse community, stimulates all who gather there, and reflects the brilliant activity beneath it, turning imperceptibly. The best colleges create spaces for students to acquire knowledge, experience, networks, trusted sources, perspective, abilities, community connections, and a sense of purpose so that they can ably become tomorrow’s inventors, caregivers, leaders, storytellers, and informed global citizens. It is my hope that they dance throughout the process.