Liberal education

I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 41 / Issue 3 Even a half-century ago, the question of life's meaning had a more central and respected place in higher education than it does today. But the questions of how to spend one's life, of what to care about and why, the question of which commitments, relations, projects, and pleasures are capable of giving a life purpose and value: regardless of the name it was given, and even if, as was often the case, it was given no name at all, this question was taken more seriously by more of our colleges 2 Anthony T. Kronman, Education's End (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), 2-3, 9, 10-11, 35, and 39. Many of Kronman's criticisms were laid out more extensively in Eva T. H. Brann, Paradoxes of Education in a Republic (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 23-30. 3 Kronman, Education's End, 40. 4 Ibid., 41.

Since the end of the 20th century a combination of breadth and depth seems to be one of the hallmarks of every program that is based on the liberal education concept. Depth is achieved by some degree of specialization, usually in the form of a disciplinary or multidisciplinary major; breadth usually includes a selection of general education courses and some evidence of civic engagement. However, curriculum designers are increasingly concluding that some sort of integrative learning is necessary in order to achieve coherence. When students are left on their own to see connections, general education curricula often become a series of unrelated courses. It is an illusion to think that coherence grows in the minds of students without an incentive to integrate knowledge and skills. Related to this model there are some questions I want to discuss in this presentation.

General education has been a common approach for providing a liberal education since the standard model was first established in 1945. However, the structure of an appropriate, effective general education curriculum is still widely debated, including the question of whether a general education is desirable or even possible. One significant issue in these debates is that the world has changed radically since the original general education theories were established and various reform movements have not significantly changed this original framework. This essay discusses the purpose and desirability of a general education curriculum, the goals of general education, and various approaches to it. It considers the widely shared goal of critical Fox, C. R. (2016). A Liberal Education for the 21st Century: Some Reflections on General Education. Currents in Teaching & Learning, 8(2), 5-17.

This presentation gives a reflection of one method of teaching the liberal arts in that began in American universities.  The Cowan method of teaching the liberal arts started by two American professors, Donald and Louise Cowan, and has influenced the curricula and pedagogical styles of many liberal arts colleges across the United States.  The method has several key aspects, including the idea of a universal liberal education, poetry as the basis of liberal education, liberal learning through the aid of a particular discipline, the role of the teacher, the impact of liberal learning on society and communities and the goal of liberal learning as a means of formation of the human person.  I will explain each one of these aspects as well as give some historical context for the development of this method.  Drawing from Donald Cowan’s book Unbinding Prometheus, several essays by Louise Cowan, and interviews with the Cowan’s former students, as well as my own experience having been educated in this method, I offer a general overview of the method and assess its possibilities in European universities.

This article describes liberal education as it
comes to light not historically but philosophically, taking
the word liber (free) as its chief distinguishing feature. It
considers what liberal education presupposes of those who
pursue it, and it enumerates several outcomes or “ends” that
are likely to ensue. Through liberal education, I argue, the
mind is liberated from the here and now, freed by exposure
to diverse kinds of character, released from the tyranny of the
practical mode of thought, and, at the same time, freed by
certain careful habits of reflection that take years to acquire.

Purpose of this presentation is characteristic of relation between the tutor and the tutee according to The Idea of a University written by St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890). His thought about university ideas and whole public activity reveals authority Newman's concept. Influence of that way of thinking is still recognized in contemporary education, both youthful and academical. An educational and pedagogical accompaniment are inseparable elements of seeking, recognizing and accept (or reject) the value system of previously known authorities. These days the role of peer group or social media is more important than authority of family and teachers. Because of that, the idea of authority formed by J. H. Newman is still the actual concept. It based on transfer of knowledge connected with authentic moral attitudes of tutor. He ought to be really involved in the creative development of personal potential of tutee. According Newman's concept, tutor's authority should be motivating for tutee who is going to be not only a passive participant of contemporary culture but also co-creator of the surrounding world.

En dépit de quelques initiatives récentes, la philosophie de l'éducation d 'Alfred North Whitehead (1861 n'a probablement pas encore trouvé l'audience européenne à laquelle elle peut légitimement prétendre 1 . Wittgenstein représenterait l'autre cas d'un philosophe dont la réflexion sur l'éducation, quoique plus latérale, a pu intéresser la recherche pédagogique ouverte aux apports philosophiques. Si Whitehead pour sa part, a toujours enseigné à l'université, ses intérêts dans le champ éducatif se sont cristallisés en une philosophie qui, sans atteindre le degré de systématisation qu'elle connut avec John Dewey , fut néanmoins plus qu'esquissée, principalement à l'occasion de communications orales nourries par les nombreuses responsabilités qu'il endossa en dehors de l'enseignement, comme président de l'Association des professeurs de mathématiques britanniques ou membre de la commission ministérielle chargée de réfléchir à la place des humanités classiques dans le curriculum moderne. À coup sûr animé d'un profond souci pour ce qui se joue dans l'éducation scolaire, Whitehead prit soin de publier ce recueil d'essai la même année qui vit la parution de son grand oeuvre, Process and Reality. Au sortir d'une épuisante collaboration avec son élève Bertrand Russell, dont ne résulta rien de moins que le monument de la logique symbolique moderne, les Principia Mathematica (1910)(1911)(1912)(1913), l'ambitieuse réforme des principes fondamentaux de la relativité einsteinienne, entreprise peu après, aurait pu suffire à absorber son énergie intellectuelle 2 . Le chapitre VIII du présent ouvrage, « L'organisation de la pensée », est toujours considéré comme un des meilleurs résumés des Principia qu'il soit, et au chapitre X, « Espace, temps, relativité », en partant du problème de la mesure, Whitehead propose une théorie relationniste de l'espace et du temps qu'il lui faudra associer à la méthode d'abstraction extensive, dont les grandes lignes sont exposées au chapitre IX, « Anatomie de quelques idées scientifiques », pour qu'elle devienne la chronogéométrie relativiste dissidente des années 1919-1922 3 . 1 Néanmoins, voir les actes du colloque de Lille édités par Jean-Marie Breuvart, Les rythmes éducatifs dans la philosophie de Whitehead (Frankfurt/Paris/Lancaster, Ontos Verlag, 2004), ainsi que Franz G. Riffert (éd.), Alfred North Whitehead on Learning and Education : Theory and Application (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2005). 2 Les principes de la connaissance naturelle (1919), traduction de Henri Vaillant relue par Sylviane Schwer (les éditions Chromatika , 2007). 3 A. N. Whitehead rejetait le primat des signaux lumineux inhérent à la théorie de la relativité restreinte et parvint néanmoins, en intégrant l'idée d'une multiplicité de systèmes temporels (à la différence de Bergson), à retrouver les formules de Lorentz d'une manière en partie conforme à ce que préconise l'épistémologie contemporaine (voir notre étude : « Remarques sur la dérivation des transformations de Lorentz par A. N. Whitehead », parue dans Chromatikon IV, annuaire de la philosophie en procès. Yearbook of Philosophy in Process, M. Weber et P. Basile éd., Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2008, pp. 9-20).

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issued CMO No. 20, s. 2013 prescribing the new general education curriculum (GEC) for higher education institutions. Hence, this study aimed to prepare the Sorsogon State College (SSC) new GEC framework. The mixed-methods of research which involve the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods in a single study were used. Data gathering was conducted through survey and document analysis purposively selected and the results were examined through content analysis. The paper concluded that there is no uniform GEC for the undergraduate courses offered by SSC. The total number of units of the curriculum ranges from 44 to 85 units that require two to five years to be completed. Likewise, the codes, titles, descriptions, and placement of subjects in the curriculum vary for all of the courses. With the expanded secondary education students will have to complete 136 units in senior high school and a minimum of 36 units in first year college for...

Globalization is a deeply ambivalent phenomenon, involving both widened horizons of understanding and the commodification of natural and human resources. The Catholic university's engagement with our new global situation needs to keep this ambivalence very much in mind. We should remember and renew our sense of ourselves as standing within an institution, the Catholic Church, that is one of the few truly multicultural global institutions on the planet, with a long history of both success and failure in global exchange. In this way, we may have resources to " think globally " in alternative ways that opt out of or resist the commodification of global interest. This essay will use Matteo Ricci as a model and attempt to distinguish analogically between those modes of global engagement that emerge from and then renew the deep roots of our own identity and those modes that deracinate. Our task for the last gathering of this " class " of the Boston College Roundtable is to reflect on, variously, " the role of the academy in the world " or " the global impact of Catholic higher education. " I want to take advantage of my ignorance here—I find it difficult to think in a programmatic way about our role in the midst of these complex, interlocking, and often conflicting forms of commerce and exchange that we group under the heading " globalization. " I'd like to use my own inadequacy to the task as an opportunity to do what I can—to name some of the threats and opportunities that we encounter as we are drawn, ever-more-inexorably, into these various networks of global Kevin L. Hughes is an associate professor of theology and religious studies and chair of both the Humanities department and Classical Studies program at Villanova University. His research specialties are in ancient and medieval Christian theology, spirituality, and history. Among his books are Augustine and Liberal Education; Constructing Antichrist; and Church History: Faith Handed On. His articles have appeared in journals such as Modern Theology; The Heythrop Journal; Theological Studies; and Franciscan Studies.

n ce qu'il a eu de séminal pour la modernité éducative, le discours pédagogique qui apparaît au XVI e siècle répondait d'abord à une impérieuse nécessité, celle de former un homme nouveau capable de récapituler la somme des savoirs antiques, ce afin de redonder la tradition lettrée. Dans une mesure qui, aujourd'hui, réclame encore une approche historiographique nuancée, l'imprimerie, « l'art divin », que l'on aimait volontiers opposer à la découverte, celle-là diabolique, de la poudre à canon, a contribué puissamment à la recollection des lettres et sciences anciennes. Bientôt, on reconnaîtra aux langues vernaculaires une dignité au moins égale à celle des langues antiques, changement d'attitude nécessaire pour concevoir leur codification grammaticale.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issued CMO No. 20, s. 2013 prescribing the new general education curriculum (GEC) for higher education institutions. Hence, this study aimed to prepare the Sorsogon State College (SSC) new GEC framework. The mixed-methods of research which involve the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods in a single study were used. Data gathering was conducted through survey and document analysis purposively selected and the results were examined through content analysis. The paper concluded that there is no uniform GEC for the undergraduate courses offered by SSC. The total number of units of the curriculum ranges from 44 to 85 units that require two to five years to be completed. Likewise, the codes, titles, descriptions, and placement of subjects in the curriculum vary for all of the courses. With the expanded secondary education students will have to complete 136 units in senior high school and a minimum of 36 units in first year college for a total of at least 172 units before they can pursue a certain profession. Hence, the proposed one academic year 45-unit general education curriculum framework that is anchored on the development of personal, intellectual and civic outcomes for the formation of a just and humane society was developed for SSC.

N.B.: This is a draft of a paper to be presented at a workshop, and published in a collection of essays, on "Liberty and Liberal Education," hosted by the Institute for Human Studies. Given the wide-ranging character of the paper, I would very much appreciate thoughtful and nuanced criticism.

What can a liberal education and especially philosophy accomplish, either theoretically or practically? The question, or insinuation, is familiar to anyone in the liberal arts today. Precisely because it is familiar, we may too casually dismiss it. In his four essays on happiness—“The Epicurean,” “The Stoic,” “The Platonist,” and “The Sceptic”—Hume takes this charge most seriously, and in its most serious form: Can philosophy provide a theory of happiness that does justice to the diversity of human lives? And, if so, can knowing it make one happy, or happier? “The Sceptic” and of the four essays as whole are generally taken to answer with a resounding “no.” I propose, however, that we reconceive “The Sceptic” as a trial of philosophy’s presumption to provide a theoretically true and practically useful account of happiness. The Skeptic’s arguments against these presumptions lead him to conclude no. Yet, within “The Skeptic,” Hume identifies the error that produces this conclusion, and thereby Hume’s corrective to the argument. On Hume’s conception of philosophy, philosophy—and the essay itself—provides a theory of human life and happiness devoid of the usual errors and capable of producing practical benefit.

This study explores the general education movement of 1930-1960-a movement devoted to revising the content, and methods, of reforming the first two years of postsecondary study for undergraduates. It begins by noting that much of the extant literature focuses on the curricular statements produced by Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Chicago as well as their assumed influence upon other institutions of higher learning-including historically black colleges and universities, women's colleges, religiously affiliated colleges, land grants, and community colleges-during this time period. This study complicates this reading of the movement by arguing that the curricular statements of Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Chicago were unable to achieve curricular reform on their respective campuses and were deemed to be unacceptable by institutions across the nation. The study asks, then, if the curricular theories of these prestigious universities were unable to create and/or sustain a fixed body of curricular content on their own campuses, is it likely that they influenced the curriculums of other institutions across the country? And more important, if the curricular structures in place at these institutions were constantly evolving-driven by faculty and student concerns, local context, the politics of curricular compromise, and not representing a linear, top-down method of reform-what method of reform did these universities and other institutions of higher learning look to, for achieving tangible and sustainable mechanisms of reform? This study then offers a new way of seeing curricular reform in the general education movement by relying on the lenses provided by an exploration of three cooperative studies of general education-or studies funded by philanthropic groups in which a number of institutions and their representatives cooperate with each other and educational researchers to spur reform of iii their own curricular measures. The three cooperative studies of general education focused on are the Eight-Year Study (1930)(1931)(1932)(1933)(1934)(1935)(1936)(1937)(1938)(1939)(1940)(1941)(1942); the Cooperative Study in General Education (1938)(1939)(1940)(1941)(1942)(1943)(1944)(1945)(1946)(1947), and the California Study of General Education in the Junior College (1948)(1949)(1950)(1951)(1952).

Respectable scientific opinion holds that the human species is on the verge of untimely extinction. According to Noam Chomsky, the so-called “least advanced” people are the ones taking the lead in trying to protect all of us from extinction. Informed by their ancient knowledge systems, indigenous populations across the world are resisting the plunder of the planet. However, indigenous knowledge systems are in radical conflict not only with global capitalism but with modern education itself, thus raising the issue of radical choice. The issue goes much beyond the classical domain of the pedagogy of the oppressed.

Th e article is devoted to the problem of the place ascribed to liberal education (and most of all to humanities as constituting its essential part) in contemporary political thought. In times when many rightist as well as left ist thinkers diagnose a crisis of liberal democracy and its educational system, displaying much anxiety about the still-lowering level of citizens' willingness to participate in a public sphere, some of them propose their diagnosis of such situation and postulates of reform aimed at raising the level of citizens' engagement in democratic life. One of the means to achieving that goal is implementation of the idea of liberal education, which might work in favor of students' character development, their acquisition of a holistic view of reality, and their consciousness of the fact of overlapping character of relations binding individual and communal wellbeing. Th e article aims at presenting theoretical ways of defending humanities in face of contemporary restatement of the role of liberal education in Western societies. Th e course of argument is following: fi rstly the transition made in XX th century from "liberal education" to "education to liberalism" (resulting in specialization and vocational character of science) will be traced. Th en the opinions of critics to such model of education will be shown, focusing on the representatives of three political doctrines: republicanism, communitarianism and liberalism. In case of each of these group of thinkers their characteristic attitude towards humanities, will be displayed.

Linee di ricerca scientifica, ricerca-azione e sperimentazione sulla didattica delle lingue classiche e, in particolare, della lingua latina nelle pubblicazioni accademiche e/o professionali 1 : Settore A: volumi Settore B: curatele Settore C: articolo in miscellanea, atti ecc… Settore D: articolo in rivista 1) Glottodidattica: l'insegnamento del latino alla luce della Second Language Acquisition, una disciplina di rango accademico nata negli anni Ottanta dalla Linguistica applicata; particolare attenzione alla comprensione del testo latino e alla conoscenza metalinguistica della lingua Latina alla luce delle teorie dell'apprendimento linguistico di Stephen D. Krashen: A2/B2/C1/C2/C3/C4/C9/D2/D3/D6/D7/D8/D15. 2) Riflessione teorica sulle metodologie tradizionali e approcci innovativi della didattica del latino: in particolare sul metodo induttivo-contestuale o metodo Orberg, analizzato in un quadro teorico della Glottodidattica (esso è indiscutibilmente il più diffuso dopo il metodo grammaticale -traduttivo nei licei italiani), e sullo sviluppo delle potenzialità didattiche del metodo neocomparativo: D5/D9/D10/D11/D12/D13/D16/D21/D23/D24/D25. 3) L'insegnamento del latino ad alunni dislessici, con Disturbi Specifici dell'Apprendimento (DSA): B3/C5/C6/C8/D18/D19/D20/D26/D30. 4) Storia e storicizzazione dell'insegnamento glottodidattico del latino e del greco antico dall'antichità ad oggi: A1/D4/D17/D22/D28. 5) L'insegnamento del latino nella scuola secondaria di primo grado (=scuola media) B2/ C7/D14/D29.

This article examines the tenets of today’s two contemporary traditions
in Islam, neo-traditional Salafism and liberal or progressive Islam and
analyzes how they cultivate a typology of Islamic religious education.
The typology under study clarifies the meaning of tarbiyya and ta`dib
in Islamic educational philosophy and demonstrates the place of these
goals within a continuum of critical versus noncritical talim (teaching)
in Islamic religious education. The purpose of this typology is to provide
both scholars and practitioners a theoretical framework for thought and
reflection about their pedagogic methods and scholarly work.

While there has been a long-standing narrative of crisis on the institution of the university in India and the West, we can identify some conspicuous differences in the way the crisis is formulated and addressed in the two different contexts. An articulation of the crisis in the Western university is accompanied by reflections on the institution of the university and the specific conception of education it embodies. The term liberal (arts) education is often used to capture this specific ideal of education, functioning to differentiate the key institution of modern higher learning, the university, from technical, specialist, professional institutions on the one hand and confessional, religious institutions on the other. An extensive body of writing on the idea of the university and liberal education, a flourishing genre of philosophical writing that emphasizes the centrality of humanities and the importance of cultural inheritance to the formation of the student, has developed over two centuries in the

In this article I argue for the pedagogical complementarity of the perennial wisdom of St. Thomas and Mortimer Adler’s dialectical method of the Great Books, where the Great Books highlight the ministerial function of the imagination to the will and intellect in the order of learning. Characterized by communal inquiry, the thought of St. Thomas and the Great Books are shown to be well matched instruments of the special Providence by which we direct one another to our proper end.  A review of key Thomistic dispositions of teaching and learning, the nature of authentic conversation, and various objections and replies to the Great Books method of education and its alliance with the thought of St. Thomas focus the analysis. Several points of contact enrich the task of liberal learning. The Great Books are seen to supply students of St. Thomas with the spontaneous play of associations, rapprochements and comparisons as they strive to apply texts to the practices of virtue and truth seeking, while the perennial wisdom directs the students’ personal exegesis through the rigor of philosophical principles, logic, and distinctions.

This papers aims to contribute to the ongoing debate over the identity of the university, particularly in Europe. The first part reviews relevant bibliography about the tradition of liberal education in the United States in the past 20th century. The second part reviews some bibliography about the Christian identity of universities in the Catholic tradition. I try to show that the model of liberal education and that of the universities of Christian inspiration share most of the ends they seek to promote.

Background: European and national policies on citizenship education stimulate the implementation of a participative approach to citizenship education, fostering active citizenship. The reason given for fostering active citizenship is the decline of participation in political and social life jeopardizing democracy. Schools have to implement a participative approach through stimulating participation within school and its direct environment, while fostering a certain kind of political literacy, critical thinking and analysing skills, certain kind of values, attitudes and behaviours. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to problematise the participative approach of citizenship education advocated by policy makers and several researchers. In order to do so, four different categories that citizenship education has to cover will be theoretically and empirically analysed: political knowledge, critical thinking, values, attitudes and behaviours, and active participation. The practical implications for educational practice will be discussed.
Source of evidence: Two types of documents have been analysed: The 2005 and 2012 Eurydice reports and the 2009 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) research reports. These documents are exemplary of the mainstream idea of citizenship and citizenship education held by policy makers and many researchers on citizenship education. The Eurydice reports have analysed citizenship education in more than 30 countries while promoting a certain concept of citizenship education, namely active citizenship. The ICCS has researched pupils’ competencies on citizenship education and school practices in 38 countries. It is an interesting source because it had to define and operationalise the different constituents of citizenship education.
Main argument: In jurisdictions where citizenship education is compulsory, schools have to implement this participative approach and account for it. We suggest that this educational approach to citizenship education may be problematic because each aspect – political literacy, critical thinking and analysing skills, values, attitudes and behaviours, and active participation – presents challenging demands on the curricu- lum, head teachers and teachers. We argue three kinds of constraints that make the implementation of such a participative approach unrealistic: (1) insufficient specialist knowledge on the part of teachers and head teachers, (2) time and budget constraints and (3) an overcrowded curriculum. We demonstrate that the broad range of themes that political literacy has to cover demand specific knowledge on the part of teachers regarding each of the themes. Then we argue that critical thinking skills are hard to learn and demand continuous practice. Implementing and sustaining active participation structure within school and in the direct environment, again, require specific skills and curricular organisation. The demands made by values, attitudes and behaviours on teachers and pupils could not be explored because of the lack of conceptual clarity in the documentation under scrutiny.
Conclusion: The feasibility of a participative approach to citizenship education has been questioned through theoretical and empirical critical analysis. On this basis, we suggest that the scope of the citizenship education curriculum should be reconsidered or that teacher and head teacher should receive the necessary and adequate training, and support to implement such a participatory structure.

This document is a critical paper on the case of traditional liberal education of John R. Searle published in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 13, pp. 91-98. This paper is a result of author’s critical pedagogy with the bases of philosophical inquiries and analyses. This critical review aimed to summarize the said article and critique the analysis of Searle’s view of traditional liberal education as well as his conclusion and resolution. Furthermore, the paper sought to determine the extent of what a liberal education is.