liberal education and general education:
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Liberal Education and General Education: Educating 21 st Century Students for a World Shared in Common. General Education and University Curriculum Reform: An International Conference in Hong Kong June 12, 2012 Carol Geary Schneider. Overview. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Liberal Education and General Education:
Educating 21st Century Students for a World Shared in Common
General Education and University Curriculum Reform: An International Conference in Hong Kong
June 12, 2012
Carol Geary Schneider
Overview
Clarifying Our Terms: Liberal Education, General Education, Excellent University Education
General Education and the Aims of EducationConnecting Learning with Wider SocietyPrinciples of Excellence for General and
University EducationAligning Principles with Practices – Preparing
Students for a World Shared in Common
Clarifying Our Terms
Liberal EducationGeneral EducationExcellent University Education Across General
Education and Major Programs
General Education and the Aims of Education
Asking What All Students Need to Learn – Goals for General Learning – Raises Issues of Institutional Mission and Purpose – and Then Leads Directly to the Connections Between Learning and the Wider Society
Connecting Learning With the Wider Society
The Economy?Global Engagement and Community?Civil Society?Personal Integrity and Development?A World of Rapid and Fast-Paced Change?
What Will Students Need for Success in
The Curriculum in Transition:Rethinking educational purposes and practices to better prepare students for
• Innovation in the Economy
• Global Interdependence
• Healthy, Humane, and Just Societies
The Twenty-First Century University
First Year
Second Year
Third Year
Fourth Year
General Education
Major
The Curriculum in Transition: General
Education as Foundational –
20th Century
The Curriculum in Transition: General
Education and Connections With the
Major – 21st Century
First Year
Second Year
Third Year
Fourth Year
General Educatio
n
Major
Connecting Learning With the Wider Society (cont.)
Economic Challenges
Civic and Global Challenges
University Learning for the 21st Century Economy
Employers are demanding more – much more
They want and seek many more university-educated workers
They also seek much higher and broader levels of learning in those they employ, retain, and promote
Economic Pressures: Volatility and Complexity
Rapid scientific and technological innovations are changing the workplace and demanding more of all employees
Global interdependence and complex cross-cultural interactions increasingly define modern society and the workplace and call for new levels of knowledge and capacity
Employers Are Raising the Bar
91% of employers say that they are “asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past”
88% of employers say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.”
88% of employers agree that “to succeed in their companies, employees needs higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past.”
Source: “Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010)
The Growing Demand for Higher Order SkillsSource: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index
Economic Pressures: Innovation and Measured
Risk-Taking
In a globalized knowledge economy, the capacity to drive INNOVATION is the key strategic advantage
To Drive Innovation, Employers Seek Employees Who Can “Think Outside
the Box”
Employers Want to Find That “360° Perspective”
Hart Research Associates
Employers Do Not Want People Who Can Only See Things From One Point of
View
“You cannot retreat to a cave and work in isolation until you like the solution.” – Frank Levinson, Managing Director, Small World Group, Singapore
“[T]he reason that Apple is able to create products like the iPad is that we’ve always tried
to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, to be able to get the best of both…And it’s the combination of these two things
that I think has let us make the kind of creative products like the iPad.”
Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Apple Inc.
Thinking Across Disciplines
Connecting Learning With the Wider Society (cont.)
Economic Challenges
Civic and Global Challenges
AS IN THE ECONOMY, THE GLOBAL
CHALLENGES WE FACE ARE DAUNTING
Global Challenges
Poverty, War, Suffering…Sustenance and Human Dignity
Illiteracy and Its Effects…Education and Opportunity
Energy and the Environment…Sustainability, Research, and Innovation
Terrorism and Fear…
Law, Justice, Self-Determination
We Must Graduate Students Who Are Prepared and
Inspired to Take Responsibility for Solving
Global Problems – At Home and Abroad
A Crucible Moment (AAC&U, 2012)
Recommends Civic Learning as a Priority Both in General Education and in
Major Programs
www.aacu.org/civic_learning/crucible/documents/crucible_508F.pdf
From a Decade of Analysis, the Key Elements for a 21st Century
Curriculum Are Now in Hand
Essential Aims and Outcomes Practices That Foster Achievement and
Completion Practices That Move Global and Social
Responsibility Back to the Center Assessments That Raise—as well as Reveal—
the Level of Students’ Learning
The Essential Learning Outcomes
Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World
Intellectual and Practical SkillsPersonal and Social ResponsibilityIntegrative, Adaptive, and Applied
Learning
(See handout)
Both Faculty and Employers Value the Essential Learning Outcomes; Employers Seek “More Emphasis” on These
Capacities
Helping Students Achieve Essential Learning Outcomes
Four Principles of Excellence for
General Education AND Majors
Engage the Big QuestionsTeach the Arts of Inquiry and InnovationConnect Knowledge with Choices and ActionFoster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning
For Broad Knowledge – and that “Big Picture”
Perspective
1. Engage the Big Questions
Teach Through the Curriculum to Far-Reaching Issues – Contemporary and Enduring – in Science and Society, Cultures and Values, Global Interdependence, the Changing Economy, and Human Dignity and Freedom
Introduce “Big Questions” in First Year General Education Programs
e.g. What is a Good Society? Historical, Cross-Cultural, and
Personal ReflectionsExpect Advanced Students to Explore Their
Own “Big Questions” BOTH in AdvancedGeneral Education Courses AND in Their Majors
Practices That Work to Engage Students with
Broad Knowledge and Big Questions/Big Picture
Common Intellectual ExperiencesWriting and ResearchCollaborative Assignments and ProjectsCluster Courses – Several Courses That Explore
Common Topics Such as Technology and Social Conflict
To Develop Intellectual and Practical Skills
2. Teach the Arts of Inquiry and InnovationImmerse All Students in Analysis, Discovery, Problem Solving, and Communication, Beginning in School and Advancing in the University
Break Students of the Idea That They Have Come to the University Mainly to Learn “What is Already Known”
Emphasize the Societal and Economic Value of Research into Emerging Questions –– Preparation for jobs that are rapidly changing– Solutions to problems we are only starting to
understand– Responsibility for a world—local and global—
that we share in common
Practices That Work to Help Students Master the “Arts of Inquiry” and Skills Related to Innovative Problem Solving
Research questions and assignments early and oftenIn early AND advanced General Education
In Major Programs
Connecting “Big Questions” with Majors
Field-Based Research and Problem-Solving – With Employers and/or Community Partners
Culminating or Capstone Projects
To Foster Integrative and Adaptive Learning
3. Connect Knowledge with Choices and Actions Prepare Students for Citizenship and Work through Engaged and Guided Learning on “Real-World” Problems
Both the economy and society need graduates who are ready to apply their learning to new settings and problems—AND, who are competent in learning FROM experience
So, the goal is to connect both inquiry and knowledge with action—but, also, to give students rich opportunities to reflect on their “real-world” learning and to revise their assumptions in light of experience
Practices That Work to Help Students Integrate Knowledge with Action
Internships and PracticumsService Learning/Civic Problem-SolvingResearch with Community PartnersCulminating or Capstone Projects That Blend
Research and Real-World Problems
To Help Students Take Responsibility for a
World Shared in Common
4. Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical LearningEmphasize Personal and Social Responsibility, in Every Field of Study
Too often, faculty introduce ethical, intercultural (diversity) and ethical questions in general education, but spend little or no time on them in major programs
A 21st century education should prepare students to tackle difficult cultural, ethical, and societal issues, both through general studies and through major programs
Practices That Work to Help Students Develop
Intercultural Competence, Social Responsibility, and
Ethical Judgment
Diversity studies and experiences, especially when “intergroup dialogue” is included
Note: Frequency Matters!
Global studies and experiencesGuided ethical reflection—case studies; students’
own experiences
General Education – Beginning, Middle, and Culminating Work
High Impact Reports
To Learn More About Practices That Work, See
High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to
Them, and Why They Matter by George Kuh (AAC&U, 2008)
https://secure.aacu.org/source/Orders/index.cfm
Connecting Learning to the Wider Society
Once We Ask What General Learning Students Need for Success, the Answers Lead Back to the Purposes and Design of the Entire Educational Experience in Helping Student Achieve “Essential Learning Outcomes”
Thus, General Education Raises Issues that Matter to The Entire Educational Experience
General StudiesMajorsCampus CommunityCampus AND Community
And the Importance of the Connections Between Them.
Working Together, We Can and Must Educate Students Who
Will Work Together to Build and Sustain a Better Future