An Excellent Education
An Excellent Education
In today’s economy and job marketplace, it has been argued that a vocational or professional focus in education is more beneficial than an education which has study of the liberal arts at it’s core. At the basis of this notion, lies the mindset that the lone goal of a college education is to provide one with a means for financial success. This oft-held belief posits that college is just a ticket to the corporate world, and a high paying job. If one believes this argument, then there is no point in “wasting” ones time and money with courses, such as liberal arts courses, that do nothing to further the chosen profession. I disagree. In my opinion, an excellent education is not based solely on preparing a student for one specific vocation, but should also help the student to become a better, more developed, disciplined and well rounded person through experiences, inquiry and knowledge in a variety of disciplines. In William Cronon’s article “Only Connect…” he states that “in speaking of liberal education…we use these words to describe an educational tradition that celebrates and nurtures human freedom…. Freedom and growth: here, surely, are values that lie at the very core of what we mean when we speak of a liberal education.”[1] I agree with Cronon that liberally educated people have greater freedom or flexibility of mind, which allows greater opportunity for growth. A person who has been exposed to diverse subjects and disciplines can’t help but have some understanding of how much there is to know about the world, and how relatively little he knows about it. Unlike many “professionals”, the liberally educated person surely knows that one can never be “fully educated” but that true education takes place throughout the duration of a lifetime. It is this continuous learning that Plato references in The Apology, when Socrates describes his search for a man wiser than he. After he questions the most prominent
In today’s economy and job marketplace, it has been argued that a vocational or professional focus in education is more beneficial than an education which has study of the liberal arts at it’s core. At the basis of this notion, lies the mindset that the lone goal of a college education is to provide one with a means for financial success. This oft-held belief posits that college is just a ticket to the corporate world, and a high paying job. If one believes this argument, then there is no point in “wasting” ones time and money with courses, such as liberal arts courses, that do nothing to further the chosen profession. I disagree. In my opinion, an excellent education is not based solely on preparing a student for one specific vocation, but should also help the student to become a better, more developed, disciplined and well rounded person through experiences, inquiry and knowledge in a variety of disciplines. In William Cronon’s article “Only Connect…” he states that “in speaking of liberal education…we use these words to describe an educational tradition that celebrates and nurtures human freedom…. Freedom and growth: here, surely, are values that lie at the very core of what we mean when we speak of a liberal education.”[1] I agree with Cronon that liberally educated people have greater freedom or flexibility of mind, which allows greater opportunity for growth. A person who has been exposed to diverse subjects and disciplines can’t help but have some understanding of how much there is to know about the world, and how relatively little he knows about it. Unlike many “professionals”, the liberally educated person surely knows that one can never be “fully educated” but that true education takes place throughout the duration of a lifetime. It is this continuous learning that Plato references in The Apology, when Socrates describes his search for a man wiser than he. After he questions the most prominent