How does a liberal arts education impact the workplace?
Liberal arts education exposes us to new ideas, attitudes, and ways of understanding our surrounding. It broadens our chance to explore new areas that we may have not had experience with before. According to the essay “How liberal arts offer the very ‘workplace skills’ critics demand ” by David Maxwell ,we should start appreciating liberal art education because it helps prepare college students for the workplace. Some ways liberal arts education impacts the workplace is by teaching scholars how to think critically, have great success at work, and to see things from a different point of view. Liberal arts education impacts the workplace by teaching students to think critically.Our brain is a muscle. Therefore, the brain needs to be drilled with different techniques. The variety trains the brain for critical thinking and analysis. Maxwell stated “but the core focus is on a set of intellectual abilities that include inquiry and analytical skills, critical and creative thinking, written and verbal communication, quantitative literacy, information literacy, problem solving, teamwork, and ethical reasoning”.This references that critical thinking helps us to understand the pros and cons of every outcome.Improving its use in the workplace
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Why?Because more often times than not higher education to a high school senior means a chance at success .Maxwell states “the recent Hart survey indicates that 60% of the respondents think that having both field-specific knowledge and the broad range of liberal education outcomes is important.” Most employers have agreed that having liberal educational background is most important for recent college graduates to achieve long-term
The article, “Critical Thinking? You Need Knowledge” by Diane Ravitch, discusses how in the past people have been deprived from the thinking process and abstract thinking skills. Students need to be given more retainable knowledge by their teachers to improve their critical thinking skills. (Ravitch).
Murray states that people are going to college for the wrong reasons and a liberal education should be taught prior to attending college in elementary and middle school (Murray, 2008). Murray’s opinion that everyone attending or not attending college should already have that “liberal” education is a valid point. One is needed in order to choose a specific field of study and to excel at something. A liberal education should be the foundation and attending college should be geared toward one specific and loved profession. Depending on how people are raised from birth can decipher not only what type of work will entice them, but if they will develop a liberal education throughout their lives and school. Some people would say that going to college should be required to further your education and to gear and prepare people for a job. People misinterpret college for providing that liberal education piece that so many people are looking for. My father always said to me that he wanted me to be successful in life and love what I do for work. He also said that I would never “work” a day in my life if I loved what I did whether I were to go to college or
If they are taught correctly, liberal arts classes have the potential to help “students cross social boundaries in their imaginations. Studying a common core of learning will help orient them to common tasks as citizens; it will challenge or bolster… their views and, in any case, help them understand why not everyone in the world (or in their classroom) agrees with them,” explains Gitlin in his article “The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut.” By exposing students to this in high school, they will be more prepared when this moment occurs in their careers. I, along with many students throughout the country, have been exposed to incorrectly-taught liberal arts classes. Students taking English, for instance, must read specific novels while assessing a theme that is already pointed out to them.
Liberal educations benefit students in the long run, long after students have paid their loans. People are able to be informed on national topic, while also being able to be self dependent. Two qualities that are essential in the modern society. I believe it is important to have such a basic understanding of education and knowledge, just like what Nussbaum agreed too in her essay. However, I also believe the curriculum should be centered around making students a better person. Institutions should try to produce good people with the right intentions instead of just focusing on testing intelligence, similar to what Cronon focused on in his essay. If we can incorporate both of these important features into our liberal education system, then and only then, will we be thriving as a society. Graduates will have a good understanding of knowledge from an array of different fields, as well as having important traits that will carry on for the rest of their
In modern times, the importance of liberal arts is questioned. The article “Myth: A Liberal Arts Education is Becoming Irrelevant” by Carol T. Christ makes the argument that a liberal arts education provides a broader range of knowledge which is useful because it produces a critically thinking student. Obtaining a career is the main focus of college education. Knowing this, Christ emphasizes how a liberal arts education is useful when looking for employment. She refutes the conception that a liberal arts education is irrelevant in today’s society by identifying the useful qualities it provides the employers look for such as, “Flexibility, creativity, critical thinking, strong communication skills (particulary writing)” (Christ,
In the article “The New Liberal Arts,” Sanford J. Ungar presents the argument of why liberal arts schools are still competitive and useful today. The beginning of the article immediately addresses the problem that Ungar is defending, “Hard economic times inevitably bring scrutiny of all accepted ideals and institutions, and this time around liberal-arts education has been especially hit hard.” The author provides credibility through his time of being a liberal arts presidents, applies statistics about the enrollment and job security outside of liberal college, he addresses the cost factor and how a student may find compensation, and that a liberal arts college is not preparing students for success. The article “The New Liberal Arts,” addresses
Now, let us define liberal arts or liberal education. According to Michael Lind, liberal arts should be understood in its original sense as “elite skills” (54). We all know that liberal arts include cour...
“Hence you see why “liberal studies” are so called; it is because they are studies worthy of a free- born gentlemen. But there is only one really liberal study – that which gives a man his liberty. It is the study of wisdom”, said Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Roman Stoic philosopher who lived during the time of Jesus Christ. Historically speaking, learning liberal arts we learn ourselves to be passionate, loyal, brave and what is more important, generous. The word “freedom” has been the fundamental component of any American Dream. Today we celebrate our nation’s independence and allowance to govern ourselves.
In Sanford Ungar’s essay, The New Liberal Arts, he dismisses the doubts of a liberal arts education with ease. He does this by listing out seven misconceptions of a liberal arts education, followed by his explanations of why these thoughts are exactly what he calls them: misconceptions. Misconception one claims that a liberal arts education is a luxury most people cannot afford, and instead they should focus on career education. He combats this by saying career education is a one way route, that eventually comes to a dead end, but that a liberal arts education opens up many new pathways, some that may not even exist yet. Misconception two states that college graduates can barely get a job with a liberal arts degree, he then goes on to say that most employers want
As people try to begin to understand liberal arts from a Christian point of view, there have been many writers that have written on this topic and have many different opinions about it. Three of the most famous writers are Holmes, De Gaetano, and Cross. A Christian liberal arts education makes us better leaders, people, and followers of Christ because it helps us know right from wrong. A liberal arts education teaches us to distinctly know the difference between right and wrong, and the path that God has chosen for us to follow. This type of education also gives students the freedom to become everything God has granted us with the ability to become.
A liberal arts curriculum is often debated in many circumstances. Some people believe the liberal arts curriculum is not necessary for a college career, but this is not true. A liberal arts curriculum provides the teachings of necessary skills and ideas that are not taught by just learning a technical skill. People who pursue a liberal arts curriculum are often more successful in college and after college because this curriculum provides teaching in areas such as human development, communication
Robert Harris, a renowned writer and experienced professor, published “On the Purpose of a Liberal Art Education” in 1991. He was astounded by how many students mumbled about a generalized education plan; therefore, he need to explain why a general education not only gives a first-year student a foundation for later learning but also improves a student’s life. Before Harris could write his paper, he investigated the claim; thus, Newman’s The Idea of University shaped Harris's opinion on a liberal education. Newman and Harris both agree that a generalized education helps train the mind to see culture in every situation. Moreover, this article states that a liberal arts education will teach students how to think, how to learn, how to see the world as a whole, how to become good teachers, and how to be happier.
The idea of a liberal education is what universities are moving towards. A liberally educated person is someone whom is educated in many different areas other than their major area of study. Colleges encompass a liberal education in their curriculum by including a liberal studies program. A liberal studies program requires certain courses, and various electives outside a student’s major. The reason for these required classes is to broaden the minds of the students, so they can tolerate different views and understand the behaviors of different people they may encounter in their lives.
Liberal education is what provides students with a broad knowledge of the wider world, it prepares them to deal with change and complexity as well as in depth study in a specific area of interest. With it we can develop a sense of social responsibility, intellectual and practical skills and the ability to apply these skills in real world settings.
Educators have long been aware of the importance of critical thinking skills as an outcome of student learning. More recently, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has identified critical thinking as one of several learning and innovation skills necessary to prepare students for post-secondary education and the workforce. In addition, the newly created Common Core State Standards reflect critical thinking as a cross-disciplinary skill vital for college and employment. Despite widespread recognition of its importance, there is a notable lack of consensus regarding the definition of critical thinking. The purposes of this literature review are to (a) explore the ways in which critical thinking has been defined by researchers, (b) investigate