Education
An Argument for Liberalism
by Tim Lien
And I mean “Liberalism,” as in a “Liberal Arts Education.” And by “Liberal Arts Education,” I mean integration of learning across academic disciplines. As I’ve told some of you, I’ve been on a John Steinbeck kick, lately. It struck me, again, while reading the introduction to To a God Unknown, that other disciplines outside of our “niche” or “vocational specialty” are needed for true excellence in our respective fields of expertise. Self-admittedly, writing To a God Unknown was Steinbeck’s greatest challenge— he wrote it over a period of 4 years. The first draft was roundly rejected by many publishing houses. He, himself, said the book was flat and void of real interest. However, he attributes its re-vitalization to the time he spent reading poetry of Jeffers, ancient literature, and studying marine biology and philosophy with a close friend. These seem tangential and unnecessary; however, Steinbeck felt he was enriched and energized by the task of thinking outside of his craft. Today’s educational system has seemed to prefer the quick assessment of aptitude so that a student can be gradually funneled towards specialization. Two year vocational schools have done very well at placing graduates into secure, well-paying jobs, but at what price? Ignoring the elements of a “well-rounded” education actually stunts the growth of our specialties. Am I saying that a welder could benefit from a Fine Arts course? Yes.
Posted by Tim Lien at August 15, 2006 08:15 AM
Great thought! You really helped me see that my kids ought to be attending a well rounded Classical Christian School in Tuscaloosa. Do you know where I can find a good one? Perhaps even a PCA Classical School with a low student to teacher ratio?
We had a discussion about this Monday night at the Book Club and about what an education should consist of as well as the future of Western Culture. Very interesting and depressing subject.
Fallen human nature is to take the path of least resistance. It is much easier to train a person for a single task or field of work than to go to the considerable effort of training the human mind well. It is also easier to rationalize other disciplines as unnecessary or wasteful. And failing to produce well rounded, liberally educated citizens has a snowball effect after a few generations: how hard is it to convince the public about the benefit of the fine arts class for the welder?
About as hard as convincing them that more taxes will decrease the national debt.
Evidently a good liberal arts education doesn’t help with economic theory.
Barry: Given the vast amount of variables within Econ and national/global econ management, wouldn’t a liberal arts education only assist in that endeavor? It certainly wouldn’t seem to be debilitating. And this would be an accompanying question: Are we educating automatons to fill a specific vocation? Or are we also educating the mind and person beyond their apparent societal role?
Tim, I believe Barry was poking at your comment that more taxes will decrease the national debt…not very sound economics.
Lowell: lol…right. Good economics for who? I guess, following conventional wisdom— as long as nat. debt hovers around 1% of GNP.