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  Clarifying Our Terms: Liberal Education, General Education, Excellent University Education  General Education and the Aims of Education  Connecting Learning with Wider Society  Principles of Excellence for General and University Education  Aligning Principles with Practices – Preparing Students for a World Shared in Common

Clarifying Our Terms  Liberal Education  General Education  Excellent 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 – 20 th Century

The Curriculum in Transition: General Education and Connections With the Major – 21 st Century First Year Second Year Third Year Fourth Year General Education Major

Connecting Learning With the Wider Society (cont.)  Economic Challenges  Civic and Global Challenges

University Learning for the 21 st 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 Skills Source: 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

From a Decade of Analysis, the Key Elements for a 21 st 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 Skills  Personal and Social Responsibility  Integrative, 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 Questions  Teach the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation  Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action  Foster 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 Reflections  Expect Advanced Students to Explore Their Own “Big Questions” BOTH in Advanced General Education Courses AND in Their Majors

Practices That Work to Engage Students with Broad Knowledge and Big Questions/Big Picture  Common Intellectual Experiences  Writing and Research  Collaborative Assignments and Projects  Cluster 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 Innovation Immerse 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 often In 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 Practicums  Service Learning/Civic Problem-Solving  Research with Community Partners  Culminating 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 Learning Emphasize 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 21 st 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 experiences  Guided 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)

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 Studies  Majors  Campus Community  Campus 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