Category: Liberal Arts Education

Creating global citizens: a case for interdisciplinary studies

Informed citizens can make informed decisions, making education the bread and butter of democracy. Higher education should foster this attitude, build off of students’ foundational knowledge and push them to think critically. It is liberal art’s claim to do this, however, the General Education structure is in need of reform and the separation of disciplines distracts the student from gaining a larger perspective or world view. With the inclusion of interdisciplinary studies, which directly focuses on Socratic seminars and critically examining the world through different lenses, the student can connect their knowledge and truly gain insights into the world around them.

Both interdisciplinary studies and liberal arts have the same goals for their students, critically think and be able to apply their knowledge to a variety of subjects. What differentiates interdisciplinary and liberal arts educations are what they demand of students and their perceived educational needs of citizens. To evaluate both educational programs, one must first understand their definitions and components.

A liberal arts education, as defined by Princeton University, aims for students to be, “exploring issues, ideas and methods across the humanities and the arts, and the natural and social sciences,” thus creating students who “[learn to] read critically, write cogently and think broadly… [to] cultivate the tools necessary to allow you to navigate the world’s most complex issues.” In short, a liberal arts education aims to create students who are both critical thinkers 1 and who know how to learn. With the ability to apply their knowledge to meet a variety of

1 Princeton University needs. For most universities, this is achieved via a General Education Program in which a student must complete courses in various disciplines.

Interdisciplinary studies can be described as, “A process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline.” More than just a combination of multiple disciplines, interdisciplinary studies seek 2 to merge disciplines towards the goal of crafting opinions and solving problems. It aims to create critically thinking students to navigate a complex world. This is achieved through the implementation of a Socratic seminar within a course that deals with multiple disciplines under a broad theme.

Both educational styles aim to instill critical thinking skills and create world citizens, making the merger of liberal arts and interdisciplinary studies one that is foreseeable. However, education serves more than this purpose; it also serves to get students employed.

Historically, schooling in the United States has been decentralized, meaning that the creation and administration of public schooling is of state-level authority. This means that curricula can be either state or private-based. This entails that educational standards are to some degree, the will of the people, as private institutions will only be successful if people attend them. Meaning, that schools change their curricula with popular job industries and the economic welfare of the country. In order to assess whether interdisciplinary studies can be implemented within liberal arts education, one must first understand why a liberal arts education is so popular.

Prior to the industrial revolution, only the elite or religious could attend higher education (aka university). As an agricultural-based society, most US citizens did not have the time or resources to invest in their education beyond simple literary and numerical skills. Education would also often occur in the home and be dependent on elders’ religion, level of education, or profession. Thus, each student receives a different skill set. Something that worked at the time because there were few industries available to the everyday citizen. If one did want to pursue higher education, there were few options. This especially being true if you were a woman or did not wish to pursue a religious education. From 1638 – 1819 49 higher education institutes existed in the United States. 40 of which were private, further showing the exclusivity of higher education.

The industrial revolution began to change this because of the technological advances of the time which shifted the United States society. Between 1870 and 1900, twelve million people immigrated to United States cities to meet the demands of new industrial jobs. This brought in 5 the need not only for vocational work but also for people who understand how to create vocational industries, aka a technical education. This boom resulted in a multitude of disciplines that universities were unsure of how to handle. Along with an influx of diverse demographics, technological changes, labor reform, and the creation of a large middle class, public movements demanded educational reform. This persisted throughout the 20th century, with technological advances becoming even more rapid, deindustrialization occurring, and job industries again changing.

Coming to the modern day, technological advances are growing at a rapid pace and education must do more than educate people for one specific job; it must educate them for many. Thus the popularity of the liberal arts degree.

Again, a liberal arts education aims to create students who easily acquire knowledge on a variety of subjects. This is done through GE requirements that aim to give students a taste of each discipline, so they can learn how to learn in a multitude of subjects. This equips United States students for the changing job industries driven by increased technological advancement. Additionally, liberal arts education recognizes that students may have multiple career changes, which require the flexibility of knowledge. However, despite Princeton’s mission statement to “creat[e] students who “[learn to] read critically, write cogently and think broadly… [to] cultivate the tools necessary to allow you to navigate the world’s most complex issues,” there is a case to be made against the brevity and segregation of knowledge that a liberal arts education provides. Where a liberal arts education can fall short, is not in its aim of creating critical 8 thinkers, but in how it goes about these aims.

The way in which a liberal arts education seeks to achieve critical thinking skills is through General Education (GE) requirements. GE programs vary from school to school, so for the purposes of clarity, this essay will use Chapman University, a private, mid-sized, liberal arts school, as an example. For a student at Chapman University, the GE requirements include Foreign Language, Written, Artistic, Natural Science, Quantitative, Values and Ethics, and Social Inquiries. Chapman is also unique in that it includes within its graduation requirements Global citizenship requirements and has an interdisciplinary program that students can apply to. A quick glance at the GE requirements would lead one to say that a student would leave university both well-rounded and with knowledge in a variety of subjects. However, a closer examination of how these courses are handled gives a different story.

Firstly, all GE requirements at Chapman University can be fulfilled before the student steps on campus or is even accepted. The Advanced Placement (AP) program, a high school course created by The College Board (the same corporation that owns the SAT), gives students the chance to earn university credit. Although necessary scores to achieve a credit varies, it has become commonplace for universities both public and private to acknowledge these test scores as being valid. It is also important to note that those schools are incentivized to have students take these courses due to a federal expansion for the AP exam to reach students of lower incomes. And for students, the potential to graduate from university (a costly endeavor) early, making AP classes courses prepares students for a specific standardized test. An example of this can be found in the AP Psychology exam. This exam has two parts, a multiple choice test, and short responses. The multiple choice test includes debated theories, such as Darley and Latane’s creation of “The Bystander Effect” after the murder of Kitty Genovese. Although this theory was created on the basis of no one calling in her murder, new information shows this may have been due to the police failing to document the calls, bringing the theory into question. Now, there is nothing wrong with learning about a subject that is debated, however, this course does not challenge the student’s ability to critically think about the theory, it challenges them to memorize them. Bringing this back to Chapman, this means that their passing of the GE requirement for Social Inquiry does not necessarily equate to the learning outcomes set forth by the university, which states, “Students identify, frame and analyze social and/or historical structures and institutions in the world today”. This is because the course is not about the student learning psychology, it’s about them knowing the psychological terms the AP association has deemed worthy.

The next problem with GE’s is that they are made to be easy to pass. At Chapman, all GE courses, unless they pertain to your major, can be pass/no pass. This means that the student, with just a little effort to turn in a form, can get a 70% in a GE course and not have it impact their Grade Point Average (GPA). Now, this may seem like a godsend to students who struggle with 13 a course because it’s not their forte, however, it creates a negative culture around GE’s courses, instilling in both students and faculty that the courses don’t matter. Now, of course, you will have students who put their all into a course no matter the subject or their grade, but it is wishful thinking to believe that this is the majority of university students. One can look at RateMyProfessor.com and see classes that are easier will receive a higher score. In an opinion piece from the Harvard Crimson, Benjamin Woo expresses a similar sentiment, “ The general attitude [of students] is not of becoming educated, but simply of fulfilling requirements as efficiently as possible.” This connects back to the problem of the AP exams. Students have been taught that education is something to be achieved not gained, which impedes the aim of creating global citizens.

Finally, the very set-up of the GE requirement inherently falls short in creating critical thinkers. Courses are separated by discipline and not required to be in conversation with each other. Students learn each subject individually and topics that are complex may meet “an enemy of free discussion” or rather a one-sided view. If students cannot see a larger perspective on say “Non-western cultures,” they may be more apt to accept their ethnocentrism without debate. Essentially giving a blind eye to the rest of the world and claiming one’s normality as superior. However, without questioning that normality, innovation, freedom, and debate cannot occur. There must be a willingness to hear multiple sides to the same story to come away with any kind of real opinion.

Ultimately, a liberal arts education is failing to create the world citizens it aims to. Instead, it is creating students who know how to study and get through courses with an A. Education must do more than this, it must create curious citizens, with a willingness to learn and critique the world around them.

So why turn to interdisciplinary education? Well, this educational style relies on looking at complex issues as complex. It revolves around sampling an argument using many disciplines for the purpose of either understanding or of creating change. An example of this is Women’s 20 studies, a subject that inherently lends itself to interdisciplinary study. To merely address women’s studies as an examination of feminist philosophy would nowhere near encompass the complexities of women’s roles, challenges, and triumphs over time. For instance, this subject 21 may be extended to the historical roles of women, the socialization of gender, the idea of privilege, women’s rights movements, and the critique of feminist theories. Using this example, a women’s studies course would involve the disciplines: of history, sociology, philosophy, and critical studies.

Thus to gain a comprehensive understanding of why there is a disparity between the human experience based on sex, one must see the perspective of many disciplines and be able to connect them to the common theme of womanhood.

Today’s society sees an increase in partisan beliefs that are founded not in knowledge, but in the in and out-group bias. This bias entails that one will only be willing to seek out information that strengthens their group’s arguments or deters those of the out-group. University education must open people’s minds, not close them, “If students graduate believing that they can learn nothing from people they dislike or from those they disagree, we will have done them a great intellectual disservice,”. Ideological diversity must be present on campus and interdisciplinary education due to its founding in the Socratic seminar fosters this. This is dangerous to a democratic society because its citizens become sheep to whatever they learn because they never question. And for a country founded on the belief that freedom is not just a privilege, but right, critical thinking is foundational.

This is not to say that liberal education is a complete waste of time, just that it needs reform. Interdisciplinary education is a means to this reform that can create citizens who are more informed and can break down the complexities of the world we live in. Interdisciplinary studies focus on the Socratic seminar and the ability to craft knowledgeable arguments. Without liberal arts education, interdisciplinary education would lose its impact. In order to think critically on a topic or phenomena and participate in the Socratic seminar structure of an interdisciplinary course, one must have background knowledge on the subjects. Liberal arts education offers this backdrop; without general knowledge, one cannot have specific knowledge. However, the GE system does not foster knowledge, it fosters the passing of exams or the ability to learn information for the short-term efficiently. Although this is helpful in preparing students for constantly changing job instructions, it does not set up students to be global citizens or to think critically. Something that with the partisan divides of the world has become crucial to maintaining our country’s democracy and being leaders. There are gaps in our higher education system that need to be addressed and interdisciplinary programs are one way to do this.

Bibliography

1. “Academic Policies and Procedures.” Chapman University. Accessed December 14, 2019. https://catalog.chapman.edu/content.php?catoid=11&navoid=472.
2. Augsburg, Tanya. ​Becoming Interdisciplinary: An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. Kendall Hunt Publishing, 2006.
3. “Chapman GE Program: How It Works.” Chapman GE Program: How It Works Chapman University. Accessed December 14, 2019.
4. https://www.chapman.edu/academics/undergraduate-education/general-education/chapman-ge-program-how-it-works.aspx.
5. Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence F Katz. “The Shaping of Higher Education: The Formative Years in the United States, 1890 to 1940.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 13, no. 1, 1999, pp. 37–62., doi:10.1257/jep.13.1.37.
6. “Immigration to the United States – American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation: Teacher Resources.” Library of Congress. Accessed December 14, 2019.
7. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/immgnts/.
8. Kristof, Nicholas “Stop the Knee-Jerk Liberalism That Hurts Its Own Cause.” The New York Times, June 29, 2019
9. Lukianoff, Greg, and Jonathan Haidt. “The Coddling of the American Mind.” The Atlantic, Sept. 2015.
10. Mill, John Stuart.“Ideas on Free Speech” Nussbaum, Martha C. ​Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education​. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1997.
11. Solomon, James D., director. ​The Witness.​ FilmRise, 2015.
12. Tugend, Alina. “Who Benefits From the Expansion of A.P. Classes?” The New York Times, September 7, 2017.
13. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/magazine/who-benefits-from-the-expansion-of-ap-classes.html.
14. “What Does Liberal Arts Mean? Princeton University Admission.” Princeton University, The Trustees of Princeton University, https://admission.princeton.edu/academics/what-does-liberal-arts-mean.
15. Woo, Benjamin M. “The Failure of General Education: Opinion: The Harvard Crimson.” The Harvard Crimson, 6 Feb. 2013, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/2/6/fail-gened-harvard/. Accessed 14, December 2019.

Liberal arts are a field of study dependent on objective reasoning, and it incorporates the territories of humanities, social and physical sciences, and arithmetic.

A Liberal arts Philosophy underscores the advancement of basic reasoning and expository aptitudes, the capacity to take care of complex issues, and comprehension of morals and profound quality, just as a craving to keep on learning.

The principle objectives of liberal arts are

1. Create a compelling method of thought.
2. Create a point of view of one’s place in humankind both genuine and perfect.
3. Develop one up to settle on proficient choices.
4. Increase comprehension of one’s characteristics and institutional situations.

History:

Liberal arts education was officially presented by the Romans when they were trying different things with an administering framework. Many years back, they understood that individuals who need to oversee themselves must be shown the specialty of administration, consequently, liberal education was conceived. Prior to this, individuals were just truly prepared to endure and to serve the domain.

There was a conflict between Plato and Isocrates in Greece, as Plato with the help of Aristotle thought of education as a quest for truth; though, whereas Isocrates thought about education as a capability to lead a quality life.

Characteristics of liberal arts:

1. Liberal arts increase solid establishment information in a more extensive scope of subjects than taking a degree gaining practical experience in a solitary subject or employment.
2. The scope of subjects in a liberal arts education implies pupils can be acquainted with subjects they might not have in any case experienced, empowering them to settle on a more educated choice while picking their favored vocation way.
3. The information accomplished in a liberal arts education can assist with bettering moving out of your present profession into another.
4. Workaholics perceive that liberal arts graduates have the important adaptable aptitudes to adjust to an evolving working environment.
5. Liberal arts education reaches out past scholarly groups of people and the working environment to give graduates the important characteristics that can empower them to adjust and flourish in the world, speak with and comprehend different individuals from the network and have a widened viewpoint.

Skills gained from liberal arts:

There are many skills that can be attained from liberal art philosophy. Some are mentioned as:

• Powerful oral and composed relational abilities
• Critical thinking and example insight skills
• Capacity to learn and integrate new thoughts
• Involvement with quantitative and subjective information
• Basic and intelligent understanding skills
• Numerical skills
• Data proficiency skills
• Capacity to adjust effectively to circumstances
• Capacity to suggest significant conversation starters
• Capacity to work in a group

Liberal arts education today:

The liberal arts are generally acknowledged as fields of Humanities, Social sciences, Natural sciences, and Formal sciences.

Conclusion:

Liberal arts philosophers viewed that education should serve the requirements of the person. They accept that individuals comprehend the world they live in essentially as an issue of interest, the quest for truth is the most elevated part, and it might be found, for the most part, through the activity of reason. Liberal education is said to upgrade the ability to have a better living.

Vocational philosophy:

Vocational studies have frequently been viewed as more appropriate for supporters than for pioneers. The individuals who favor vocational studies viewed that education should serve the necessities of society rather than the requirements of the person. Proficient aptitude ought to be created not as an issue of inert interest. As indicated by the supporters of ‘vocational philosophy, the fact of the matter is maybe not an outright constant assortment, yet something which is continually being found tried and applied the reason for education is basically to improve men’s part and to travel further along the street called progress.

Vocational education today:

Vocational education is education that makes ready students for work in a particular trade, a craft, as a technician, or in proficient employments such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, architecture, or the law. Vocational education is sometimes referred to as professional education or specialized education.

Characteristics of vocational education:

Following are the main characteristics of vocational education:

1. To build the gainful capability of the nation.
2. To increase the economic expectation of individuals.
3. To diminish the degree of unemployment by giving independent work plans.
4. To use labor to the fullest degree.
5. To make the student’s talented specialists.
6. To assist students with understanding the logical and mechanical parts of contemporary civilization.
7. To use logical and specialized information for the improvement of society.

Conclusive comparison:

Vocational education as compared to liberal arts education is general and incorporates each type of education that plans to the securing of capabilities identified with a specific calling, workmanship or business or that gives the vital preparing and the suitable skills just as specialized information, so the student can practice a profession, art or activity autonomously of their age and their preparation level, regardless of whether the preparation program contains additional components of general education.

Liberal art as compared to vocational philosophy accentuates dynamism and decent variety. As opposed to specialization in a sole field or range of abilities, it highlights general education and introduction to a wide scope of subjects past what’s straightforwardly pertinent to the major. Defenders of human sciences education guarantee that the wide base of information it ingrains in all students permits them to be both effective in their particular profession while additionally having a far-reaching comprehension of their general surroundings.

Most suitable philosophy in the Pakistani context and why:

In Pakistan, Specific and advanced aptitudes are required for most occupations nowadays, yet there is an absence of linkage between the business and vocational training institutes. And the deficiency of good mentors is an issue in Pakistan that needs to be overcome. Due to the implementation of vocational philosophy, there is an improvement in the vocational training framework yet in addition increment the earning limit of our youth while diminishing joblessness and adding to poverty decrease.

The most appropriate philosophy to be used is Vocational Philosophy because of the following reasons:

1. Vocational education is fundamentally life and need-based education which can change over an un-skilled unpracticed and uneducated society into a human asset.
2. liberal arts education gives guidance for an assortment of points and for the advancement of basic skills, while vocational education teaches students in a single explicit subject and set them up straightforwardly for entrance into the professional world.
3. Vocational education gives students a career-oriented pathway and provides constant jobs as these are the jobs whose demand is never finished.
4. This kind of education is an extraordinary resource for the economy. Our administration need not to import specialists on higher wages as our own can accomplish the necessary work.
5. It makes an individual mindful and free while the individuals who study standard courses lack this circle.
6. Vocational education courses can help grow new expert abilities, improve your present aptitudes, or retrain for new work.

Career Wellness Reflection

1. A summary of the main points of the speaker’s emphasis (this can be in paragraph form, via bullet points, or another format that works well for you);

I really enjoyed having Michelle talk about career wellness, as it is something my classmates and I are thinking of and worrying about as our time here at Lawrence is coming to an end. Michelle talked about how a career doesn’t necessarily mean a job and I found that to be very interesting as I always thought of my career as whatever job I end up having. She also focused on the concept of transitioning and the ways to make any transitioning easier than we make it. She mentioned the different tools that one can use to adapt faster and feel comfortable in a new place, doing something new.

She also talked about the importance of the Liberal Arts education and what advantages it has over other colleges. One of my favorite things about having Michelle on Monday was the activity we did. She asked us to pair up and answer some questions that she has prepared for us. Her questions made me think and evaluate my values, goals, and skills. She also asked us to think of and share with our partners what a good career looks like for each one of us. That was a hard question to answer just because I didn’t know exactly what a good career means to me.

2. A short section covering how the speaker’s message can apply to your life now or later and particular points that you agree/disagree with; and,

The topic career wellness is a very important one because I have been going through a very stressful phase of making the right decisions in terms of what I want to do after graduation. Being able to comfortably decide to work or go to graduate school right away was not an easy thing to do at all. After Monday’s lecture, I have learned a lot about how not to stress about my after-Lawrence career. I have learned some very helpful tools and tips that I can utilize to help adjust to the new place I will be in a few months. I totally agree with the speaker on the importance of Liberal Arts education. I see how valuable learning how to think instead of what to think is. I realize how important it is to think critically and solve problems. I found Monday’s class to be very interesting because I could easily relate to the topic and the subjects discussed.

3. At least two discussion questions.

These questions should be things you think might be interesting to discuss as a class that requires more than a yes or no answer. You do not need to have the answers to these questions; instead, the questions you pose should be provocative things to discuss based on the topics. Questions with a ‘yes” or ‘no” answer or questions that have answers easily identified during the class presentation are NOT good questions.

1. How can you tell/decide if your career is a healthy one or not? Does it depend on the job/position you have? Your salary? Ranking of your graduate school? Your happiness? Something else?
2. For an introverted person, most of the tools of an easy transition don’t seem attainable; what are some other tools this kind of people can use to have easier transitions?

At some point in life, many Christians question why did God create them and what is their purpose here in this world. In other words, they wonder what God is calling for their lives. Thankfully, I have never been in that confused stage of my life because God has helped me as a kid to discover His will and His calling for my life. There are a number of factors that have shaped my life calling, including my family, biblical lessons, and many other events; however, as I came to Indiana Wesleyan University, I have also gained invaluable insight into the connection between my life calling and Christian general education. Through my First-Year Experience course, I had a chance to explore topics that strengthened my understanding of the relationship of my life calling and the philosophy of liberal arts education in the context of mathematics. In this paper, I would like to share what I have learned throughout the semester in terms of my life calling and the role of general education, especially mathematics, in shaping my calling.

As a little kid, I had a solid sense of calling from God to serve as a medical missionary. The story begins with my older sister who has Down syndrome. Having a sister with a disability has brought me a new kind of love, connection, and a different perspective on people with disabilities. Those lessons I have learned from my sister helped me to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. When I was fourteen years old, I went to Mongolia by myself to study abroad, and there, I have met a lot of missionaries who were sincerely passionate about their ministries and through their ministries, selflessly served others. In their ministries, I saw God’s hand working; people learned the Word of God, fully experienced His love and grace, confessed their sins, and eventually returned to Him. It was truly amazing to see how God uses one’s life to further His kingdom. Spending time with the missionaries and helping their ministries, I have learned more of God’s will as well as my roles as citizens of His kingdom. By the time I left Mongolia and came to America, I was fully assured that the medical mission was His calling for my life. Since then, there were a number of great events that God has led me into medical missions. A mission trip to Haiti in high school is one of the life-changing experiences that God has made His calling more clearer.

Moving across the world, my understanding of God’s calling has been shaped by various factors, and I believe that Christian liberal arts education such as mathematics also takes a huge part in it. There was a time as a freshman in college when I was not fully aware of the importance of general education; I did not realize why I need to take classes such as composition and humanities as a Biology major student and how they are connected to my life calling. Not knowing the reason, I continued my studies as a pre-medical student. After two years at my previous college, God has directed me to take a slightly different path- Nursing and put a strong desire in my heart to transfer to Indiana Wesleyan University. Here at IWU, I finally got the answer to my question about the relationship between Christian general education and my life calling. Before looking deeper into it, I would like to discuss the significance of Christian general education with its philosophy.

We live in a broken world full of ignorance and sin that so many people are blinded to seeing the truth and the glory of God. According to the document, “Reconciling Truth Through Love: A Philosophy of General Education and Modes of Inquiry”, the goal of Christian general education is to teach students about God’s redeeming work of restoration and reconciliation (Bressler et al., 2014). By establishing “a solid foundation for learning” (Bressler et al., 2014), such an education assists students to be free from darkness and sin prevailing in this world so that they can see again the truth and the glory of God; thus, students are prepared to be agents of reconciliation. In order to lay the groundwork for which students can compare their knowledge acquired in the future, Christian general education consists of various kinds of courses that guide students to reflect, examine, and survey God’s truth. The document also states that “a truly Christian education is “personal”… [and] it is ultimately “relational” (Bressler et al., 2014). This personal and relational education reveals the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and ultimately leads students to love Him and have a deeper relationship with Him. This indicates a major purpose of the Christian liberal arts education which is to teach the love of God. By means of a multitude of Christian general education courses, students do not merely improve their critical thinking; rather, they learn how to apply those skills to have a better understanding of God, His love, and His calling for our lives. Christian general education can be divided into two modes of inquiry: qualitative and quantitative. Quality education includes visual and performing arts, literature, historical, philosophical, and religious courses, whereas quantitative education focuses on mathematical and scientific areas. Among these liberal arts courses, mathematics is one of the most essential subjects as it is a universal language that could be shared by everyone regardless of religion, race, or gender. Math itself is a big part of our daily life; in fact, learning math provides surprisingly important skills so that we recognize why we think and act the way we do with ourselves and with others. During this semester, in my college algebra course, I have learned elementary functions, their graphs, application of such functions in real-world situations and also enhanced my reasoning skills as analyzing relationships between functions. Along with them, I have also experienced God’s attributes— His beauty, love, and eternality— because I have realized, that the reason why mathematics operates consistently and that objects always interact the same way, was because God always remains the same and holds the objects together since the beginning of the universe. With those learning outcomes, I grew in knowledge of who God is and intimacy with Him. As a result, I could become spiritually mature and build a strong trust in Him and His unshakable call on my life. Even though I still sometimes do not know exactly where He is taking me next, I believe that He is guiding me every step of the way into His great plan for my life. As I started a new chapter of my life here at IWU, this general education course has been a significant help to keep my faith in God.

From this experience, I finally found out that everything is connected to whether we notice it or not. As I shared earlier, I have never considered the relation between Christian general education and my life calling; I even felt that it was not necessary for me to take general education courses for my future career. Then God has led me to grasp that the liberal arts education is to help me build my understanding of God’s calling for my life as I learn different cultures and disciplines based on reflections of the Word of God. This academic experience has been a great toolbox in my life-calling journey by offering a better perspective on what God is doing in the season of my life, what He wants, and the significance of what I am going through. The values and the modes of inquiry of the Christian general education are certainly established for students to excel academically and become spiritually healthy people so that they can experience the outpouring of God’s love, identify His calling, and thus become equipped to glorify Him as Christ’s ambassadors in this world.

In the latest society, there have been debates on a part of what the function of higher coaching ought to be headquartered on. Is it Liberal arts training or is it profession-oriented education? There are two types of training that are controversial in our society of education. Liberal arts schooling’s focal point on creating competencies to all learning. Where character is put collectively to deal with the complexity and range of men and girls’ future careers and builds Intellectual and smart skills. Oriented training focuses on one unique occupation that gives college students that be aware of what they pick to pursue in the perfect direction. There is no proper way to comprehend what certainly the focal point is. There are strategies to take a look at and definitely capture the information. Higher education prepares possibilities for people to develop their potential. The focal point on increased schooling have to be on liberal arts education and now not profession-oriented education.

Liberal arts grant a couple of topics. Having quite a few topics to look up can increase your crucial questioning skills. When wondering about your future and suppose of where prefer to do or what you pick out to pursue. There are matters that you simply want to count on about, however, some human beings may additionally moreover no longer know what they choose to pursue. Liberal arts education is a way to go when scholars war via that process. The examining of Liberal arts vs. Professional Education, Anamaria says, a liberal arts schooling is one that consists of guidance in the board, central disciplines such as English, history, math, and science, and focuses on developing abilities like problem-solving, imperative analysis, and high exceptional written and oral communication. Anamaria means that selecting a liberal arts education diploma helps students focal factor on their fundamental thinking abilities and analyze to higher their verbal exchange skills.

Secondly, with a liberal arts education, we ought to be in a position to adapt. For any character that is not acquainted with increased training or for any person that wishes to look up a couple of skills. Liberal education is a magnificent way to go. Liberal arts schooling educates college students and grants a variety of matters and quintessential wondering skills. Liberal arts assist college students to explore and view matters from extra than one position. In the article, The Banking Model method of Education, Freire talks about two techniques of education. Banking Method and trouble posing. This article connects with the position of greater education due to the fact trouble posing is like goes together with liberal arts. Problem posing is the region pupil can study from others via skills of communication.

In conclusion, the emphasis in higher training ought to be on liberal arts training rather than career-oriented education. In modern-day in society, there is no right reply to what the position of larger training focal point on. It through and massive depends on the human beings choice. I assume that if a person is struggling on what to locate out about or pursue liberal arts is a way to go but then choosing liberal arts over professional is a good due to the fact human beings get a chance to something they want, and discovery have a look at new things.