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| arguments against general education requirements: The Case against Education Bryan Caplan, 2019-08-20 Why we need to stop wasting public funds on education Despite being immensely popular—and immensely lucrative—education is grossly overrated. Now with a new afterword by Bryan Caplan, this explosive book argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skills but to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As only to forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for average workers, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy. Romantic notions about education being good for the soul must yield to careful research and common sense—The Case against Education points the way. |
| arguments against general education requirements: In Defense of a Liberal Education Fareed Zakaria, 2015-03-30 CNN host and best-selling author Fareed Zakaria argues for a renewed commitment to the world’s most valuable educational tradition. The liberal arts are under attack. The governors of Florida, Texas, and North Carolina have all pledged that they will not spend taxpayer money subsidizing the liberal arts, and they seem to have an unlikely ally in President Obama. While at a General Electric plant in early 2014, Obama remarked, I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree. These messages are hitting home: majors like English and history, once very popular and highly respected, are in steep decline. I get it, writes Fareed Zakaria, recalling the atmosphere in India where he grew up, which was even more obsessed with getting a skills-based education. However, the CNN host and best-selling author explains why this widely held view is mistaken and shortsighted. Zakaria eloquently expounds on the virtues of a liberal arts education—how to write clearly, how to express yourself convincingly, and how to think analytically. He turns our leaders' vocational argument on its head. American routine manufacturing jobs continue to get automated or outsourced, and specific vocational knowledge is often outdated within a few years. Engineering is a great profession, but key value-added skills you will also need are creativity, lateral thinking, design, communication, storytelling, and, more than anything, the ability to continually learn and enjoy learning—precisely the gifts of a liberal education. Zakaria argues that technology is transforming education, opening up access to the best courses and classes in a vast variety of subjects for millions around the world. We are at the dawn of the greatest expansion of the idea of a liberal education in human history. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Policy and Global Affairs, Board on Higher Education and Workforce, Committee on Integrating Higher Education in the Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018-06-21 In the United States, broad study in an array of different disciplines â€arts, humanities, science, mathematics, engineering†as well as an in-depth study within a special area of interest, have been defining characteristics of a higher education. But over time, in-depth study in a major discipline has come to dominate the curricula at many institutions. This evolution of the curriculum has been driven, in part, by increasing specialization in the academic disciplines. There is little doubt that disciplinary specialization has helped produce many of the achievement of the past century. Researchers in all academic disciplines have been able to delve more deeply into their areas of expertise, grappling with ever more specialized and fundamental problems. Yet today, many leaders, scholars, parents, and students are asking whether higher education has moved too far from its integrative tradition towards an approach heavily rooted in disciplinary silos. These silos represent what many see as an artificial separation of academic disciplines. This study reflects a growing concern that the approach to higher education that favors disciplinary specialization is poorly calibrated to the challenges and opportunities of our time. The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education examines the evidence behind the assertion that educational programs that mutually integrate learning experiences in the humanities and arts with science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) lead to improved educational and career outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students. It explores evidence regarding the value of integrating more STEMM curricula and labs into the academic programs of students majoring in the humanities and arts and evidence regarding the value of integrating curricula and experiences in the arts and humanities into college and university STEMM education programs. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Cracks in the Ivory Tower Jason Brennan, Phillip W. Magness, 2019 Ideally, universities are centers of learning, in which great researchers dispassionately search for truth, no matter how unpopular those truths must be. The marketplace of ideas assures that truth wins out against bias and prejudice. Yet, many people worry that there's rot in the heart of thehigher education business.In Cracks in the Ivory Tower, libertarian scholars Jason Brennan and Philip Magness reveal the problems are even worse than anyone suspects. Marshalling an array of data, they systematically show how contemporary American universities fall short of these ideals and how bad incentives make faculty,administrators, and students act unethically. While universities may at times excel at identifying and calling out injustice outside their gates, Brennan and Magness contend that individuals are primarily guided by self-interest at every level. They find that the problems are deep and pervasive:most academic marketing and advertising is semi-fraudulent; colleges and individual departments regularly make promises they do not and cannot keep; and most students cheat a little, while many cheat a lot. Trenchant and wide-ranging, they elucidate the many ways in which faculty and students alikehave every incentive to make teaching and learning secondary.In this revealing expose, Brennan and Magness bring to light many of the ethical problems universities, faculties, and students currently face. In turn, they reshape our understanding of how such high-powered institutions run their business. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Beyond the University Michael S. Roth, 2014-05-28 Contentious debates over the benefits—or drawbacks—of a liberal education are as old as America itself. From Benjamin Franklin to the Internet pundits, critics of higher education have attacked its irrelevance and elitism—often calling for more vocational instruction. Thomas Jefferson, by contrast, believed that nurturing a student’s capacity for lifelong learning was useful for science and commerce while also being essential for democracy. In this provocative contribution to the disputes, university president Michael S. Roth focuses on important moments and seminal thinkers in America’s long-running argument over vocational vs. liberal education. Conflicting streams of thought flow through American intellectual history: W. E. B. DuBois’s humanistic principles of pedagogy for newly emancipated slaves developed in opposition to Booker T. Washington’s educational utilitarianism, for example. Jane Addams’s emphasis on the cultivation of empathy and John Dewey’s calls for education as civic engagement were rejected as impractical by those who aimed to train students for particular economic tasks. Roth explores these arguments (and more), considers the state of higher education today, and concludes with a stirring plea for the kind of education that has, since the founding of the nation, cultivated individual freedom, promulgated civic virtue, and instilled hope for the future. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University (Issues of Our Time) Louis Menand, 2010-01-18 Sparking a long-overdue debate about the future of American education, The Marketplace of Ideas examines traditional university institutions, assessing what is worth saving and what is not |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated John Henry Newman, 2013-12 This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Academically Adrift Richard Arum, Josipa Roksa, 2011-01-15 In spite of soaring tuition costs, more and more students go to college every year. A bachelor’s degree is now required for entry into a growing number of professions. And some parents begin planning for the expense of sending their kids to college when they’re born. Almost everyone strives to go, but almost no one asks the fundamental question posed by Academically Adrift: are undergraduates really learning anything once they get there? For a large proportion of students, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s answer to that question is a definitive no. Their extensive research draws on survey responses, transcript data, and, for the first time, the state-of-the-art Collegiate Learning Assessment, a standardized test administered to students in their first semester and then again at the end of their second year. According to their analysis of more than 2,300 undergraduates at twenty-four institutions, 45 percent of these students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills—including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing—during their first two years of college. As troubling as their findings are, Arum and Roksa argue that for many faculty and administrators they will come as no surprise—instead, they are the expected result of a student body distracted by socializing or working and an institutional culture that puts undergraduate learning close to the bottom of the priority list. Academically Adrift holds sobering lessons for students, faculty, administrators, policy makers, and parents—all of whom are implicated in promoting or at least ignoring contemporary campus culture. Higher education faces crises on a number of fronts, but Arum and Roksa’s report that colleges are failing at their most basic mission will demand the attention of us all. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Public Ivys Richard Moll, 1986 Information on high quality education at state colleges and universities. |
| arguments against general education requirements: What Philosophy Can Do Gary Gutting, 2015-09-08 A brilliant demonstration of what philosophy can do and how it is essential to human integrity and identity. —Simon Critchley, coeditor of The Stone Reader In What Philosophy Can Do, Gary Gutting takes a philosopher’s scalpel to modern life’s biggest questions and the most powerful forces in our society—politics, science, religion, education, and capitalism. Along the way, he introduces readers to powerful philosophical tools, from inductive and deductive logic to the Principle of Charity, which they can use to make better sense of current debates. Interweaving his discussion of contemporary issues with philosophical concepts from Aristotle to Michel Foucault and John Rawls, Gutting shows how philosophy can enrich public discussions about our most urgent issues. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs Richard A. Detweiler, 2021-11-23 Empirical evidence for the value of a liberal arts education: how and why it has a lasting impact on success, leadership, altruism, learning, and fulfillment. In ongoing debates over the value of a college education, the role of the liberal arts in higher education has been blamed by some for making college expensive, impractical, and even worthless. Defenders argue that liberal arts education makes society innovative, creative, and civic-minded. But these qualities are hard to quantify, and many critics of higher education call for courses of study to be strictly job-specific. In this groundbreaking book, Richard Detweiler, drawing on interviews with more than 1,000 college graduates aged 25 to 65, offers empirical evidence for the value of a liberal arts education. Detweiler finds that a liberal arts education has a lasting impact on success, leadership, altruism, learning, and fulfillment over a lifetime. Unlike other defenders of a liberal arts education, Detweiler doesn’t rely on philosophical arguments or anecdotes but on data. He developed a series of interview questions related to the content attributes of liberal arts (for example, course assignments and majors), the context attributes (out-of-class interaction with faculty and students, teaching methods, campus life), and the purpose attributes (adult life outcomes). Interview responses show that although both the content of study and the educational context are associated with significant life outcomes, the content of study has less relationship to positive adult life outcomes than the educational context. The implications of this research, Detweiler points out, range from the advantages of broadening areas of study to factors that could influence students’ decisions to attend certain colleges. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Excellent Sheep William Deresiewicz, 2014-08-19 A groundbreaking manifesto about what our nation’s top schools should be—but aren’t—providing: “The ex-Yale professor effectively skewers elite colleges, their brainy but soulless students (those ‘sheep’), pushy parents, and admissions mayhem” (People). As a professor at Yale, William Deresiewicz saw something that troubled him deeply. His students, some of the nation’s brightest minds, were adrift when it came to the big questions: how to think critically and creatively and how to find a sense of purpose. Now he argues that elite colleges are turning out conformists without a compass. Excellent Sheep takes a sharp look at the high-pressure conveyor belt that begins with parents and counselors who demand perfect grades and culminates in the skewed applications Deresiewicz saw firsthand as a member of Yale’s admissions committee. As schools shift focus from the humanities to “practical” subjects like economics, students are losing the ability to think independently. It is essential, says Deresiewicz, that college be a time for self-discovery when students can establish their own values and measures of success in order to forge their own paths. He features quotes from real students and graduates he has corresponded with over the years, candidly exposing where the system is broken and offering clear solutions on how to fix it. “Excellent Sheep is likely to make…a lasting mark….He takes aim at just about the entirety of upper-middle-class life in America….Mr. Deresiewicz’s book is packed full of what he wants more of in American life: passionate weirdness” (The New York Times). |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Real World of College Wendy Fischman, Howard Gardner, 2022-03-22 Why higher education in the United States has lost its way, and how universities and colleges can focus sharply on their core mission. For The Real World of College, Wendy Fischman and Howard Gardner analyzed in-depth interviews with more than 2,000 students, alumni, faculty, administrators, parents, trustees, and others, which were conducted at ten institutions ranging from highly selective liberal arts colleges to less-selective state schools. What they found challenged characterizations in the media: students are not preoccupied by political correctness, free speech, or even the cost of college. They are most concerned about their GPA and their resumes; they see jobs and earning potential as more important than learning. Many say they face mental health challenges, fear that they don’t belong, and feel a deep sense of alienation. Given this daily reality for students, has higher education lost its way? Fischman and Gardner contend that US universities and colleges must focus sharply on their core educational mission. Fischman and Gardner, both recognized authorities on education and learning, argue that higher education in the United States has lost sight of its principal reason for existing: not vocational training, not the provision of campus amenities, but to increase what Fischman and Gardner call “higher education capital”—to help students think well and broadly, express themselves clearly, explore new areas, and be open to possible transformations. Fischman and Gardner offer cogent recommendations for how every college can become a community of learners who are open to change as thinkers, citizens, and human beings. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Wrightslaw Special Education Legal Developments and Cases 2019 Peter Wright, Pamela Wright, 2020-07-10 Wrightslaw Special Education Legal Developments and Cases 2019 is designed to make it easier for you to stay up-to-date on new cases and developments in special education law.Learn about current and emerging issues in special education law, including:* All decisions in IDEA and Section 504 ADA cases by U.S. Courts of Appeals in 2019* How Courts of Appeals are interpreting the two 2017 decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court* Cases about discrimination in a daycare center, private schools, higher education, discrimination by licensing boards in national testing, damages, higher standards for IEPs and least restrictive environment* Tutorial about how to find relevant state and federal cases using your unique search terms |
| arguments against general education requirements: What's the Point of College? Johann N. Neem, 2019-08-13 Before we can improve college education, we need to know what it's for. In our current age of reform, there are countless ideas about how to fix higher education. But before we can reconceptualize the college experience, we need to remember why we have these institutions in the first place—and what we want from them. In What's the Point of College?, historian Johann N. Neem offers a new way to think about the major questions facing higher education today, from online education to disruptive innovation to how students really learn. As commentators, reformers, and policymakers call for dramatic change and new educational models, this collection of lucid essays asks us to pause and take stock. What is a college education supposed to be? What kinds of institutions and practices will best help us get there? And which virtues must colleges and universities cultivate to sustain their desired ends? During this time of drift, Neem argues, we need to moor our colleges once again to their core purposes. By evaluating reformers' goals in relation to the specific goods that a college should offer to students and society, What's the Point of College? connects public policy to deeper ethical questions. Exploring how we can ensure that America's colleges remain places for intellectual inquiry and reflection, Neem does not just provide answers to the big questions surrounding higher education—he offers readers a guide for how to think about them. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Mindstorms Seymour A Papert, 2020-10-06 In this revolutionary book, a renowned computer scientist explains the importance of teaching children the basics of computing and how it can prepare them to succeed in the ever-evolving tech world. Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers. Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Redesigning America’s Community Colleges Thomas R. Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars, Davis Jenkins, 2015-04-09 In the United States, 1,200 community colleges enroll over ten million students each year—nearly half of the nation’s undergraduates. Yet fewer than 40 percent of entrants complete an undergraduate degree within six years. This fact has put pressure on community colleges to improve academic outcomes for their students. Redesigning America’s Community Colleges is a concise, evidence-based guide for educational leaders whose institutions typically receive short shrift in academic and policy discussions. It makes a compelling case that two-year colleges can substantially increase their rates of student success, if they are willing to rethink the ways in which they organize programs of study, support services, and instruction. Community colleges were originally designed to expand college enrollments at low cost, not to maximize completion of high-quality programs of study. The result was a cafeteria-style model in which students pick courses from a bewildering array of choices, with little guidance. The authors urge administrators and faculty to reject this traditional model in favor of “guided pathways”—clearer, more educationally coherent programs of study that simplify students’ choices without limiting their options and that enable them to complete credentials and advance to further education and the labor market more quickly and at less cost. Distilling a wealth of data amassed from the Community College Research Center (Teachers College, Columbia University), Redesigning America’s Community Colleges offers a fundamental redesign of the way two-year colleges operate, stressing the integration of services and instruction into more clearly structured programs of study that support every student’s goals. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Real Education Charles Murray, 2009-08-25 The most talked-about education book this semester. —New York Times From the author of Coming Apart, and based on a series of controversial Wall Street Journal op-eds, this landmark manifesto gives voice to what everyone knows about talent, ability, and intelligence but no one wants to admit. With four truths as his framework, Charles Murray, the bestselling coauthor of The Bell Curve, sweeps away the hypocrisy, wishful thinking, and upside-down priorities that grip America’s educational establishment. •Ability varies. Children differ in their ability to learn, but America’s educational system does its best to ignore this. •Half of the children are below average. Many children cannot learn more than rudimentary reading and math. Yet decades of policies have required schools to divert resources to unattainable goals. •Too many people are going to college. Only a fraction of students struggling to get a degree can profit from education at the college level. •America’s future depends on how we educate the academically gifted. It is time to start thinking about the kind of education needed by the young people who will run the country. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Two Cheers for Higher Education Steven Brint, 2018 Focusing on the years 1980-2015, Brint details the trajectory of American universities, which was influenced by evolving standards of disciplinary professionalism, market-driven partnerships, and the goal of social inclusion. |
| arguments against general education requirements: General Education and the Development of Global Citizenship in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China Jun Xing, Pak-Sheung Ng, Chloe Cheng, 2012-11-27 General Education has taken center stage in the greater China area (Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China) because of a number of important developments. First, globalization has created both opportunities and challenges for college students. When they graduate and enter the real world, they must have the cultural sensitivities and social skills, in addition to their professional training, to compete in a knowledge-based global economy. Equally significant for institutions of higher education, pressing global problems challenge traditional disciplines and demand new forms of learning that reshapes the boundaries of knowledge. In response to those rapidly changing dynamics, general education has taken an increasingly important role in undergraduate education. As the first English publication on the subject, this anthology brings together a distinguished group of General Education scholars and teachers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Rescuing Socrates Roosevelt Montas, 2023-03-21 A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life—and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization. Many academics attack the very idea of a Western canon as chauvinistic, while the general public increasingly doubts the value of the humanities. In Rescuing Socrates, Dominican-born American academic Roosevelt Montás tells the story of how a liberal education transformed his life, and offers an intimate account of the relevance of the Great Books today, especially to members of historically marginalized communities. Montás emigrated from the Dominican Republic to Queens, New York, when he was twelve and encountered the Western classics as an undergraduate in Columbia University’s renowned Core Curriculum, one of America’s last remaining Great Books programs. The experience changed his life and determined his career—he went on to earn a PhD in English and comparative literature, serve as director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum, and start a Great Books program for low-income high school students who aspire to be the first in their families to attend college. Weaving together memoir and literary reflection, Rescuing Socrates describes how four authors—Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi—had a profound impact on Montás’s life. In doing so, the book drives home what it’s like to experience a liberal education—and why it can still remake lives. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Stairway to College Heaven Victoria Tillson Evans, Jonathan Perkins, Phil Sung, 2018-04-19 The college planning and application process is not an impenetrable mystery. The sooner you understand how it works, the sooner you can empower your child to make informed college decisions. Stop procrastinating!This book tells the story of Michelle, a determined mom who will stop at nothing to ensure that her son, Jack, has plenty of choices for college. When Jack announces he needs to start thinking about college, Michelle panics -- but only for a moment. Stairway to College Heaven traces Michelle's journey from confusion to confidence. Led by three enthusiastic, nacho-loving guides, Michelle discovers the obstacles that lurk ahead and finds the strategies to overcome them.Victoria Tillson Evans, Jonathan Perkins, and Phil Sung, have teamed up to bring you a wealth of practical advice about your family's college journey. Victoria earned her BA from Johns Hopkins University and her AM and PhD from Harvard University; she runs Distinctive College Consulting in Bethesda, Maryland. Jon earned his BA from Stanford University and his JD from Harvard Law School; he offers college counseling services through Essaywise in Palos Verdes Estates, California. Phil earned his BA from Stanford; he provides college counseling and ACT/SAT test prep services through Essaywise in Palo Alto, California. The Stairway to College Heaven awaits. Are you ready to take the first step? |
| arguments against general education requirements: General Education in a Free Society James Bryant Conant, 2018-11-10 This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Pig Book Citizens Against Government Waste, 2013-09-17 The federal government wastes your tax dollars worse than a drunken sailor on shore leave. The 1984 Grace Commission uncovered that the Department of Defense spent $640 for a toilet seat and $436 for a hammer. Twenty years later things weren't much better. In 2004, Congress spent a record-breaking $22.9 billion dollars of your money on 10,656 of their pork-barrel projects. The war on terror has a lot to do with the record $413 billion in deficit spending, but it's also the result of pork over the last 18 years the likes of: - $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa - $102 million to study screwworms which were long ago eradicated from American soil - $273,000 to combat goth culture in Missouri - $2.2 million to renovate the North Pole (Lucky for Santa!) - $50,000 for a tattoo removal program in California - $1 million for ornamental fish research Funny in some instances and jaw-droppingly stupid and wasteful in others, The Pig Book proves one thing about Capitol Hill: pork is king! |
| arguments against general education requirements: Coming of Age in New Jersey Michael Moffatt, 1989 To present these thoughtfully crafted case studies of undergraduate culture, the author did what anthropologists usually do in more distant cultures: he lived among the natives. His findings are sometimes disturbing, potentially controversial, but somehow very believable. This text presents a vivid slice of life of what the author saw and heard in the dorms of a typical state university, Rutgers, in the 1980s. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Let's Be Reasonable Jonathan Marks, 2023-01-31 A conservative college professor's compelling defense of liberal education Not so long ago, conservative intellectuals such as William F. Buckley Jr. believed universities were worth fighting for. Today, conservatives seem more inclined to burn them down. In Let's Be Reasonable, conservative political theorist and professor Jonathan Marks finds in liberal education an antidote to this despair, arguing that the true purpose of college is to encourage people to be reasonable—and revealing why the health of our democracy is at stake. Drawing on the ideas of John Locke and other thinkers, Marks presents the case for why, now more than ever, conservatives must not give up on higher education. He recognizes that professors and administrators frequently adopt the language and priorities of the left, but he explains why conservative nightmare visions of liberal persecution and indoctrination bear little resemblance to what actually goes on in college classrooms. Marks examines why advocates for liberal education struggle to offer a coherent defense of themselves against their conservative critics, and demonstrates why such a defense must rest on the cultivation of reason and of pride in being reasonable. More than just a campus battlefield guide, Let's Be Reasonable recovers what is truly liberal about liberal education—the ability to reason for oneself and with others—and shows why the liberally educated person considers reason to be more than just a tool for scoring political points. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Privileged Poor Anthony Abraham Jack, 2019-03-01 An NPR Favorite Book of the Year “Breaks new ground on social and educational questions of great import.” —Washington Post “An essential work, humane and candid, that challenges and expands our understanding of the lives of contemporary college students.” —Paul Tough, author of Helping Children Succeed “Eye-opening...Brings home the pain and reality of on-campus poverty and puts the blame squarely on elite institutions.” —Washington Post “Jack’s investigation redirects attention from the matter of access to the matter of inclusion...His book challenges universities to support the diversity they indulge in advertising.” —New Yorker The Ivy League looks different than it used to. College presidents and deans of admission have opened their doors—and their coffers—to support a more diverse student body. But is it enough just to admit these students? In this bracing exposé, Anthony Jack shows that many students’ struggles continue long after they’ve settled in their dorms. Admission, they quickly learn, is not the same as acceptance. This powerfully argued book documents how university policies and campus culture can exacerbate preexisting inequalities and reveals why some students are harder hit than others. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Restoring the Promise Richard K. Vedder, 2019 American higher education is increasingly in trouble. Costs are too high, learning is too little, and underemployment abounds post-graduation. Universities are facing an uncertain and unsettling future with free speech suppression, out-of-control Federal student aid programs, soaring administrative costs, and intercollegiate athletics mired in corruption. Restoring the Promise explores these issues and exposes the federal government's role in contributing to them. With up-to-date discussions of the most recent developments on university campuses, this book is the most comprehensive assessment of universities in recent years, and one that decidedly rejects conventional wisdom. Restoring the Promise is an absolute must-read for those concerned with the future of higher education in America. |
| arguments against general education requirements: College Knowledge David T. Conley, 2008-01-28 Although more and more students have the test scores and transcripts to get into college, far too many are struggling once they get there. These students are surprised to find that college coursework demands so much more of them than high school. For the first time, they are asked to think deeply, write extensively, document assertions, solve non-routine problems, apply concepts, and accept unvarnished critiques of their work. College Knowledge confronts this problem by looking at the disconnect between what high schools do and what colleges expect and proposes a solution by identifying what students need to know and be able to do in order to succeed. The book is based on an extensive three-year project sponsored by the Association of American Universities in partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts. This landmark research identified what it takes to succeed in entry-level university courses. Based on the project's findings - and interviews with students, faculty, and staff - this groundbreaking book delineates the cognitive skills and subject area knowledge that college-bound students need to master in order to succeed in today's colleges and universities. These Standards for Success cover the major subject areas of English, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, second languages, and the arts. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Higher Education and the American Dream Marvin Lazerson, 2010-01-01 Marvin Lazerson’s new book is exactly what is needed: a readable, cogent explanation of how the U.S. can have the best system of higher education in the world, but also a system that seems to be coming apart at the seams.” —Susan Fuhrman, President Teachers College, Columbia University, President of the National Academy of Education In prose remarkable for its clarity and analysis remarkable for its fair-mindedness, this volume delivers a penetrating, nuanced account of American universities in the twenty-first century. Blessedly without rant or cant, the book tackles topics that range from the rise of the managerial class to the failed attempts to reform practice in the classroom. It’s a smart provocation—a must-read for anyone who cares about where our universities are heading.” —David L. Kirp, Professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education Professor Lazerson gives an insightful account of American higher education based on years of study and first-hand experience. He discusses both the problems and the accomplishment of our universities with equal care and thus, succeeds in providing a useful and illuminating analysis.” —Derek Bok, Harvard University, President-emeritus Marvin Lazerson’s magnificent book is not only comprehensive, but it is written from an all-embracing point of view: seeing higher education in America as an expression of the American Dream. This book should be on the reading list of all who want to understand America’s actions, role and image in the world today, with and equal emphasis on their successes and the discontents they create.” —Yehuda Elkana, Rector and President-emeritus, Central European University |
| arguments against general education requirements: Higher Education in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Nancy W. Gleason, 2018-06-21 This open access collection examines how higher education responds to the demands of the automation economy and the fourth industrial revolution. Considering significant trends in how people are learning, coupled with the ways in which different higher education institutions and education stakeholders are implementing adaptations, it looks at new programs and technological advances that are changing how and why we teach and learn. The book addresses trends in liberal arts integration of STEM innovations, the changing role of libraries in the digital age, global trends in youth mobility, and the development of lifelong learning programs. This is coupled with case study assessments of the various ways China, Singapore, South Africa and Costa Rica are preparing their populations for significant shifts in labour market demands – shifts that are already underway. Offering examples of new frameworks in which collaboration between government, industry, and higher education institutions can prevent lagging behind in this fast changing environment, this book is a key read for anyone wanting to understand how the world should respond to the radical technological shifts underway on the frontline of higher education. |
| arguments against general education requirements: A Process Approach to General Education Reform Susan Gano-Phillips, Robert W. Barnett, 2010 The call for general education reform in higher education has sounded clearly and consistently, but responses to this call have been varied. Gano-Phillips, Barnett, and the text's contributors believe that many of the institutional efforts have been content focused, and they argue that this fragments the efforts, creating divides between constituencies. Instead, the editors and contributors urge reformers to adopt a process focus which creates a community striving toward a goal together. In A Process Approach, editors Gano-Phillips and Barnett have put together a definitive collection of essays on the reform of general education programs in higher education, presented much like case studies. The contributors come from large and small institutions and from various parts of the country. Common among all the stories is the emphasis on bringing together all the stakeholders so that all can be represented and heard. Collectively, this group then works with a process approach to reach a general education reform appropriate to and reflective of the individual institution. As Gano-Phillips and Barnett write in the Introduction: A one-size-fits-all approach has not proven successful historically. Rather, as campus culture and reform processes are examined in synchrony, we contend that sustainable and substantive curricular reform is more likely to occur. This book offers readers and reformers paths for examining and encouraging the evolution of their unique campus cultures. And, through that examination, new and more useful models can emerge, resulting in a curricular reform that can be embraced by all. |
| arguments against general education requirements: General Education Jerry G. Gaff, 1999 The intent of this discussion paper is to provide a survey of emerging trends in general education reform at institutions of higher education. Ten themes are identified: (1) rethinking the major; (2) concern with student learning beyond course content; (3) an increased emphasis on diversity; (4) the importance of technology; (5) efficiency and effectiveness; (6) the need for more emphasis on implementation strategies in improving general education; (7) new administrative models; (8) the necessity of program assessment; (9) combining of change initiatives; and (10) convergence of two movements one to improve general education and the other concerned with accountability, fiscal responsibility, and prudent management. (Contains 48 references.) (DB) |
| arguments against general education requirements: Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 National Research Council, Institute of Medicine, Board on Children, Youth, and Families, Committee on the Science of Children Birth to Age 8: Deepening and Broadening the Foundation for Success, 2015-07-23 Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens? Ilana Garon, 2013-09-01 According to Ilana Garon, popular books and movies are inundated with the myth of the “hero teacher”—the one who charges headfirst into dysfunctional inner city schools like a firefighter into an inferno, bringing the student victims to safety through a combination of charisma and innate righteousness. The students are then “saved” by the teacher’s idealism, empathy, and willingness to put faith in kids who have been given up on by society as a whole.“Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens?” is not that type of book. In this book, Garon reveals the sometimes humorous, oftentimes frustrating, and occasionally horrifying truths that accompany the experience of teaching at a public high school in the Bronx today. The overcrowded classrooms, lack of textbooks, and abundance of mice, cockroaches, and drugs weren’t the only challenges Garon faced during her first four years as a teacher. Every day, she’d interact with students such as Kayron, Carlos, Felicia, Jonah, Elizabeth, and Tonya—students dealing with real-life addictions, miscarriages, stints in “juvie,” abusive relationships, turf wars, and gang violence. These students also brought with them big dreams and uncommon insight—and challenged everything Garon thought she knew about education. In response, Garon—a naive, suburban girl with a curly ponytail, freckles, and Harry Potter glasses—opened her eyes, rolled up her sleeves, and learned to distinguish between mitigated failure and qualified success. In this book, Garon explains how she learned that being a new teacher was about trial by fire, making mistakes, learning from the very students she was teaching, and occasionally admitting that she may not have answers to their thought-provoking (and amusing) questions. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Life, Work and Learning David Beckett, Paul Hager, 2005-07-08 In both paid and unpaid work contexts adults learn powerfully from their experiences. In this book, the authors argue that this should be the basis for a new perception of what is truly educational in life. Drawing on the works of Aristotle, Wittgenstein and Russell, along with contemporary conceptual work, they use both philosophical argument and empirical example to establish their view. This work will be of essential interest to philosophers of education and educational theorists worldwide. It will also interest teachers, trainers, facilitators, and all those with an interest in adult and vocational education. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Choosing College Michael B. Horn, Bob Moesta, 2019-09-11 Cut through the noise and make better college and career choices This book is about addressing the college-choosing problem. The rankings, metrics, analytics, college visits, and advice that we use today to help us make these decisions are out of step with the progress individual students are trying to make. They don't give students and families the information and context they need to make such a high-stakes decision about whether and where to get an education. Choosing College strips away the noise to help you understand why you’re going to school. What's driving you? What are you trying to accomplish? Once you know why, the book will help you make better choices. The research in this book illustrates that choosing a school is complicated. By constructing more than 200 mini-documentaries of how students chose different postsecondary educational experiences, the authors explore the motivations for how and why people make the decisions that they do at a much deeper, causal level. By the end, you’ll know why you’re going and what you’re really chasing. The book: Identifies the five different Jobs for which students hire postsecondary education Allows you to see your true options for what’s next Offers guidance for how to successfully choose your pathway Illuminates how colleges and entrepreneurs can build better experiences for each Job The authors help readers understand not what job students want out of college, but what Job students are hiring college to do for them. |
| arguments against general education requirements: The Idea of the University Jerzy Brzeziński, Leszek Nowak, 1997 |
| arguments against general education requirements: Wad-Ja-Get? Howard Kirschenbaum, Rodney Napier, Sidney Simon, Barry Fishman, 2021-02 Grades and grading are an accepted part of modern education. But why? Why do we accept a system that is more focused on ranking students than on learning? Why do we accept the negative effects of standard grading approaches, including turning students off from learning, increasing stress, creating winners and losers, and perpetuating racial and economic inequality? Why do we accept these things when there are better alternatives? Wad-Ja-Get? is a unique discussion of grading and its effects on students. The book was written by three education professors who have had first-hand contact with the problems of grading in all its forms. Written in the form of a novel, the topic is explored through the eyes of students, teachers, and parents in one high school embroiled in a controversy around grading. Possible alternatives to the grading system are examined in detail and the research on grading is summarized in an appendix. This 50th anniversary edition of the book includes a new introduction by Professor Barry Fishman, updating the research and setting the original book in the context of today's educational and societal challenges. Wad-Ja-Get? remains timely five decades after its original publication, and will be inspiring to students, parents, educators, and policymakers. |
| arguments against general education requirements: Philosophy of Education: Problems of educational content and practices Paul Heywood Hirst, Patricia White, 1998 |
The Case for Philosophy as a General-Education Requirement
General-Education Requirement THOMAS METCALF Spring Hill College Abstract: I argue that colleges should include philosophy courses as general-education requirements. I begin by …
“What Every Student Should Know”: General Education …
The present paper defines general curriculum requirements in higher education. It focuses on the history of the arguments that make up general curriculum requirements starting from the Yale …
Student Opinions on General Education Sequence
general education course requirements The general education sequence features conflicting goals. I explore the tension goals of widening students' perspectives while also preparing …
The Importance and Challenges of General Education: A …
Because general education programs play a significant role in students’ education in American colleges and universities today, I contend that the importance and challenges of general …
General Education Requirements: A Look at the Structure of …
coursework for the major specialization, are known as general education (GE) requirements. As the core of a “well-rounded liberal arts education,” the purpose of GE is to assure intellectual …
A Decade of Change in General Education - 上海交通大学教务处
Common arguments against general education, such as, “Our institution is just too large and complex to change its general edu-cation,” or “Our college is just too small and lacks the...
Arguments Against General Education Requirements (PDF)
Arguments Against General Education Requirements Some Summery Arguments Against Federal Aid to General Education Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. Committee …
Liberal Education/Bildung: Arguments For and Against
In this seminar, we will discuss – as the title states – arguments for and against liberal edu-cation or Bildung. We will consider different lines of objection against this educational ide-al, and …
The right to inclusive education: why is there so much …
Using a specific interdisciplinary approach in order to critically analyse a legal norm, the article looks into the very meaning of inclusive education by utilising some central conclusions from …
Student PercePtionS of General education requirementS at a …
ons about general education requirements at a large research-intensive university. Findings revealed that students harbored misconceptions about general educa-tion requirements and …
School Choice: Arguments For and Against - Cato Institute
School choice – allowing public funding to go to privately operated educational options chosen by parents, versus going only to assigned schools created and controlled by government – is an...
Arguments Against General Education Requirements
why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for average workers, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely ever use, and why cutting …
Changing General Education Perceptions through …
Introducing students to the general education curriculum and the courses available to fulfill the general education requirements early on can influence student motivation by equipping them …
THE PHILOSOPHY OF GENERAL EDUCATION AND ITS …
establish general education at those schools and inspired other universities around the country to follow their lead. The writings of these thinkers form a fairly coherent philosophy of general …
Full Inclusion: The Benefits and Disadvantages of Inclusive
General education students in a full inclusion setting learn to understand that students with special needs are a part of the community and can contribute their unique gifts and talents.
POSITIVE EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL …
The purpose of this report is to evaluate the arguments for and against mandating a master’s degree in library and/or information science as a prerequisite for the grade classification GS-9 …
I General Education Requirements - JSTOR
General education will refer to courses within a dis tribution schema that all students must pass as a requirement for graduation. Additionally, Leskes and Miller (2005) define three "anchoring …
Controversy in education: Inclusion vs. Self-contained …
Activists try to fight against the oppression of people with disabilities; they see these people as a minority group. When looking at ethics, full-inclusion programs discriminate actually against …
Inclusion Works! Inspiration and Information to Counter …
Here are three common arguments against inclusion and rationale for why they are weak or unfounded. Argument #1: Some students are just “too disabled.” Some argue that students …
The GRE in Admissions: Examining the Evidence and Arguments
recent trend in graduate admissions has been to eliminate the requirement to submit GRE scores (called “test optional”), or even to prohibit their use in admissions decisions. This paper …
The Case for Philosophy as a General-Education Requirement
General-Education Requirement THOMAS METCALF Spring Hill College Abstract: I argue that colleges should include philosophy courses as general-education requirements. I begin by …
“What Every Student Should Know”: General Education …
The present paper defines general curriculum requirements in higher education. It focuses on the history of the arguments that make up general curriculum requirements starting from the Yale …
Student Opinions on General Education Sequence
general education course requirements The general education sequence features conflicting goals. I explore the tension goals of widening students' perspectives while also preparing …
The Importance and Challenges of General Education: A …
Because general education programs play a significant role in students’ education in American colleges and universities today, I contend that the importance and challenges of general …
General Education Requirements: A Look at the Structure of …
coursework for the major specialization, are known as general education (GE) requirements. As the core of a “well-rounded liberal arts education,” the purpose of GE is to assure intellectual …
A Decade of Change in General Education - 上海交通大学教 …
Common arguments against general education, such as, “Our institution is just too large and complex to change its general edu-cation,” or “Our college is just too small and lacks the...
Arguments Against General Education Requirements (PDF)
Arguments Against General Education Requirements Some Summery Arguments Against Federal Aid to General Education Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. Committee …
Liberal Education/Bildung: Arguments For and Against
In this seminar, we will discuss – as the title states – arguments for and against liberal edu-cation or Bildung. We will consider different lines of objection against this educational ide-al, and …
The right to inclusive education: why is there so much …
Using a specific interdisciplinary approach in order to critically analyse a legal norm, the article looks into the very meaning of inclusive education by utilising some central conclusions from …
Student PercePtionS of General education requirementS at …
ons about general education requirements at a large research-intensive university. Findings revealed that students harbored misconceptions about general educa-tion requirements and …
School Choice: Arguments For and Against - Cato Institute
School choice – allowing public funding to go to privately operated educational options chosen by parents, versus going only to assigned schools created and controlled by government – is an...
Arguments Against General Education Requirements
why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for average workers, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely ever use, and why cutting …
Changing General Education Perceptions through …
Introducing students to the general education curriculum and the courses available to fulfill the general education requirements early on can influence student motivation by equipping them …
THE PHILOSOPHY OF GENERAL EDUCATION AND ITS …
establish general education at those schools and inspired other universities around the country to follow their lead. The writings of these thinkers form a fairly coherent philosophy of general …
Full Inclusion: The Benefits and Disadvantages of Inclusive
General education students in a full inclusion setting learn to understand that students with special needs are a part of the community and can contribute their unique gifts and talents.
POSITIVE EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL …
The purpose of this report is to evaluate the arguments for and against mandating a master’s degree in library and/or information science as a prerequisite for the grade classification GS-9 …
I General Education Requirements - JSTOR
General education will refer to courses within a dis tribution schema that all students must pass as a requirement for graduation. Additionally, Leskes and Miller (2005) define three "anchoring …
Controversy in education: Inclusion vs. Self-contained …
Activists try to fight against the oppression of people with disabilities; they see these people as a minority group. When looking at ethics, full-inclusion programs discriminate actually against …
Inclusion Works! Inspiration and Information to Counter …
Here are three common arguments against inclusion and rationale for why they are weak or unfounded. Argument #1: Some students are just “too disabled.” Some argue that students …
The GRE in Admissions: Examining the Evidence and Arguments
recent trend in graduate admissions has been to eliminate the requirement to submit GRE scores (called “test optional”), or even to prohibit their use in admissions decisions. This paper …
