What Should It Mean to Have a Liberal Education in the 21st Century

Bibliographic Data

ID12008973
AuthorsD G Mulcahy (Central Connecticut State University, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume39
Issue3
Pages465-486
Publication date2009-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCurriculum Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0362-6784 • E-ISSN: 1467-873X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-873x.2009.00452.x
OpenAlexW2033643527
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited21

Liberal education has long been a fascination for scholars and educators. At one time largely the concern of colleges and universities, over the years it has become central to the discussion of general education in both schools and colleges. Yet it has not been without its critics even from within. In asking what it means to be an educated person in the 21st century, and what contribution a liberal education can make in addressing this question, Carl Bereiter got to the heart of an increasingly urgent debate. It is essentially around Bereiter’s question that this article is constructed. It draws on some of the classic literature in the field as well as more recent scholarship that raises issues concerning the historical idea of a liberal education and points to new directions for the future. In particular, it addresses the need to reconsider the ideal of the educated person as a starting point for justifying curriculum content in liberal education, it examines the claims of practical knowledge to be included in the curriculum, and it considers the case for greater attention to pedagogical considerations. It concludes that the literature strongly suggests that the time to forge new a conception of the time honored idea is at hand

Curriculum · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Higher education · Ideal (ethics · Liberal arts education · Liberal education · Pedagogy · Political science · Scholarship · Sociology · Critical and Liberation Pedagogy · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Education, Philosophy, and Society · Law · Philosophy

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