liberal-education-and-professional-education

1LiberalEducationandProfessionalEducationALiberaleducationisasystemorcourseofeducationsuitableforthecultivationofafree(Latin:liber)humanbeing.Itisbasedonthemedievalconceptoftheliberalartsor,morecommonlynow,theliberalismoftheAgeofEnlightenment.Ithasbeendescribedasaphilosophyofeducationthatempowersindividualswithbroadknowledgeandtransferableskills,andastrongersenseofvalues,ethics,andcivicengagement...bytheAssociationofAmericanCollegesandUniversities.Usuallyglobalandpluralisticinscope,itcanincludeageneraleducationcurriculumwhichprovidesbroadexposuretomultipledisciplinesandlearningstrategiesinadditiontoin-depthstudyinatleastoneacademicarea.Liberaleducationwasadvocatedinthe19thcenturybythinkerssuchasJohnHenryNewmanandF.D.Maurice.SirWilfredGriffinEadydefinedLiberalEducationasbeingeducationforitsownsakeandpersonalenrichment,withtheteachingofvalues.ThedeclineofliberaleducationisoftenattributedtomobilizationduringtheSecondWorldWar.Thepremiumandemphasisplaceduponmathematics,science,andtechnicaltrainingcausedthelossofitsprominentpositioninhighereducationstudies.However,itbecamecentraltomuchundergraduateeducationintheUnitedStatesinthemid-20thcentury,beingconspicuousinthemovementfor'generaleducation'.Intheearlyyearsofthe21stcentury,manyuniversitiesandliberalartscollegesreviewedtheircurriculatoincludealiberaleducation,ortopromotebroaderundergraduateeducationinfusedwithitsspirit.DefinitionofLiberalEducationTheAmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofSciencedescribesaliberaleducationinthisway:Ideally,aliberaleducationproducespersonswhoareopen-mindedandfreefromprovincialism,dogma,preconception,andideology;consciousoftheiropinionsandjudgments;reflectiveoftheiractions;andawareoftheirplaceinthesocialandnaturalworlds.Liberallyeducatedpeopleareskepticaloftheirowntraditions;theyaretrainedtothinkforthemselvesratherthandefertoauthority.Italsocultivatesactivecitizenshipthroughoff-campuscommunityservice,internships,research,andstudyabroad.Somefacultyseethismovementtowardscivicengagementasmorepedagogicallypowerfulthantraditionalclassroomteaching,butopponentsarguethattheeducationoccurringwithinanacademicinstitutionmustbepurelyintellectualandscholarly.Aliberaleducationcombinesaneducationintheclassics,Englishliterature,thehumanities,andmoralvirtues.Thetermliberaleducationinthemodernsenseshouldnotbeconfusedwithliberalartseducation;thelatterreferstocertainsubjectsofstudy,whiletheformerisawayoflearningitselfandmaybepursuedthroughanysubject.Indeed,aliberalartseducationdoesnotnecessarilyincludealiberaleducation,andaliberalartsprogrammayevenbeasspecializedasavocationalprogram.VocationalEducationVocationaleducation(alsoknownasvocationaleducationandtrainingorVET)isaneducationthatpreparespeopleforspecifictrades,craftsandcareersatvariouslevelsfromatradetoacraftoraprofessionalpositioninengineering,accountancy,nursing,medicine,andotherhealingarts,architecture,pharmacy,lawetc.Craftvocationsareusuallybasedonmanualorpracticalactivities,traditionallynon-academic,relatedtoaspecifictrade,occupation,orvocation.Itissometimesreferredtoastechnicaleducationasthetraineedirectlydevelopsexpertiseina2particulargroupoftechniques.Vocationaleducationmaybeclassifiedasteachingproceduralknowledge.Thiscanbecontrastedwithdeclarativeknowledge,asusedineducationinausuallybroaderscientificfield,whichmightconcentrateontheoryandabstractconceptualknowledge,characteristicoftertiaryeducation.Vocationaleducationcanbeatthesecondary,post-secondarylevel,furthereducationlevelandcaninteractwiththeapprenticeshipsystem.Increasingly,vocationaleducationcanberecognisedintermsofrecognitionofpriorlearningandpartialacademiccredittowardstertiaryeducation(e.g.,atauniversity)ascredit;however,itisrarelyconsideredinitsownformtofallunderthetraditionaldefinitionofhighereducation.Vocationaleducationisrelatedtotheage-oldapprenticeshipsystemoflearning.Apprenticeshipsaredesignedformanylevelsofworkfrommanualtradestohighknowledgework.However,asthelabormarketbecomesmorespecializedandeconomiesdemandhigherlevelsofskill,governmentsandbusinessesareincreasinglyinvestinginthefutureofvocationaleducationthroughpubliclyfundedtrainingorganizationsandsubsidizedapprenticeshiportraineeshipinitiativesforbusinesses.Atthepost-secondarylevelvocationaleducationistypicallyprovidedbyaninstituteoftechnology,university,orbyalocalcommunitycollege.RelationshipbetweenLiberalandProfessionalEducationLiberaleducationandprofessionaleducationhaveoftenbeenseenasdivergent.Germanuniversitiesmovedtowardsmoreprofessionalteachinginthenineteenthcentury,andunlikeAmericanstudents,whostillpursuedaliberaleducation,studentselsewherestartedtotakeprofessionalcoursesinthefirstorsecondyearofstudy.Intheearlytwentiethcentury,Americanliberalartscollegesstillrequiredstudentstopursueacommoncurriculum,whereaspublicuniversitiesallowedastudenttomoveontomorepragmaticcoursesafterhavingtakengeneraleducationcoursesforthefirsttwoyearsofstudy.Asanemphasisonspecializedknowledgegrewinthemiddleofthecentury,collegesbegantoadjusttheproportionofrequiredgeneraleducationcourses