Within William Cronon’s “Only Connect…” and John Dewey’s “Education as a Necessity of Life,” the topic of education is discussed in relation to its roles in present-day society. In particular, William Cronon points out many of the inaccuracies in society’s interpretation of a liberal education, and contends, throughout his argument, that a liberal education should be measured with respect to several parameters. Specifically, Cronon believes that a liberal education should “aspire to nurture the growth of human talent in the service of human freedom”(1). Moreover, he compiles a list of essential boundaries a liberal education must lie within in order for it to be regarded as a genuine liberal education.
Importantly, I disagree with Cronon’s interpretation, as I do not think his proposal is practical. Moreover, I believe Cronon is extremely ignorant in his assessment of a liberal education because he squeezes the entire educational process into a mundane list of personal “qualities.” As such, many of his thoughts are utopian in theory, as it is not realistic to assume that everyone values, or interprets education in the same way.
Conversely, John Dewey’s “Education As A Necessity of Life,” interprets education more realistically by supporting his arguments with several factors that contribute to educational development. This is especially depicted in Dewey’s argument regarding the importance of communication. Here, Dewey argues that “all communication is educative,” implying that schools are not the sole contributors to the educational process.
Ultimately, both arguments make valid arguments regarding education and its role in today’s society. On the one hand, Cronon’s article clearly outlines the many flaws in society’s interpretation of a liberal education, which dually serves to support his list of applicable educational qualities. However, I can only agree with Dewey’s thoughts on education, as they rely on practical, rather than theoretical, qualities that can truly stimulate societal growth in the future.
Question: Throughout Dewey's argument, he proposes that communication is one of the most valuable resources society can use to foster education. Do you believe that communication will become more or less important as society progresses into the future?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on Cronon. I found his list too idealistic and hypocritical (after he spent the preceding couple of paragraphs bemoaning how a liberal arts education today has turned into just a series of lists).
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I think communication will become more important in the sense that there will be so many new ways and methods of communication, much like facebook, skype, twitter, etc. have already done. I think the type of person to person communication Dewey was reffering will be phased out, sadly.
Caleb
I disagree with your thoughts on Cronon. While as a whole his list creates a Utopian theory, he summarizes his argument by acknowledging that a liberally educated human is not one who is equally perfectly versed in all areas of knowledge and each of the ten ideal attributes, but one who can admit that being well versed in all areas of study as well as the pursuit of perfection in these aforementioned attributes is what ought to be strived for, but impossible to achieve.
ReplyDelete