William Cronon’s Only Connect – The Goals of a Liberal Education challenge the way I perceived a liberal education. Before reading Cronon’s work, I would define a liberal education as one that provides the student with the opportunity to ask questions, think critically, and openly find ways to challenge themselves. I saw this form of a liberal education manifesting itself with students being able to write creatively for an exam, or pick their own assignment topics. However, Cronon’s concept of a liberal education extends far beyond the minutia of classroom interaction to focus on the overall virtues we seek in an educated individual. Often times it is argued that the purpose of general education requirements is to sculpt a student into a well rounded citizen. I believe the virtues that Cronon focuses on do a much better job of achieving this than simply requiring a student to take two humanities, one physical science, one ethnic study, etc.
Two particular virtues that Cronon highlights stick out with me in particular. The first is that a liberally educated individual, “listen(s) and they hear” (Cronon 3). Some of the most well educated individuals I know will enter into a conversation, and not register a word the other person is saying. Despite how well versed these people are in any particular subject matter; I can never fully respect their intelligence, because of their inability to listen to others. On the contrary, the people whose intelligence I respect the most, are those that when I talk to them, it is obvious that they are truly absorbing every word I have said. Building off of this virtue is a similar virtue that liberally educated individuals, “can talk with anyone.” The quote, “ Figure out what’s so neat about what the other person does,” epitomizes a liberally educated person, because it shows how they are committed to listening in a conversation (Cronon 3).
Finally, Cronon’s conclusion very much impressed me. He argues, “Education for human freedom is education for human community” (Cronon 5). I had never really considered my education for this purpose, but when I began to contemplate the situation, I concluded that Cronon was correct. An education is something that does not just impact the individual who receives it, but rather the whole society in which the individual functions.
Jason Segal
Question: How do you feel about Cronon's notion that education is not just for an individual but for a community as a whole?
ReplyDeleteI also thought that Cronon's conclusion was very interesting and true. I hadn't really thought of my education as impacting the rest of society until I contemplated what he meant by this. I think what he is saying is that when a person utilizes his education in their job, they will also be benefiting the rest of society. This is more obvious with some jobs than others, but still generally true.
ReplyDeleteI agree Jason. I too believe that the 10 virtues that Cronon talks about in his article can better sculpt a student into a more rounded citizen, more so than simply requiring a student to take two humanities, a physical science, etc. However, I still think that these classes can still be good things for sculpting a student into a more well-rounded citizen. For example, just communicating and interacting with other students from these "humanity and physical science" classes can give you a look at the different opinions of other individuals out there. A math major might have completely different opinions on a subject as compared to that of an English major... However, if, like you said, you are open to others opinions, you can still receive a valuable amount of information out of the conversation. And this further relates to your question of education not just being for an individual but for the community as a whole. I strongly agree with his notion, and I feel that being active and participating in a social network (whether it be through listening, talking, understanding, interacting, etc.) is the key to becoming a well-rounded person and, thus, an educated person as well. The connection that I made with all of the material we have looked at thus far, is participating and being active are the essential components to an educated person. I do not know for sure if that is exactly what all the authors were trying to get at or not, but I think there is definitely a connection between participating and being educated.
ReplyDelete