Abstract
This article explores the widening gap between business and societal needs and current general education curricula. Research is presented that documents gaps between projected needs of industry and current practices in postsecondary education especially in the general education areas. Positive efforts to close the gap are highlighted. Also highlighted are changing regulatory environments, some that support forward-thinking approaches to liberal education and others that revert to traditional educational practices. With a focus on adaptability and intentional teaching and learning, recommendations are presented for flexible curriculum, intentional pedagogy, and a backwards approach to the teaching-learning enterprise that begins with authentic assessment of student learning.
Highlights
More and more people around the globe can access higher education through new educational modalities; today’s students can choose from a dearth of fields of study ranging from the traditional liberal arts to applied fields of study such as engineering and medicine; post-secondary education is available at various levels from courses and certificates to doctoral degrees; postsecondary education is both credentialbearing and non-credential-bearing; and students can choose from different types of educational organizations including private, government funded, training schools, and non-profit and for profit institutions
Hart Research Associates, 2006, p. 2). They concur that the general education offered in most postsecondary institutions is not working
Liberal education, the education that “...empowers individuals, liberates the mind from ignorance, and cultivates social responsibility... [and is] characterized by challenging encounters with important issues, and more a way of studying than specific content” (Schneider, 2003) is not easy to achieve. It is much more than general education; it is liberating education
Summary
More and more people around the globe can access higher education through new educational modalities; today’s students can choose from a dearth of fields of study ranging from the traditional liberal arts to applied fields of study such as engineering and medicine; post-secondary education is available at various levels from courses and certificates to doctoral degrees; postsecondary education is both credentialbearing and non-credential-bearing; and students can choose from different types of educational organizations including private, government funded, training schools, and non-profit and for profit institutions. The earliest schools in England in the 600s were of two types: Song Schools were professional schools for those who performed services, while grammar schools focused on general education and targeted those preparing to be statesmen, lawyers, and civil servants (Gillard, 2011). Throughout history, a liberal education was highly regarded and often available only to the elite
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