#indefenseofaliberaleducation

[vasiliik-ih-2-2019-blog]

“Because of the times we live in, all of us, young and old, do not spend enough time and effort thinking about the meaning of life. We do not look inside ourselves enough to understand our strengths and weaknesses, and we do not look around enough - at the world, in history - to ask the deepest and broadest questions. The solution surely is that, even now, we could all use a little bit more of a liberal education.” 

[faithlearntech]

Review of Fareed Zakaria’s In Defense of a Liberal Education

Why a Liberal Education?

Fareed Zakaria’s In Defense of a Liberal Education finds itself at a fascinating crossroads in the story of American education. Economic downturn produced a pragmatic response for many, especially in higher education. A focus on workforce development rather than the broad exposure offered by a liberal arts education has seen the significant growth of a number of institutions.

Zakaria points to his childhood in India, where a developing educational system placed sole focus on test taking and skills based education, rather than on problem solving and critical thought. The idea of investing time and money into a liberal arts education that seemingly had no connection to the actual career he was pursuing was heavily criticized by his friends and family at the time. Parallels to contemporary American society are not difficult to see – astronomical increases in tuition costs have put incredible pressure on students and parents alike to ensure they are indeed seeing a worthwhile return on their educational investment. Zakaria even points to the fact that President Obama has spoken on this topic (from a speech in January 2014): “I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree.”

From the very beginning of the book, the author does well to point out that to focus on a purely pragmatic skills based education would be a departure from the way America has thought of education from its inception. Liberal arts education has been a distinctive of American education – and one, Zakaria argues, has set us apart as one of the most innovative countries in history.

Learning to Think

Following a very cursory history of liberal arts education, Zakaria lays out his case for the value of such a program of study. “But for me, the central virtue of a liberal education is that it teaches you how to write, and writing makes you think” (page 73). Under this broader umbrella of teaching students to think, he places components of learning to write, speak, and rather importantly, how to learn.

The author contends that a liberal education accomplishes these goals by exposing the student to a broad swath of literature, philosophy, and culture. This exposure causes students to see common threads woven throughout multiple disciplines – and by extension, experience what has been coined in the field of education, “transfer of learning” (Thorndike and Woodworth, 1901). In a nutshell, transfer of learning simply means that students gain skill in applying what they have learned in one context to other contexts – true mastery of that learning concept.

From a Christian worldview, this argument seems quite compelling. If Christ is pre-eminent in all things (Colossians 1), this ought to include the intellect (Mark Noll expertly states this case in his book, Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind). Thus, a system of education that teaches students to think deeply mirrors God’s purposes for learning.

The Liberal Arts and Society

A key piece of Zakaria’s argument for a liberal education holds that it equips students to be thoughtful and invested citizens. This line of thinking closely resonates with the way many of America’s framers conceptualized an enduring Republic – one that would succeed as long as its citizens remained virtuous and considerate.

This argument is extended – at times tenuously so – to a broader context of world culture. Zakaria relates statistics pointing to the fact that humankind is experiencing one of the most peaceful times in the history of the world.  He continues by pointing out that world poverty is rapidly declining, while countries formerly ranked as ‘third world’ are developing at rapid rates. At points, it seems Zakaria has taken on the identity (and eternal optimism) of a pre-twentieth century postmillennialist. In the context of this particular point, direct connections are not necessarily made to the liberal education – however, it seems the author sees the stage as set for today’s youth to create a drastically better world than what they see today, carried along by the vehicle of the liberal arts.

Apart from this optimistic tone, the author makes an important turn towards the end of the book to discuss the dynamics of ‘today’s youth.’ He accurately relates that the current educational climate of high stakes testing has created a student who avoids risk at all cost and has lost their intellectual curiosity. Tragically, students view their learning as a lifeless exchange of goods – reading books simply to find facts that need to be regurgitated on a test. As previously discussed, the liberal arts education, if practiced effectively, seems to increase opportunities for students to think deeply and meaningfully. Zakaria does well to point out why the liberal education meets the needs of these students: “After all, one can always read a book to get the basic information about a particular topic, or simply use Google. The crucial challenge is to learn how to read critically, analyze data, and formulate ideas-and most of all to enjoy the intellectual adventure enough to be able to do them easily and often.” (page 61).

A Step in the Right Direction

All things considered, Zakaria does a lot of things right in this book – for example, criticizing certain forms or philosophies of education for their complete focus on results rather than process - although I think it is best to take his optimism with a bit of caution. In education, no methodology is ever a ‘silver bullet’ that will solve all of the problems of your students. Specific context plays a major role in the effectiveness of a given educational method. That said, the way in which Zakaria advocates for a liberal education – that it promotes deep thinking and a passion for inquiry and love of learning – remains helpful to many classroom settings.

This is a step in the right direction to push for critical thought – but it is limited – if not for a higher purpose other than being a better human being, why? The author’s closing paragraph exposes this weakness:

“This much I will concede: Because of the times we live in, all of us, young and old, do not spend enough time and effort thinking about the meaning of life. We do not look inside of ourselves enough to understand our strengths and weaknesses, and we do not look around enough – at the world, in history – to ask the deepest and broadest questions. The solution surely is that, even now, we could all use a little bit more of a liberal education.” (page 169)

Apart from a faith construct providing a higher purpose for thinking deeply and developing a passion for learning, Zakaria’s efforts seem hollow. The Christian worldview offers a meaningful purpose to this pursuit (1 Cor. 10:31). This purpose of glorifying God empowers the student to pursue the difficult (yet rewarding!) task of learning and to persist through it.