I found this statement defines more precisely the previous discussion’s concept of a “liberal education”. The reason why we (society) come to a university is to become the “enlightened and good man”. The best means by which to achieve this heightened citizenship constantly changes with time. As technology exponentially increases the output of information, educators must adjust their methods to accommodate for the consequential exponentially increase of outdated information.
This video, “Shift Happens”, illustrates the current intensity of change coming with globalization and the implications of this change on US citizens today. Its central message likens to that of Brickley’s “What is the true value of a liberal arts education?”, except that naturally, the statistics have been updated and are now much more drastic. One of its most applicable statements here is this:
“For students starting a four-year technical or college degree[…]half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.”
Thus, the value of vocational learning has significantly diminished because the methods we go about specific jobs so rapidly changes that we no longer need college graduates emerging as doctors or lawyers, we need innovators and versatile learners. Graduates must be familiar with a myriad of disciplines because they very well may need them all in their lifetime as learned skills and techniques constantly become obsolete.
Plan II recognizes this phenomenon, and addresses it by emphasizing an “[…]education that lays the foundation for a future of self-education” (Education Without Boundaries). In this way, Plan II undergraduates emerge prepared for rapid change in an environment in which only those who have what it takes to teach themselves ultimately succeed. The core curriculum of Plan II is designed to induce curiosity, the most powerful tool necessary for self learning.
The Plan II seal unifies Arts and Sciences “[…] from the days when the two colleges, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, were one” (“Significance of the architectural frieze”). Now, more than ever, the significance of this seal bears down upon Plan II educators to cultivate well-rounded, intellectually curious students. The pressure is on.
The road to cultivating the intellectually curious begins with first-years in their World Literature classes. These classes provide small communities through which Plan II students from all different backgrounds and focuses may feel comfortable and stimulate dialogue between them. Fostered in an intimate environment, these dialogues initiate the liberal education through the self discovery that occurs when ambitious young minds converge. This is the greatest value I’ve gathered from Plan II thus far in my experience. Wiley noted the importance of self discovery.
“With the emphasis on the individual in American culture, it is absolutely vital that we, as maturing Americans […] obtain an education that encourages the discovery of our own individuality.”
Already, the changes I've noticed from the time this picture was taken in everyone, myself included, are immense. Plan II spurns an accelerated growth in first years. I feel like I've either grown an inch or been put through a wringer.
The upcoming unit involving Second Life and the integration of our role models unifies the liberal education’s significant themes of self-discovery, adaptation, and connecting with our peers.
Through our role models, we discover what we value most.
“Keats contended that the true poet ‘has no character…no identity,’ that he is annihilated’ in the characters of others and concerns himself solely with revealing their essential natures…” (The Sympathetic Imagination). Through Second Life and similar technology, we simultaneously annihilate and assimilate ourselves into the coming virtual domination of industry, economy, and communication.
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