Lehrman American Studies Center

Is it possible to learn through doing? To what degree is a liberal arts general education curriculum truly liberal arts if one involves students in service learning—in learning through doing? In my journey through leading the revision of the general education curriculum at my own university, I have encountered various arguments for and against this question. Some argue that service learning unduly muddles a true liberal arts curriculum with avant-garde pedagogy and a substitution of academic rigor with experiential learning. Others suggest that liberal arts education in the 21st century has to include some type of experiential learning to relate the intellect and the will in the constantly changing global landscape.

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Evaluating and revising a general education curriculum is much like a journey through the Land of Mordor on the way to Mount Doom. Few are one’s allies, many are one’s enemies, perils abound and there is darkness everywhere. I may perhaps write about allies and enemies alike at some other time. For now, I want to write about some of the perils and darkness that pervade the terrain.

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"Universities have no business teaching students how to be good people or good citizens."

I can still remember one of my colleagues adamantly stating this opinion almost a decade ago. Now I find myself in the interesting position of having to revisit this question in my current work of reviewing and revising my university's general education curriculum. Is there really a role for character and citizen education in a general education curriculum?

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If education is soul-crafting at its best, then crafting a general education curriculum is perhaps the epitome of educational soul craft. So imagine my delight in being given the opportunity and privilege to lead my institution’s effort to review and perhaps revise its general education curriculum. I truly was delighted (some may think me crazy!). But there are very few times in academia when one has the opportunity to develop and create or re-create something from the bottom-up. And, alas, here was my opportunity. Let the tinkering begin!

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“A-quality faculty always hire A-quality faculty. B-quality faculty always hire B-quality faculty. But C-quality faculty NEVER hire A-quality faculty.” These were some of the most memorable parting words of one of my colleagues as she parted from one academic job to another. She was trying to emphasize the importance of hiring excellent faculty for she was convinced that bad hires are not only difficult to remove but have long-term negative consequences on future hires. This made me think about the question which this blog’s title poses: can C-quality faculty ever be turned into A-quality faculty?

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I wonder how often we have thought about what constitutes effective teaching from the perspectives of our students. We often discuss effective teaching among ourselves, our professional peers, and those sympathetic to our approaches, methods, and assumptions. But have we ever wondered what effective teaching is from our students’ vantage point?

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We faculty often lack a pedagogical conscience. Are we hard on ourselves and our pedagogical assumptions and practices? Do we dissect our own pedagogical habits and beliefs? Or do we heap blind self-praise on our teaching with little self-critique?

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In a previous post, I reflected on two basic questions that all college faculty must continually address: what do the best teachers know and understand and how do great teachers prepare to teach. Obviously, the implication of these questions is that those who ask them really do desire to be great college teachers. Those who don’t may never ask these questions or care about the answers.

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Who are these Millennials that fill the classrooms of today’s universities? What has shaped their upbringing and identity?

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Education is the task of crafting the souls of students. It is never simply about conveying information so that students can enlarge their body of knowledge. While education should indeed contribute to a student’s basic knowledge of facts, education is ultimately about cultivating a particular kind of human being.

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