In the 1950s and 1960s, for instance, students saw college as more than a glorified trade school. But in earlier periods of educational expansion, this was not the case. Some believe this pattern makes sense-that new entrants into higher education might simply prefer job training to the liberal arts. During the same period, the percentage of business majors in the undergraduate population rose from 13.7 to 20.5. By 2012, that number had fallen to 3.0 percent. In 1971, for example, 7.6 percent of all bachelor’s degrees were awarded in English language and literature. As college enrollment has grown in recent decades, the percentage of students majoring in subjects like English and philosophy has declined sharply. This growing unease is apparent in the numbers. And parents fear that it will cost them their life savings. Students wonder what they would do with a degree in psychology. Conservatives fume that it is too, well, liberal (though the term has no partisan meaning). An open-ended exploration of knowledge is seen as a road to nowhere.Ī classic liberal education has few defenders. They urge students to stop dreaming and start thinking practically about the skills they will need in the workplace. Politicians, businesspeople, and even many educators see it as the only way for the nation to stay competitive.

In an age defined by technology and globalization, everyone is talking about skills-based learning. But in America itself, a liberal education is out of favor. Around the world, the idea of a broad-based “liberal” education is closely tied to the United States and its great universities and colleges. What you are not supposed to do is study the liberal arts. If you’re not quite that adventurous, you could major in electrical engineering. Start a technology company and take it public. Spend your days learning computer science and your nights coding. If you want to live a good life these days, you know what you’re supposed to do. Copyright © 2015 by Kastella Rylestone, LLC.

For information on the subject of the documentary, go to - Įxcerpted from In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria. For information on Unity Spiritual Center, visit or call 44. Tickets can be purchased online at: Because seating is limited, it is recommended that interested people buy tickets in advance online. The showing at Unity is sponsored by the non-profit holistic education organization A Gathering of Children. Unity is located at 23855 Detroit Road, one block west of Clague Road, in Westlake. Tickets are $10 online (with a $1.54 fee per ticket) and $15 at the door. An official selection at nearly a dozen independent film festivals, “Race to Nowhere” challenges communities to go beyond GPAs and standardized test scores and find better methods of preparing the students of today. The film casts an unflinching eye on the way success is defined in the American education system and the impact on students, educators and parents.īurned out students and worried educators share stories that demonstrate what the film’s producers call “the culture of hollow achievement” – students being pushed to the brink and emerging disengaged and unprepared to compete in the global economy. 'Race to Nowhere,' a documentary which has drawn thousands across the nation and has been screened in schools, theaters and film festivals, will be shown at Unity Spiritual Center on Friday, April 15, at 6:45 p.m.

Education documentary road to nowhere