Liberal Education Essay Example for Free

Liberal Education Essay Essay Education is the most important factor behind the progress man has achieved in this world. It has been the permanent character of human history and evolution of thought. However, in the past, it used to be prerogative of only a few privileged men and the pace of development was quite slow. Since it has been disseminated to common people, there has been rapid growth in every sphere of development: science, technology, sociology, politics, anthropology, etc. Now it is treated as basic human right of every man. Though, it encompasses a wide sphere of knowledge, it has been metamorphosed by man according to his needs. It has been mainly applied as a tool of economic development, which has limited its application. Consequently, people are deprived of the potential education offers for the overall development of personality and stability of society. The chaos in modern world is also partly due to this fault. Therefore, in order to meet the multi-dimensional challenges, man faces in the world, it is essential to impart real education i. e. liberal education. The liberal education has been defined in many ways, though emphasizing the similar essential elements. The best definition is offered by the â€Å"Association of American Colleges and Universities†. â€Å"Liberal education means to empower an individual and prepare him to deal with diversity, complexity and change†. As manifest from the definition, the purpose of education is to enable man to surpass the challenges faced in the world, to know and obtain his rights and to accommodate himself in the constantly changing environment in the present day competitive world. The importance of liberal education in this contemporary globalised world is greatest than ever before. The world has become so shaped that every economic and social activity requires modern and advanced means of communication and technology. The transformation of technological development is on a very fast track. There is a demand of more interactive and communica tive manpower to run this complex system. Moreover, despite the interdependence on each other, the diversity in different areas is in sharp contrast. Hence, the man is required to be quite sufficiently prepared to move forward. And the instrument that can enable him to face these challenges is nothing but liberal education. This is why the renowned scholar â€Å"Skarnovey† says: â€Å"Liberal education: the developing countries must adopt it as it is a necessity†. Nevertheless, it is essential for every nation but the developed countries are already ahead in this sphere. The developing countries, which are still far behind, need to forge efforts to transform their education system in order to catch up with the rest of the world. Not only because it helps in achieving economic development but also because it fulfills the need of society in every sphere of life. The sphere of liberal education is wide enough to call it real education. Basically, education is aimed to develop whole being of a person. It is necessary to educate man to learn social ethics, cultural values, religious obligations, ways and means of a stable society and skills of professional competitiveness. Liberal education, simply, fulfills all these essential needs. It emphasises the development of a citizen who is professionally capable of living in the society in civilised way the way which is not only beneficial to himself alone, but also fruitful for other members of his family, community and society. It is best elaborated in the words of Kurth Kahin; â€Å"Liberal education teaches something about everything and everything about something†. His words can be best understood by contrast to the maxim â€Å"Jack of all; master of none†. Simultaneously, there are also people who are â€Å"Jack of none but master of one†. The people, who acquire general education without proficiency in any specific subject, are explained by the first maxim. While some people who are very skilled and highly qualified in one field like an engineer, scientist or doctor but do not know any other subject or field of life; these are referred to the latter assumption. However, liberal education is a moderate way between both the polar positions. It is aimed at making a person a good professional in any one field and also to possess knowledge and skills about other important fields. More importantly, it makes constructive members of society better described as â€Å"Jack of all; master of one†. In such a way, the objectives of liberal education are multifaceted, which address the requirement of society to a considerable extent. These objectives are briefly discussed here: Firstly, it is the most important for a man to be an informed citizen. The people who are concerned only with their single professional field of occupation cannot be ideally good citizens. They would only be members and nationals of a community or nation. A good citizen is required to be participatory in the social and political building of community, which is the foundation of any society. As the actions of man are based on information and knowledge, without these none understands the obligation towards community and resultantly remains inactive member of society. However, but if the students are inculcated the knowledge of their needs and roles, they would be quite prepared to foresee occurrences and would direct their thoughts and actions towards social and political participation. This can be achieved when the system of education is made liberal which does not aspire to produce only technical robots in human shape but informed and good citizens. Secondly, the philosophy of liberal education envisages the development of creative thinking among the students. Creative thinking has acquired fundamental place in the education system of advanced countries. The students are encouraged to â€Å"think a new†. The creative experiments, creative writings and creative art lead to frame the development of thought process. Though, it is practised in western countries, it owes its origin to the most influential scholars and artists of Greek period and early Muslim era. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Ibn-e-Khaldun, Galileo, Khuw-arzmi, Newton, to name a few, all were creative thinkers. In short, whole of the development in the world and education itself is the result of creative thinking. On the contrary, the limited application of education is insufficient to produce brilliant minds. The specific technological development devoid of human values and ethics has failed to form the basis of a viable society. Thus, it is the objective of liberal education to teach the students various subjects like history, sociology, philosophy and psychology besides their professional field, so that creative thought is encouraged to be developed among them. Therefore, we need to introduce liberal education in order to secure our future based on collective ideals. Thirdly, liberal education improves the skills and competitiveness of students, which is necessary to enable them to get foothold in the competitive market. For example a typist may have good efficiency in his field but computers have replaced typewriter. People like to get their papers typed on computer in order to save their document and to get good command. Now, the excellent typist is in trouble, he would go jobless in the market unless he learns to operate computer. Same is the case with every field of employment. The modes of technology are being transformed very rapidly. In order to meet the demands of market one should be quite prepared and skilled. Hence, the knowledge of mathematics, science, computer literacy and technological acquaintance are necessary to be imparted to the students, which can be achieved through liberal education. Fourthly, as the world has become a global village, the importance of communication skills has been increased manifold. A person must be proficient in national and at least one international language. He must know how to send e-mail, voice-mail or to carryout visual communication. The social change compels the person to change the job for better opportunities. The talented people feel an urge to move towards other countries as well in order to actualise their talent and to obtain maximum result. This is where the communication skills are mostly required. All the communication techniques, basically, listening, speaking and writing are essential ingredients. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the skills of students through methods of listening comprehension and speaking ability tests. All the examinations of foreign languages comprise these elements and even very talented students from developing countries fail to go abroad due to lack of these communication skills in international languages. The world has become so shaped that every economic and social activity requires modern and advanced means of communication and technology. The transformation of technological development is on a very fast track. These few objectives of liberal education underline its importance and need in the developing countries, including Pakistan. Unfortunately, it has not been taken seriously. The system of education in our country is obsolete. It is devoid of the contemporary methodology of teaching and the curriculum is almost from primary to university level. Computer is studied as a field of study only, not as a skill. Even in most of the universities it is taught only to the students of computer department seeking degree in that subject, let alone its use at primary and secondary level. In universities the students of other subjects like sociology, languages, arts and other sciences are not taught the computer skills. This lags them far behind from students of other countries and few quality institutes of the country. Same is true of languages. English though introduced from primary level, is not taught according to the modern techniques of comprehension. Only reading lessons and knowing meaning of words cannot enable students to master the language. The methodology of English departments in universities is also in question. The national language, Urdu, is also not focused at any level of education. Learning of both these languages is important to produce capable and competitive students at the national and international level. The fate of the students of other subjects is also not much different. On the one hand, they are deprived of computer and language skills; on the other they do not become proficient in their field of interest as the proper methodology is not applied. Faculty members are not well qualified, research is not pursued and creative thought is ignored. These defects of our education system are the main reasons of the chaos, unemployment, poverty and social instability in our society. In order to overcome these shortcomings, we must adopt the liberal education system without any further delay. However, this requires a well thought out and comprehensive policy to improve the existing education system. Primarily, we should redesign our curriculum at all levels. All the major components/subjects of liberal education: sociology humanism, citizenship, history, philosophy, languages, computer and sciences must be introduced in every tier of education from primary to university levels in accordance with the capacity of students and the needs of society. Secondarily, all the institutions should be equipped with computer and scientific laboratories and libraries. The research and creative thinking should be encouraged through modern techniques of education. In this regard the accessibility and equality of all sections of our stratified society must be ensured in order to achieve uniform development. Lastly, the faculty must be energised by providing skilled and experienced teachers. The existing teachers should be trained to equip them with modern techniques of teaching methodology. Fresh and young blood must be encouraged to join education field as a profession by enhancing the monetary incentives in the education sector. This policy will yield tremendous benefits to the future of a nation. The liberal education is hailed because it brings concrete advantages. The young generation of Pakistan makes bulk of the population of country. According to a report of the State Bank of Pakistan 65 per cent of the educated youth is unemployed due to irrelevance of their skills with market. If this portion of population is properly skilled, it will prove to be a boost to the economy as the manpower is considered a resource in all countries of the world. Another benefit would be the eradication of poverty. Once our youth are employed, they will naturally add to the income of their families and consequently eradicate their poverty. It will also help in raising the living standard of our common man as it is directly proportional to the income of a family. The liberal education would create sense of understanding and cooperation among the people. The contemporary chaos of extremism and isolationism are due to lack of approach towards collective interests and common goals among people. Once they realise their social obligations and think creatively they will initiate participating positively in the stability of society. It is quite clearly manifested from the discussion that liberal education, which is the real education, is an essential component of good governance and stable society. It not only helps an individual to progressively achieve goals but also gives impetus to economic, political and social stability to a state. In short, it forms the basis of human development in this complex global world of diversity and challenges. It offers a way towards a better change.

Immanuel, Kant (1724-1804) Essay examples -- essays research papers

Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 in the East Prussian town of KÃ ¶nigsberg and lived there practically all his life. He came from a deeply pious Lutheran family, and his own religious convictions formed a significant background to his philosophy. Like Berkeley, he felt it was essential to preserve the foundations of Christian belief. Kant became Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of KÃ ¶nigsberg in 1770 and taught there for most of his life. He was also greatly interested in science and published works on astronomy and geophysics. His three most significant works were published later in life. The Critique of Pure Reason came out in 1781, followed in 1788 by the Critique of Practical Reason and in 1790 by the Critique of Judgment. The Critique of Pure Reason is one of the most important works in the whole of philosophy. Unfortunately it is also one of the most unreadable - Kant himself described it as dry and obscure. Kant had generally been an outgoing and friendly man but towards the end of his life his mental faculties and his sight deteriorated badly. He died a shadow of his former self, aged 80. One of his most quoted sayings is carved on his gravestone in KÃ ¶nigsberg: "Two things fill my mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the reflection dwells on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me". IDEAS Kant believed that there are clear limits to what we can know. You could perhaps say that the mind's "glasses" set these limits. The philosophers before Kant had discussed the really "big" questions - for instance, whether man has an immortal soul, whether there is a God, whether nature consists of tiny indivisible particles, and whether the universe is finite or infinite. Kant believed there was no certain knowledge to be obtained on these questions. In such great philosophical questions, he thought that reason operates beyond the limits of what we humans can comprehend. At the same time there is in our nature a basic desire to pose these questions. When, for example, we ask whether the universe has always existed, we are asking about a totality of which we ourselves are a tiny part. We can therefore never completely know this totality. According to Kant there are two elements that contribute to our knowledge of the world - sensory perception and re... ...etimes you might only be kind and helpful to others because you know it pays off. It could be a way of becoming popular. But if this is your only motive you are not acting out of respect for moral law. You might be acting in accordance with moral law - and that could be fair enough - but if it is to be a moral action, you must have conquered yourself. Only when you do something purely out of duty can it be called a moral action. Kant's ethics is therefore sometimes called duty ethics. Kant also advocated the establishment of a "league of nations". In his treatise Perpetual Peace, he wrote that all countries should unite in order to assure peaceful coexistence between nations. He believed that man's "practical reason" would force the nations to emerge from the wild state of nature which creates wars, and make a contract to keep the peace. Kant recognised that this would take time to achieve but he saw it as our duty to work for the universal and lasting securing of peace. About 125 years after the appearance of Kant's treatise in 1795, the League of Nations was founded, after the First World War. After the Second World War it was replaced by the United Nations.

Digital Fortress Chapter 32

David Becker stood in the hallway outside suite 301. He knew that somewhere behind the ornately carved door was the ring. A matter of national security. Becker could hear movement inside the room. Faint talking. He knocked. A deep German accent called out. â€Å"Ja?† Becker remained silent. â€Å"Ja?† The door opened a crack, and a rotund Germanic face gazed down at him. Becker smiled politely. He did not know the man's name. â€Å"Deutscher, ja?† he asked. â€Å"German, right?† The man nodded, uncertain. Becker continued in perfect German. â€Å"May I speak to you a moment?† The man looked uneasy. â€Å"Was willst du? What do you want?† Becker realized he should have rehearsed this before brazenly knocking on a stranger's door. He searched for the right words. â€Å"You have something I need.† These were apparently not the right words. The German's eyes narrowed. â€Å"Ein ring,† Becker said. â€Å"Du hast einen Ring. You have a ring.† â€Å"Go away,† the German growled. He started to close the door. Without thinking, Becker slid his foot into the crack and jammed the door open. He immediately regretted the action. The German's eyes went wide. â€Å"Was tust du?† he demanded. â€Å"What are you doing?† Becker knew he was in over his head. He glanced nervously up and down the hall. He'd already been thrown out of the clinic; he had no intention of going two for two. â€Å"Nimm deinen Fu? weg!† the German bellowed. â€Å"Remove your foot!† Becker scanned the man's pudgy fingers for a ring. Nothing. I'm so close, he thought. â€Å"Ein Ring!† Becker repeated as the door slammed shut. David Becker stood a long moment in the well-furnished hallway. A replica of a Salvador Dali hung nearby. â€Å"Fitting.† Becker groaned. Surrealism. I'm trapped in an absurd dream. He'd woken up that morning in his own bed but had somehow ended up in Spain breaking into a stranger's hotel room on a quest for some magical ring. Strathmore's stern voice pulled him back to reality: You must find that ring. Becker took a deep breath and blocked out the words. He wanted to go home. He looked back to the door marked 301. His ticket home was just on the other side-a gold ring. All he had to do was get it. He exhaled purposefully. Then he strode back to suite 301 and knocked loudly on the door. It was time to play hardball. The German yanked open the door and was about to protest, but Becker cut him off. He flashed his Maryland squash club ID and barked, â€Å"Polizei!† Then Becker pushed his way into the room and threw on the lights. Wheeling, the German squinted in shock. â€Å"Was machst-â€Å" â€Å"Silence!† Becker switched to English. â€Å"Do you have a prostitute in this room?† Becker peered around the room. It was as plush as any hotel room he'd ever seen. Roses, champagne, a huge canopy bed. Rocio was nowhere to be seen. The bathroom door was closed. â€Å"Prostituiert?† The German glanced uneasily at the closed bathroom door. He was larger than Becker had imagined. His hairy chest began right under his triple chin and sloped outward to his colossal gut. The drawstring of his white terry-cloth Alfonso XIII bathrobe barely reached around his waist. Becker stared up at the giant with his most intimidating look. â€Å"What is your name?† A look of panic rippled across the German's corpulent face. â€Å"Was willst du? What do you want?† â€Å"I am with the tourist relations branch of the Spanish Guardia here in Seville. Do you have a prostitute in this room?† The German glanced nervously at the bathroom door. He hesitated. â€Å"Ja,† he finally admitted. â€Å"Do you know this is illegal in Spain?† â€Å"Nein,† the German lied. â€Å"I did not know. I'll send her home right now.† â€Å"I'm afraid it's too late for that,† Becker said with authority. He strolled casually into the room. â€Å"I have a proposition for you.† â€Å"Ein Vorschlag?† The German gasped. â€Å"A proposition?† â€Å"Yes. I can take you to headquarters right now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Becker paused dramatically and cracked his knuckles. â€Å"Or what?† the German asked, his eyes widening in fear. â€Å"Or we make a deal.† â€Å"What kind of deal?† The German had heard stories about the corruption in the Spanish Guardia Civil. â€Å"You have something I want,† Becker said. â€Å"Yes, of course!† the German effused, forcing a smile. He went immediately to the wallet on his dresser. â€Å"How much?† Becker let his jaw drop in mock indignation. â€Å"Are you trying to bribe an officer of the law?† he bellowed. â€Å"No! Of course not! I just thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The obese man quickly set down his wallet. â€Å"I†¦ I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was totally flustered. He collapsed on the corner of the bed and wrung his hands. The bed groaned under his weight. â€Å"I'm sorry.† Becker pulled a rose from the vase in the center of the room and casually smelled it before letting it fall to the floor. He spun suddenly. â€Å"What can you tell me about the murder?† The German went white. â€Å"Mord? Murder?† â€Å"Yes. The Asian man this morning? In the park? It was an assassination-Ermordung.† Becker loved the German word for assassination. Ermordung. It was so chilling. â€Å"Ermordung? He†¦ he was†¦?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But†¦ but that's impossible,† the German choked. â€Å"I was there. He had a heart attack. I saw it. No blood. No bullets.† Becker shook his head condescendingly. â€Å"Things are not always as they seem.† The German went whiter still. Becker gave an inward smile. The lie had served its purpose. The poor German was sweating profusely. â€Å"Wh-wh-at do you want?† he stammered. â€Å"I know nothing.† Becker began pacing. â€Å"The murdered man was wearing a gold ring. I need it.† â€Å"I-I don't have it.† Becker sighed patronizingly and motioned to the bathroom door. â€Å"And Rocio? Dewdrop?† The man went from white to purple. â€Å"You know Dewdrop?† He wiped the sweat from his fleshy forehead and drenched his terry-cloth sleeve. He was about to speak when the bathroom door swung open. Both men looked up. Rocio Eva Granada stood in the doorway. A vision. Long flowing red hair, perfect Iberian skin, deep-brown eyes, a high smooth forehead. She wore a white terry-cloth robe that matched the German's. The tie was drawn snugly over her wide hips, and the neck fell loosely open to reveal her tanned cleavage. She stepped into the bedroom, the picture of confidence. â€Å"May I help you?† she asked in throaty English. Becker gazed across the room at the stunning woman before him and did not blink. â€Å"I need the ring,† he said coldly. â€Å"Who are you?† she demanded. Becker switched to Spanish with a dead-on Andalusian accent. â€Å"Guardia Civil.† She laughed. â€Å"Impossible,† she replied in Spanish. Becker felt a knot rise in his throat. Rocio was clearly a little tougher than her client. â€Å"Impossible?† he repeated, keeping his cool. â€Å"Shall I take you downtown to prove it?† Rocio smirked. â€Å"I will not embarrass you by accepting your offer. Now, who are you?† Becker stuck to his story. â€Å"I am with the Seville Guardia.† Rocio stepped menacingly toward him. â€Å"I know every police officer on the force. They are my best clients.† Becker felt her stare cutting right through him. He regrouped. â€Å"I am with a special tourist task force. Give me the ring, or I'll have to take you down to the precinct and-â€Å" â€Å"And what?† she demanded, raising her eyebrows in mock anticipation. Becker fell silent. He was in over his head. The plan was backfiring. Why isn't she buying this? Rocio came closer. â€Å"I don't know who you are or what you want, but if you don't get out of this suite right now, I will call hotel security, and the real Guardia will arrest you for impersonating a police officer.† Becker knew that Strathmore could have him out of jail in five minutes, but it had been made very clear to him that this matter was supposed to be handled discreetly. Getting arrested was not part of the plan. Rocio had stopped a few feet in front of Becker and was glaring at him. â€Å"Okay.† Becker sighed, accentuating the defeat in his voice. He let his Spanish accent slip. â€Å"I am not with the Seville police. A U.S. government organization sent me to locate the ring. That's all I can reveal. I've been authorized to pay you for it.† There was a long silence. Rocio let his statement hang in the air a moment before parting her lips in a sly smile. â€Å"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?† She sat down on a chair and crossed her legs. â€Å"How much can you pay?† Becker muffled his sigh of relief. He wasted no time getting down to business. â€Å"I can pay you 750,000 pesetas. Five thousand American dollars.† It was half what he had on him but probably ten times what the ring was actually worth. Rocio raised her eyebrows. â€Å"That's a lot of money.† â€Å"Yes it is. Do we have a deal?† Rocio shook her head. â€Å"I wish I could say yes.† â€Å"A million pesetas?† Becker blurted. â€Å"It's all I have.† â€Å"My, my.† She smiled. â€Å"You Americans don't bargain very well. You wouldn't last a day in our markets.† â€Å"Cash, right now,† Becker said, reaching for the envelope in his jacket. I just want to go home. Rocio shook her head. â€Å"I can't.† Becker bristled angrily. â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"I no longer have the ring,† she said apologetically. â€Å"I've already sold it.†

The Phases Of Emergency Management - 1615 Words

During a disaster there are four phases of emergency management. These four phases are mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The first two deal with what can be done before a disaster happens. This report will be focusing on the response and recovery phases that a community will face during a disaster. Each phase of emergency management is important. Since this report is covering response and recovery they will be addressed. A response program is important to develop because this part deals with how prepared you are in responding to a disaster. In an emergency the first officials to respond are the local police, fire, and emergency medical personnel. They are there to rescue, attend to any injured, fire suppression,†¦show more content†¦and killed 122 people. Seven states were declared disaster zones by the federal government: Florida, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. There was mass confusion in the relief efforts. The state and local governments were unprepared to handle the disaster. There was no coordination between the federal, state, local, and non-government organizations. In March of 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania had a nuclear accident. The problems with the response to this incident were still total confusion. A lack of communications between all agencies was another problem. Adequate plans were not made to the emergency responds by the Bureau of Radiation Protection. On September 30, 1989 Hurricane Hugo hit the Carolinas. A day prior to the storm making landfall the South Carolina issued an evacuation order for the coastal areas. Problems did arise with communication and coordination between the state and federal officials. The federal government was able to respond to what the state needed, but the state did not ask for enough help from the federal government. The hurricane knocked out the emergency communication systems that connected the state to the federal government. On October 17, 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake hit the San Francisco area. This disaster was handled well by the state and local governments because they were better organized, experienced, and funded. California had