Reply #149: I'd put more of that education down into the K-12 system [View All]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

adapting techniques and curricula from the Waldorf Schools, Great Books, and the International Baccalaureate. (Of course, I'd repeal NCLB first.) I'd also emphasize reading real books and writing substantive essays.

Other countries do it.

The way colleges are currently set up, it is possible to have a four-year degree and not know much of anything except specific job skills.

One of my teaching jobs was at a small college where the business department decreed that its students had to meet their general education requirements with specific courses. There was nothing wrong with the courses they prescribed, but between the major requirements, the general education requirements, and strong pressure for its students minor in MIS, there was literally no time for electives. The graduates were lovely little corporate drones, I'm sure, but I can't say that they ended up "educated."