Liberal Education Newman (1996) called for a liberal education to develop all-round student. According to him, university was a place for the intellect excellence. However, many universities misinterpreted the accumulation of knowledge alone as intellect training. Though admitting knowledge’s underlying role in education, Newman underscored that the intellect was more than storage of knowledge. The true intellect excellence, which requested students to recognize and process the implicit connections within newly received information, should help students build their own integrated knowledge system. Gradually, students would internalize the knowledge, thus generated their own values and beliefs. These standards, in return, helped the learners
…show more content…
Of what benefit is a western scholar who wrote his epic 150 years ago for China’s environment, where Confucianism along with socialism was firmly anchored? Coincidentally, what Newman advocated was in line with Confucian’s criteria for a university graduate— “to cultivate oneself, to regulate the family, to run the state rightly and make the world peaceful” (Tianyu Y., 2010). Therefore, being well-read and clear-minded enough to cultivate oneself is Confucian’s primary requirement for a qualified graduate. Universally, liberal education is the prerequisite for a future leader within a family and a state. Liberal education as a traditional concept was virtually absent from universities at the expense of attention to economical and scientific advancement. Consequently, serious issues …show more content…
For example, Newman, as a speaker for elite ranking himself, never directly wrote of the poor. He unconsciously ironed out social classes by excluding this liberal education from non-privileged people. All the metaphysics he promoted was a luxury for these poor Irish men who underwent a great famine and suffered from poverty. No evidence shows what the Bishop of Dublin expected when he approached Newman for the establishment of a university for Ireland. Ironically, the reality is “a few years after Newman had penned his first essay, he left Dublin with the University in tatter, where it languished until 1879” (Tierney, W. G., 2016). Moreover, to seek for survival, this university contradicted Newman’s plans and began offering courses preparing students for professions (Cornwell, J., 2010) instead of the lofty “Sweetness and Light” (Arnold, M., 2006) in 1882. Therefore, Newman’s idea may be incompatible with China’s convention regarding social class. Since the working class dominates in Chinese society, proposals highlighting the upper class while neglecting the ordinary would be hard to prevail. Consequently, how to properly adjust the liberal education to Chinese environment would be a subtle issue. Additionally, gender bias, lack of curriculum, negligence of finance, discrimination of other cultures outside Christianity and contempt for vocational education are other topics open
Of what benefit is a western scholar who wrote his epic 150 years ago for China’s environment, where Confucianism along with socialism was firmly anchored? Coincidentally, what Newman advocated was in line with Confucian’s criteria for a university graduate— “to cultivate oneself, to regulate the family, to run the state rightly and make the world peaceful” (Tianyu Y., 2010). Therefore, being well-read and clear-minded enough to cultivate oneself is Confucian’s primary requirement for a qualified graduate. Universally, liberal education is the prerequisite for a future leader within a family and a state. Liberal education as a traditional concept was virtually absent from universities at the expense of attention to economical and scientific advancement. Consequently, serious issues …show more content…
For example, Newman, as a speaker for elite ranking himself, never directly wrote of the poor. He unconsciously ironed out social classes by excluding this liberal education from non-privileged people. All the metaphysics he promoted was a luxury for these poor Irish men who underwent a great famine and suffered from poverty. No evidence shows what the Bishop of Dublin expected when he approached Newman for the establishment of a university for Ireland. Ironically, the reality is “a few years after Newman had penned his first essay, he left Dublin with the University in tatter, where it languished until 1879” (Tierney, W. G., 2016). Moreover, to seek for survival, this university contradicted Newman’s plans and began offering courses preparing students for professions (Cornwell, J., 2010) instead of the lofty “Sweetness and Light” (Arnold, M., 2006) in 1882. Therefore, Newman’s idea may be incompatible with China’s convention regarding social class. Since the working class dominates in Chinese society, proposals highlighting the upper class while neglecting the ordinary would be hard to prevail. Consequently, how to properly adjust the liberal education to Chinese environment would be a subtle issue. Additionally, gender bias, lack of curriculum, negligence of finance, discrimination of other cultures outside Christianity and contempt for vocational education are other topics open