Educating Everyone: Obl@ationand Challenge Although the American university with characteristic ardor has embarked upon an experiment unprecedented in the history of civilization, that of trying to educate everyone who tries, it has yet to deal satisfactorily with the question: What constitutes education for everyone? A credible prospectus is that such an education would enable individuals to understand the nature of things so they can hetter appreciate, respond to, and interact with the world around them, and to understand the nature of hwmms so they can hetter appreciate, respond to, and interact with other individuals. The understanding sought here is such that it should give the individual power in and over the unpredictable future, and a commitment to the use of intelligence for the common good. Translaring all this intn workahle programs with achievable goals is the real challeng~.And this challenge is exacerbated by an accumulation of problems so formidable that they threaten the very viability of the university. Most of the nrohlems result from four sources: the imbalance in universitv priorities in favor of research, specialized knowledge, and external fundine: the dedication of far too manv humanists to an out-moded;pre-1940 concept of what a liheial education should he; the stubborn proclivity of many social scientists for parochialism and value-free analysis; and the overemphasis on vocational and professional preparation in the training of students. Unless and until the university recognizes these sources as detriments to achieving reasonable goals in the basic education of students and refuses t o allow them to encumber its progress toward these goals, only the most phenomenal of good luck can save i t from tragic failure in educating everyone. Something that "everyone" expects or hopes for and possibly needs from a higher education is the wherewithal to master the most essential elements of everyday life. The past two decades have taught us that i t is not enough to he literate and numerate, and to he highly competent in a specialty. Finding the society and much of the technology that dominates i t incomprehensible, and many of the indispensable ingredients of everyday life mysterious and only marginally under their control, has diminished for manv their view of thenisehesand their world perspective. Asa r&t, they have become more dependent, less self-confident. chnmicallv discontented, and 02ten alienated. Alienation has led to distrust of institutions, others, self. If recent college graduates were asked: What is the most crucial missing element in your college education?, a common answer probably would he: the knowledge and skills t o live confidently and productively outside the workplace. Traditionally, the humanists have claimed to have the answer on how to live confidently. The idea is that insight into the nature and potential of mankind, and into the significance and substance of qualities such as dignity, justice, love, joy, and milt can he obtained hv studvine what ohilosonhers. " histoiians, writers, and poetihave written aho& the cuman condition. Unfortunately, virtually none of the great humanists whose work is valued so highly lived in a complex, technologicallv-dominated societvsuch as ours. And, althoueh their wriiingsstill speak with meaning and inspiration, many no longer possess the power and cogency that turned on generations 02 students a i d that sum&ned whole p o p u l a t h to virtue in the decades prior to 1940. Missing from these writings is any recognition of the major sources i f frustration
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for modern individuals-living with complexity and mechanization. feeline heloless to understand or control much of the social and tech;loldgical environment in which they are immersed. The further and more inexorably our society moves from those of the vast, the more we need a humanism addressed to our time and culture. .lust as the humanism of the past ad~ and the beautiful dressed itself to finding the good, t h true in a world ravaged by depra&y, so the humanism ofour day must address itself to finding the meaning, the moral and the fulfilling in a world characterized by complexity. And just as the humanism of the past taught the individual to find spiritual happinvsn in the-midst ul physical and cultural oppression, so the new humanism must teach the individual to find inner satisfaction amidst unremittine challenees to his mind and emotions. This new humanism can form the basis for an imoroved curriculum, supplying a t least part of what has been missing. The university has the resources, particularly in its scholars and master teachers, to meate exciting and powerful courses and studies in this area. These studies mieht he desimed around the principle that the prepared mindmust he abie to use the tools of our age--language, mathematics, science, and common technological tools-with ready ease and without the encumbrances of mystery and alienation. The task is not simple, and input will he required from many university disciplines, including those in engineering, business, and social and natural sciences as well as all the traditional humanities. Studies in humanism are. of course. hut a Dart of the overall curriculum for everyone. At least two other curricular comoonents are essential. The first is a command of historv: the second is an area of specialization. The first is essentid hecause i t summarizes human exnerience. illuminates much of the present, tells us something of our dature, and describes the prohlems humans have encountered in attempting to live as communities and to develop civilizations. The second is essential because it enables the individual to find a place in the society from which she or he can contribute by making use of unique or highly developed skills and talents. Both areas need t o he reexamined in light of the new humanism. But all segments of undergraduate education can gain new perspective and vitality in creating and implementing this curriculum. Hopefully the excitement and cogency of the programs will move students and faculty to set higher expectations for themselves and for one another. The university definitely has the means and the mandate to conduct with wisdom and integrity its experiment of attempting to increase substantially the educational level and the intellectual sophistication of an unprecedentedly large fraction of our citizenry. The results of this experiment have critical implications in that they will give us an indication of how advanced our society might become, and what the pmspects are for the continuing evolution of a civilization based on democratic orincioles. There is eveiy reason for mobilizing the full force of academic Dower and creativitv behind the develooment of a truly workable curriculum f i r the average citizen. A good showing here will solve a great many prohlems for the university, its graduates, and its supporters.
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WTL Volume 55, Number 4, April 1978 1 209
