In 1986 when I was asked to write a piece for The Miami Report discussing liberal education, we were at the cusp of a new beginning for the liberal education process at Miami University. The Miami Plan was a culmination of five years of intensive effort by many of us and our colleagues to provide a rational basis for what a liberal education should be and how it would be accomplished within the university's framework. While the details of the implementation of the theoretical framework were where the devil was, as usual, I do believe the basic structure of the Miami Plan was overwhelmingly accepted by the university community.
In my remarks at that time I focused on the overall goal of what I thought liberal education meant: providing our students with the breadth of knowledge and the intellectual maturity and the motivation to continue to learn and adapt throughout their lifetimes. I do not think that overarching goal is any less important now than it was then. However, there is no question the changes in the world in which we live have, and will continue to have, an important impact on how we view liberal education.
In the 1980s we still had some ability to take the "ivory tower approach" that a liberal education was not supposed to be vocational; some still maintain this is so. Under this approach, liberal education is only for the "elite" who can afford to engage in the idle pursuits of the trivium and quadrivium. This is clearly not where we find ourselves today. We must strengthen the meaning of liberal education in the context of the vocational drive we now find prevalent in our students. We must be sure members of the Miami community understand why the construct of a liberal education is essential to students' abilities to have successful, satisfying careers as members of a highly diverse, global, technological society.
The shift from Euro-American centered economics toward globalization and the increasing importance of diversity in cultures has also had a powerful influence on how we envision the framework of liberal education and its implementation within the Academy. This past year we created the Global Miami Plan in recognition of these changes.
In addition, there can be no question the technological milieu in which we find ourselves today is vastly different than 20 years ago. Only those who have lived through the development of the information age may be able to appreciate the changes that have been wrought in the ability to instantly communicate and access the knowledge base of humanity. It can be overwhelming, although students accept it as a way of life. Those who have the advantage of hindsight realize the goals of a liberal education are even more important now than they might have been just a decade ago. Our students must have the breadth and depth of knowledge the Miami Plan provides in order to become intelligent evaluators and discriminating users of the information they see on their screens every day nearly all day, if my classes are any indication.
We must, of course, incorporate the best practices in education to insure the outcomes we seek. The top 25 project, inquiry-based learning and involvement of our students in the highest from of learning, original inquiry, (research) are all emphases we need to pursue vigorously, even in times of limited resources.
In closing let me provide some insight onto just how "prescient" the Miami plan was when it was developed by looking at a recent report on liberal education in the 21st century. "College Learning for the New Global Century" from the Association of American Colleges and Universities lists essential learning outcomes for liberal education. They are knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural sciences, intellectual and practical skills, personal and social responsibility, and integrative learning.
While these "outcomes" are more expansive than those in the original Miami Plan, a reading of the "little red book" that is the plan's founding document, as well as knowledge of the changes instituted in the Miami Plan since its inception, should convince you that members of our community are well served. The above recommendations clearly dovetail closely with what the Miami Plan espouses, and we need to be vigilant that we can show it accomplishes what it sets out to do.
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