Elmarnieh wrote:
"We want one class of persons to have a liberal education and we want another class of persons, a very much larger class of necessity in every society, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks" President Woodrow Wilson in an address to the Federation of High School Teachers
Quick comment, for anyone who would read too much into this statement. Most of you probably know this (it should be obvious by Wilson's context), but when using the term "A
liberal education," Liberal is not the political scare-word to which many of you would react negatively. "A liberal education" refers to a rounded education, rather than specialized. It operates under the assumption that a well rounded knowledge of many subjects helps quality of life and critical thinking skills. Even the machinist learns some Shakespeare. It gives you the basics needed to not be a comparable buffoon in common aspects of cultural knowledge. As such, I highly endorse a "liberal education" for all.
Now, the fact that many educators are more politically left-leaning and also feel the need to indoctrinate their students politically is another issue entirely.