Poet on the Moon: A Dialogue on Liberal Education in the Community College.

Overview & Synopsis

Community college faculty and administrators from seven states joined in a dialogue on liberal education in the community college in order to identify problems, define terms, and to suggest solutions to further the development of liberal education in the community college. The discussion focused on four issues: education for practical wisdom (education and training); meaning and distortion of relevancy, immediacy, applicability and meaningfulness; reconciling past, present, and future; and integration of liberal education with general education. The definition of liberal education arose as a fifth issue. Based on this discussion, participants developed a mission statement, a rationale, a curriculum and a staff development plan for liberal education in the community college for transfer, career, and continuing education students. Finally, operational definitions were developed for five key terms: liberal education, general education, liberal arts, training, and education. Along with synopses of the discussion, solutions, and definitions, speeches by James Gollattscheck and Eric Wormold are summarized in the document. (RT)