Managing General Education to Cultivate Leadership · 2018-11-28 · Liberal Education and General Education Definition of liberal education according to American Association of Colleges

Managing General Education to Cultivate Leadership

Leung Mei Yee

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Nov 2018

Liberal Education and General Education

Liberal education, Liberal arts education, or General education?

Three interchanging concepts leading to confusion

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Liberal education

• Ideal of/ Approach to learning

Liberal arts education

• a Roman-Renaissance curriculum model based mainly on seven liberal-arts

General education

• a curriculum concept emerged when modern universities broke away from the seven liberal-arts model, which tried to remedy the flaws of the electives and concentration system (Leung Mei Yee, 2013)

Liberal Education

Liberal education as an education ideal goes back to the Greeks

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“Liberal Education was to be liberating, requiring freedom to

study and aiming at freedom through understanding.”

Roth, 2014


Definition of liberal education according to American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

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“Liberal Education is an approach to learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change…

It helps students develop a sense of social responsibility; strong intellectual and practical skills that span all major fields of study, such as communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills; and the demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.”

https://www.aacu.org/leap/what-is-a-liberal-education , retrieved on 5 Nov 2018

https://www.aacu.org/leap/what-is-a-liberal-education


General education is

that part of a liberal education curriculum that is shared by all students

provides broad exposure to multiple disciplines

forms the basis for developing essential intellectual, civic, and practical capacities

can take many forms5

“It provides students with broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g. science, culture, and society) as well as in-depth study in a specific area of interest…”

https://www.aacu.org/leap/what-is-a-liberal-education , retrieved on 5 Nov 2018

https://www.aacu.org/leap/what-is-a-liberal-education

Management or Leadership in GE?

Education management :

perspectives, models, concepts and theories borrowed from industry and commerce

Good management of a unit should have

Clear objectives set

Resources allocated

Performance of the unit monitored

Accountability for its performance and its use of funds

Bell, cited by Bush T. (2008)

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Management or Leadership

Reality of General Education

Existence of a designated management unit is not guaranteed

Unitary set of objectives contested or neglected

Allocation of resources insecure

Assessment of educational outcomes problematic

Not a single process of accountability but multiple, or even conflicting accountabilities

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Management of General Education

Reality of General Education

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Management• Maintain efficiently and effectively

current arrangements• Plan and organize financial

resources• Plan and organize human resources• Control and solve problem

Leadership• Shape the goals• Initiate change to reach existing and

new goals• Build team, motivate members• Influence stakeholders’ actions to

achieve desirable ends

Leadership to Create Good Management

Initiating Change

Reforming the most adopted model: distribution requirement

The many problems spawned by the model:

Fragmentation of the curriculum

Unclear educational rationale

Absence of central administration or supervision

Lack of commitment from the faculty

No systematic training of capacities

No built-in requirement of integration of ideas and application of learning

P.L. Gaston & J.G. Gaff, 2009 9

Leadership to Create Good Management

Initiating Change - Reforming distribution requirement

Possible remedies: Rearticulate the rationale of the curriculum Establish central administration or supervision unit, or Redefine its roles Revamp incentive structure for faculty and/or Building community of practice Define desired characteristics of GE courses which put emphasis in capacity

building Introducing new elements in the curriculum to enhance integration and/or

application

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Initiating Change in CUHK (2002-2003)

Objectives Rearticulated To provide broad intellectual perspective and to instil an understanding of the

values of different academic disciplines To develop sensitivity to the common concerns of human existence especially

from the perspective of Chinese culture To help students develop their own judgment and sense of values To cultivate awareness of the connections among different fields of

knowledge; to develop the potentiality for integrating different fields of knowledge as needed

To equip students with life-long learning capacities especially through understanding of the connections between academic pursuits and life experience

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Desired Characteristics Defined

Emphasize intellectual content rather than practical skills

Give an overall perspective of the basic academic framework, concept and methodology

Relate the subject to human experience and modern life

Encourage self-discovery and self-expression

Provide content & intellectual depth expected of credit-bearing university courses at the same level

Preferably adopt an interdisciplinary approach

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Distribution Requirement Restructured

Four areas of human intellectual concerns

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Area AChinese Cultural Heritage

Area B Nature,

Science & Technology

Area CSociety

& Culture

Area DSelf &

Humanity


Structure and roles of administration and supervision unit redefined

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Quality Assured by Standing Committee

Make recommendation for the approval of new GE courses

Carry out regular review to revalidate the status of a GE course

Assure that all GE courses

Meet GE objectives

Match GE desired characteristics

Fit in with the Area specifications

The Office of University GE as an administrative arm to support the Standing Committee and the SCGE

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Further Change to Cultivate Leadership (2012-present)

Introducing Core Elements in GE to Empower Learners

Education reform in HK: from 3 years to 4 years starting from 2012

Common foundation program required of all first year student

Two courses mainly delivered in small class of 25 students

Student-centered active learning: reading, writing, and discussion

Reading of selections of classics and intensive in-class discussion on big questions

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I. Self and Human

Capacity

自我與人的潛

能

II. Faith and Human Limitation

信仰與人的限制

III. Self in Social

Institutions建制中的自我

In Dialogue with Humanity

與人文對話

In Dialogue with Nature

與自然對話

I. Physical Universe

物理世界

II. World of Life

生命世界

III.Reflection on Under-standing

反思科學探索

Plato: Republic

(~423 –347 BCE)

Lindberg: The Beginnings of Western

Science

(Aristotle’s philosophy)

(1935-2015)

Newton: The Principia

(1642–1727)

Cohen: The Birth of a New

Physics (1914–2003)

Darwin: On the Origin of Species

(1809-1882)

Watson: DNA: The Secret of Life

(1928—)Carson: Silent Spring

(1907-1964)

Poincaré: Science and Method

(1854-1912）

Kandel: In Search of Memory

(1929—)

Needham: The Shorter Science

and Civilization in China

(1900-1995)

Sivin: Why the Scientific

Revolution Did Not Take Place

in China—or Didn’t It?

(1931—)

沈括：《夢溪筆談》(1031-1095)

Dunham: The Mathematical Universe

(1947—)

Student Empowerment

Dialogue with the original texts first handed

fearlessness before difficult texts

Dialogue with teachers and fellow students

community of learners

Classics serve as guides to think through important & lasting questions instead of uncontested authority

Eye opening on different cultures, value systems and approaches to human life and nature

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Empowering Teacher

Building Community of Practice

Full Launch in 2nd term 2012-13:

Teaching team: 28 lecturers

Sections offered: about 150

Student population: 3500+

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Mini-conference

Summer institute

In-house talk

Reading group

Empowering Teacher

Teacher Development

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Teacher Leadership in Creating Learning Support

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Study questions

Outline

Textbooks Reading GuidesMobile Apps

Focus questions and background

Teacher Leadership in Creating Learning Support

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Micro-modules White-board animation

Teacher Leadership in Exploring Other Form of Learning

Online discussion

PlayGame

Course Grade Point(4 point scale)

3.07 3.36*

cGPA before studying this course

3.06 3.08

Texts read completely(out of 11 texts)

7.08 7.73

Lecture attended 60% 69.5%

Digital Based Game Learning


Teaching through roof top farming

Student Feedback“It helped to reflect on the relationship between human and the nature, and the role of human being in nature.”

“It was relevant to the topics of herbicides and evolution. It helped me better understand the authors’ points of view.”

“A hand-on experience to ‘feel’ the lives in nature, not just read the knowledge in books.”


Peer Assisted Study Sessions

• Voluntary group study sessions led by “PASS Leaders”

• Teachers trained as PASS administrators

• Recruit and train PASS leaders

• Lead students work together in a relaxed and supportive learning environment


Peer Assisted Study Sessions

Student Feedback

• “I think if it had not been for PASS, I would never be able to participate in the discussion [in the tutorial] […] I was able to have the courage to discuss using viewpoints that I understand, the courage to tell other classmates [these viewpoints].”

• “the discussion in tutorial and in PASS are different. [...] in PASS […] people were debating over two different viewpoints. The debates could last very long and could stimulate more thinking.”

Lecture

Reading

PASS

Seminar discussion

Teacher Leadership in T&L Scholarship

IEO research Entry and Exit surveys to measure students

self-efficacies and opinions before and after taking the dialogue courses.

Information used in parallel with students’ background, engagement, academic grades, and focus group transcripts.

Holistic understanding of students to determine the effectiveness of the programme

Hints on how to improve our teaching or to design supplementary materials

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ENTRY

EXIT


IEO research

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Factor analysis by high school science background

00.20.40.60.8

11.21.4

Self-efficacy on the Reflection on Good Life andGood Society

Appreciation of Diversity

Academic Performance

Self-efficacy on Critical Thinking andCommunication Skills

Appreciation of Science

Self-efficacy on Science

0 Science Subjects taken



3 or Above Science Subjects taken

2016/17 - Factor Changes


IEO research

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Correlation Relationship of Background/ Environment& Effort Variables on Outcomes

Student Leadership in Learning

PASS Leaders

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Before a session• Take the initiative to design and

plan a session, e.g. During a session• Facilitate discussions in PASS with

skillful questioning techniques• Work with participants with diverse

needs and different personalitiesAfter a session• Review performance and discuss

with teacher strategy to improve

Student Seminar and Best Essay Award

Student Leadership in Learning

Supporting Student Initiatives

Summer Camps with reading, discussion and reflection

Reading groups

Publication

Movie sharing

Organization of series of talk

Art Exhibition

Managing GE is …

Articulating rationale

Establishing structure

Creating mechanism

Building communities

Empowering stakeholders

Cultivating Leadership

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Bush T. (2008). From management to leadership. Semantic or meaningful change? Educational Management, Administration and leadership. 36(2). Pp 271-288

Gaston P.L. and J.G. Gaff (2009) Revising general education—and avoiding the potholes. Washington: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Leung, M. Y. (2013) From Liberal Education to General Education: Change and Continuity in the Philosophy of University Education, in Xing J., Ng P. Cheng C. (ed.) General education and the development of global citizenship in Hong Kong, London, New York: Routledge, 46-59.

Roth M.S. (2014) Beyond the university. Why liberal education matters. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Zai III R. (2015) Reframing General Education. The Journal of General Education. 64(3) pp196-217.

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References

Documents

Managing General Education to Cultivate Leadership · 2018-11-28 · Liberal Education and General Education Definition of liberal education according to American Association of Colleges