THE MEANING OF GENERAL EDUCATION: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENERAL EDUCATION PARADIGM AND PRACTICES (UNDERGRADUATE INSTRUCTION, CURRICULUM

This study analyzes the historical development of general education in order to identify key assumptions and organizing principles that constitute the general education paradigm and that distinguish a general education curriculum from other curricula.;Two basic approaches to general education developed in the years between the two world wars. A humanistic approach--exemplified by the Contemporary Civilization program at Columbia College and by the Experimental College at the University of Wisconsin--was influenced by the Liberal Culture movement and the rise of naturalistic humanism. An instrumentalist approach to general education--exemplified by Bennington College and Sarah Lawrence College--developed out of the work of John Dewey and others. It was influenced by the philosophy of pragmatism and by developments in psychology. The general education paradigm grew out of these two approaches.;Since World War II, there have been widely divergent approaches to general education, in part due to changes in how American society defined "democracy." In the immediate postwar years, democracy was seen as an institution to be protected; this view was apparent in the report of a postwar presidential commission and affected general education programs at Harvard and elsewhere. The period of innovation and diversity that began in the 1960s brought about new experiments in general education. The period also saw increasing confusion about the concept. More recent changes in the educational environment have presented new challenges and opportunities for general education.;The study concludes that there is a distinct, consistent set of assumptions and principles that constitute the general education paradigm and that distinguish general education from other curriculum concepts. General education is a self-conscious, comprehensive curriculum philosophy whose goals and methods are intimately linked with democratic processes and with the maintenance of a democratic society. These characteristics guide all aspects of a general education curriculum.