A Study Of General Education In Stanford University

Liberal education is an important component of the undergraduate education in Stanford University.Since its founding,Stanford has been aimed at developing civilized graduates with practical value.It has constructed a development mode with liberal education and specialized education supplementing each other.In Stanford University,the concept of “pragmatic education” has built a characteristic system of liberal education which has transcended pure utilitarianism and pragmatism,stresses that students should become qualified citizens,and endowed one with the ability to become a “complete person” instead of just a particular professional skill.Studying the liberal education of Stanford University and revealing its features can offer enlightenment and reference for the development of liberal education in Chinese universities.This study selects the liberal education in Stanford University as the research objective.It constructs an analytic framework of its liberal education through case study,sorts out its development history,and carries out a comprehensive in-depth research on the liberal education in Stanford from the five dimensions of the educational concept,educational goals,curriculum,teaching requirements and teaching management of liberal education,so as to reveal the features of its liberal education,explore the way Chinese universities can refer to the unique experience of Stanford University,improve the teaching quality of liberal education and perfect talent development mechanism.The study finds that the development history of the liberal education in Stanford University can be divided into the three stages of its origin,development and maturity.The university has released corresponding educational research reports at different stages.Meanwhile,it has also undergone many liberal educational reforms.In terms of the concept and goals of liberal education,the concept of “pragmatic education”has been deeply rooted in the culture of the university.The liberal education in Stanford has been imbued with a strong color of pragmatism,it aims at entering students to “intellectual life”,developing students’ long-lasting Basic intelligence and social skills in a broad range,and holds on to the concept that education should prepare students for their future practical life.In terms of the curriculum of liberal education,Stanford University has adopted the mode of distributing compulsory courses,breaking the boundaries between disciplines,and taking ability development as the leading factor in dividing course modules in constructing a characteristic curriculum of liberal education,including not only liberal courses in fall,winter and spring quarters made up of Writing and Rhetoric,Language,Thinking Matters,Ways of Thinking/Ways of Doing(Ways),but also summer liberal courses from “Bing Honors College”,“Sophomore College” and “Arts Intensive”.In terms of the teaching requirements of liberal education,Stanford University makes full use of its advantages of four-quarter system,arranges the teaching sequence of courses reasonably,forms rigorous teaching requirements,and combines various teaching forms and methods,so as to place students at the center of classroom activities in a real sense.It has also set down strict performance evaluation system in order to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching,truly and effectively developing the teaching of liberal education.In terms of the teaching management of liberal education,Stanford University attaches great importance to the normalization of management.It has set special management bodies,and formed rigorous policies in terms of the establishment of courses,academic guidance for students,building of the teachers’ teams and their teaching evaluation,forming an organized and well-planned management mode.Based on analysis of the study finding,the paper proposes specific feasible suggestions on the construction of Chinese liberal education from the five levels of educational concepts,educational targets,curriculum,teaching requirements and teaching management of liberal education: in terms of the concept and goals of liberal education,we should reshape the deep understanding of the basic connotation and concepts of liberal education,and balance the relationship between liberal education and specialized education;in terms of the curriculum of liberal education,we should construct a comprehensive curriculum with Chinese characteristics;in terms of the teaching requirements of liberal education,we should create diversified teaching forms and student-centered teaching methods;in terms of the teaching management of liberal education,we should set up special management bodies for liberal education,step up academic guidance for liberal education,set up a teaching force with high quality and professionalism,and standardize the system of liberal education evaluation.