Papers from the Fourth Annual Conference on General Education: Community College General Education Association (Binghamton, NY, April 21-22, 1983).

Overview & Synopsis

These four presentations to the 1983 Community College General Education Association conference address the theme, "Toward a New General Education: Work, Self, and Society." First, "General Education and Work: The Next Decade," by Philip M. Piaker, recounts efforts begun at Harpur College in the late 1940's to revise the general education curriculum, attesting to the difficulties encountered in organizing curricula in new ways and to the pedagogical constraints imposed by institutional interests. Next, "General Education and the Just Society," by Kevin Reilly, discusses the relationship between social justice and general education, providing an overview of differing perceptions of general education placed in the context of their creators' interests and ideology. Reilly views the job of general education as forcing students to confront real issues and make real decisions with knowledge, understanding, and sensitivity. "Technology in General Education," by John G. Truxal, argues that engineering and technology should be included in the general education core as technological understanding is integral to liberating models of learning. Finally, James E. McClellan, in "General Education and Personal Development, or Are There Any Redeeming Social Virtues in the Gen Ed Biz," urges those involved in the general education movement to take up a radical new agenda, addressing realms such as neo-Marxism, epistemology, and the philosophy of language as means of deepening the intellectual roots of the movement. (Author/AYC)