1Misaligned Education
Adrian Currie,
University of Pittsburgh,
Jul 05, 2021
There was a bit of a discussion last week on games in education which led me to take note of this article when it passed through my reader. Adrian Currie argues (17 page PDF) that a humanities or liberal arts education designed to help you "get ready for your future career by developing a range of skills" is self-defeating. He draws an analogy with games, which can be played with two possible ends in mind: either 'striving', which is to seek the highest aesthetic accomplishment, or 'achievement', which is to win the game. It is often noted that playing a game merely for achievement is self-defeating; to play your best you have to put aside worries about winning or losing and focus on the game itself. The same applies to education, he argues. In order to gain the skills and values employers want in a humanities education, you can't focus on 'achieving' a job, but rather, 'striving' through appreciation of the subject itself. So humanities and liberal arts programs should not advertise themselves on the basis of their value to employers. Image: Wired.
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