Enriching General Education: Seeds and Plowshares

Authors

J. W. Brinkman, Kansas State Teachers College

Abstract

In the years during which debate over the purpose and content of general education has raged, every conceivable bit of curricular gimmickry has been proposed and often tried. With few exceptions most of these efforts were possessed of at least one common feature- they were conventional or quasi-conventional academic, classroom or laboratory experiences. Until recently little attention was paid to the possibility of employing a broad range of non-academic experiences in the total general education component of the college program of study. What follows is a suggestion of experiences or activities of a non-academic type which could be adapted to general education programs on many campuses. Most of these now exist on our campuses but we tend to be reluctant to build them into formal programs for reasons which also will be identified. If these ideas can serve as seed and if the inertia can be identified and plowed under, possibly a harvest of healthy reform may result. This paper is directed to that end.

Recommended Citation

Brinkman, J. W. (1972) "Enriching General Education: Seeds and Plowshares," Perspectives (1969-1979): Vol. 4: No. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/perspectives/vol4/iss2/6