Anthony Weihao KeWriter’s JourneyMr. CoulombeJan 25, 2015

Liberal Arts or Specialized Education?

Tuajuanda C. Jordon, in the editorial “Thinking Outside the Box” (Jan 12, 2015) argues that liberal

arts education should be emphasized instead of the current trend of specialized training to drive our tech-

driven future. He supports his argument by saying that liberal arts education allows you to be effective at

your job no matter what your field is because the system trains you to thrive in subjectivity and ambiguity.

Jordon hopes to arouse public interest in the liberal arts education in order for our future generation to have

a flexible mind and thrive well in all environments. His audience is the general public; mainly the students

who are deciding which kind of college to attend.

The author has a point when he argues that liberal arts education makes you more resilient when

the job market changes, but I feel that it should not be favored over the traditional specialized training. The

job market may change, but due to the enormous research and development backing up the currently

established fields, it is not likely that the advancements in those fields will cease and its pursuers will run

out of job. Thus, the specialized training is every bit relevant and more effective than the liberal arts

education because it focuses your effort into one field instead of having to do everything. Jordon points out

that great scientists across history did not receive any special “scientist training” but achieve great things as

a result of their curiosity and critical thinking. However, they achieve those great things with the

culmination of experience and lot of time on their hand. In the current day society, efficiency and rapid

productivity is needed. The pace of living has increased and people are expected to contribute at a young

age. Only the intensive training of specialized education program can provide them with the necessary skills

they need to thrive in their areas of interest and keep up with the pace of the fast moving world. According

to LinkedIn, 20 out of 25 most desirable career skills last year is technology and computer related.

However, liberal arts education rarely emphasizes the technology and computer related skills so it is not

really in line with the current trend of development.

It is superfluous to be good at everything but great at nothing and a specialized education system is

much more desirable.

Anthony Weihao KeWriter’s JourneyMr. CoulombeJan 25, 2015

Source:

Jordon, Tuajuanda C. "Thinking Outside the Box." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 12 Jan. 2015.

Web. 25 Jan. 2015.