Classical vs Modern Liberal Arts Education

Recently, the question of the practicality of a liberal arts education as a guarantee for employment opportunity was raised. Are liberal arts majors doomed to unemployment throughout their careers? In an era of economic uncertainty, it could mean that liberal arts majors need to simply find practical applications for their education. It could also mean that those who specialize in a specific field with demand for workers will find success in their careers a bit earlier than those that do not specialize.

The classical method of liberal arts is intended to first teach students how to learn (the trivium), to enable them to later take on the subjects themselves (the quadrivium, or hard sciences). By building a strong base of experience using the tools of learning (grammar, logic, rhetoric), a student with a successful mastery of the seven liberal arts should see open doors to any desired field later in life.

Unfortunately, today's liberal arts programs are more focused on the humanities and social sciences, rather than the classical method of learning itself, which needs to start at a much younger age than college, a result of gradualism of language and lost focus. These nearly lost tools of learning are seeing renewed interest as a way to promote lifelong learning. Today's liberal arts do not go far enough to enable the student to teach themselves. The classical liberal arts method enables the student to learn anything, in time. There is no quick fix.