Working Paper No. 4
New Concepts of Professional Expertise: Liberal Learning as Part of Career-Oriented Education

Ernest Lynton

Abstract

 Though a considerable body of literature stresses the importance of the liberal arts to professional education, far less discussion focuses on optimal ways in which liberal arts can be artfully interwoven into these  curricula. Far too often, curricular reform has consisted of adding on courses in the liberal arts without thoroughly examining the underlying purposes for a liberal education as well as the definition of  professional expertise. A frequent alternative has been to abandon emphasis on professional and technical expertise in favor of process skills such as critical thinking and communication. After analyzing the history  of the academy's emphasis on the "science" of work and its impact on the curriculum, the author discusses transformations in the organization and nature of work and the related changes in understanding how  a successful integration of professional and liberal arts education can be achieved.

Fall 1990

 

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