Liberal Arts and Business Education

Liberal Arts and Business Education

Introduction

From the past few years, there has been a long debate going on about whether the liberal arts are significant for business. In countries like United States and Canada, there has been a debate regarding the merits of board education versus the practical one. This debate has not been fuelled merely by reasons but by strong emotional factors as well. According to customs, the vocational training was preserved for the lower classes whilst the academic subjects such as the liberal arts were for the individuals belonging to the upper class. Even in today's world, the thought of the liberal arts is brings to mind the sense of elitism. One of the emotional drivers is the fact that the world today has become quite dominated by the business. This domination has resulted in leading the major focus of education in training and developing individuals to become good employees which has shut out the appreciation of other significant aspects of the education. However, this divide has not necessarily become an unbridgeable gap as the liberal arts advocates have not denied the importance of practical training and some of the advocates of business do recognize the liberal arts' value. This paper provides a literature review about the liberal arts, its importance along with the significance and benefits of liberal arts in the business education. This paper also provides some recommendations about the effective way of including liberal arts in business education.

Liberal Arts

This term emerges from the fundamental intellectual disciplines whose knowledge since ancient Hellenistic and Roman was deemed essential to the acquisition of high culture. The liberal arts were grouped into two cycles - the trivium and the quadrivium. The trivium consists of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic, while the quadrivium includes grouping of the four branches of mathematics (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music) (Blake, 2009). The liberal arts teach the individuals how to deal with interpretations, complexity, emotion and ambiguity. All of these issues are critical in business, specifically when the individual moves higher and higher in the organization. The liberal education is an education which is conducted in a spirit of free inquiry undertaken without concern for topical relevance or vocational utility. This type of education is not merely the enrichment of existence but is the achievement of civilization. The liberal arts increases the awareness of the students about the humans and the natural world they live in. through liberal arts, the students becomes more reflective and insightful regarding their choices and beliefs (Fiedler, 2009). They become more critical about their motivations and presuppositions, as well as becoming more self-conscious. The liberal arts allow the students to become more creative and innovative in their problem solving techniques, become more observant and perspective towards their surroundings. These students are more capable to attain awareness regarding their issues, socially, professionally and personally, and are able to come up with effective and appropriate solutions (Gerry, 2002).

The Liberal arts education allows you to feel, explore, understand and ...