Student: Erick Martinez

Professor: Mrs. Suzi Spillane

UWRT 1202-011

November 9, 2017

Could the United States Do Away with General Education Curriculum?

As a current student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte I have asked myself

a number of times the reasoning behind our need to follow general education curriculum. Could

higher education in the United States do away with general education? Over the time as a student

as a requirement I have taken courses based outside of my majors boundaries. To my personal

understanding students outside of the United States also follow a different approach in their

higher education. There is a reason why our country decided in its time to incorporate this liberal

perspective into its education, but what was its reason? Have students over the time in this

country benefited to this difference? In which ways are students in the United States feeling that

they are being affected by this curriculum in comparison to students outside of this country? This

paper will show whether the United States could do away with the general education curriculum,

by showing the perspectives from professors and students in and out of the country.

We approach higher education by choosing our major based on interest. This decision

will indefinitely determine the future of a students education by deciding the classes they will be

enrolled in. Based on the curriculum that students in the United States follows he or she will also

take part of general education courses that have been labeled as requirements for them. These

courses stated by Dr. Cynthia A.Wells, from Messiah College, historically have had turning

points that have entitled both new theoretical interpretations of general education as well a

specific curriculum innovations(10). Initially the general education curriculum focused on

liberal curriculum as in education, art and learning (Wells). Education changed due to institution
involvements and demands in the social world. These courses were included into the American

curriculum a number of years ago which creates the questions, if education still needs these

courses to be included and can we do away with these courses? Students from the University of

North Dakota brought upon themselves a research based on general education between students

from different majors and years identifying their thoughts. General education to these students

appeared to have a number of purposes. The researching students Kelsch and Fritzell stated that,

38% thought the courses would help them become more well-rounded as a person and scholar

and A full 30% of students responses registered discontentment with the courses (30). These

results show that students have different opinions towards general education courses. Currently

as an undergraduate student, I have felt that they provide information for one to be a more well-

rounded person. Although these courses at times also take away from the students focus in

relationship to their major.

Having the perspectives from students in the United States was important to me although

I also wanted to know what foreign students though on this subject. I was able to make a call

with a personal friend I had been able to meet that was able to take a full year in the

undergraduate program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). Maria Ozaki,

student from Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Japan, states that she enjoyed her time at the

university in the United States. UNCCs education curriculum brought upon a new perspective

on the idea of how one could follow a higher education. She stated In Japan I have not been

able to have the time to take courses such as Women and Gender Studies considering that she

was enrolled as a criminal justice and criminology major. Allowing these types of courses to be

taken apart from the students educational career appeared appealing towards her, because it was

a new opportunity. Ozaki was also able to take apart of a Public Speaking course that helped her
in elaborating her communication skills. She stated before going to the United States I had been

shy to speak in-front of my own classrooms, but these courses helped me in these situations

which I wouldn't have taken in Japan(Ozaki 2017). This showed that these general education

courses gave great exercises for many benefits for the students. I was also able to interview a

friend of mine , Daniela Mapeso who currently studies at the UNCC as a communications major.

Mapeso is a student from the United Arab Emirates and was able to take a number of general

education courses. For example, fundamentals of geometry, she stated I never found the interest

or reasoning behind general education just appeared to be a waste of time being outside of my

studies interest (Mapeso 2017). She questions why was a student required to being enrolled in

courses as such. These two students give both completely different perspectives on the topic,

which complicates the thought of the courses reasonings.

Professors in our higher education have a significant impact on how the student ends up

preforming throughout their educational career. Therefore, these professors at universities in the

United States have an idea of what courses would benefit the students. In the Harvard Magazine,

John S. Rosenberg states that students and faculty are often unable to articulate the grounding

principles of General Education (Rosenberg). This creates the thought upon one of what is the

reasoning through these courses? It is understood that whenever students come in from high

school to the end of their general education they do not have a complete understanding of the

curriculums purpose. It is understood stated in Bonings article, professor at Jeffersons college,

general education is described a s segment of undergraduate education that prepared

students for their professions (7). Stating that the students were placed in that time for

preparation, but later it was understood that professions in the United States changed. Revolution
in these new jobs created an apparent difficulty for professors to keep up with and having the

ability to teach these students appropriately.

Initially I had thought that this model of education was solely followed in the United

States, but it has also been identified and adapted throughout world. I asked myself the question

on how do professors outside of this country view upon the American education model?

Professor from Hiroshima University in Japan, Futato Huang, states incorporating the US

philosophy of general education into the two systems has resulted in providing a much wider

range of pre - or non-professional programs to students (Huang 2017). This statement creates

the idea that these countries that have modified their core curriculum in the form of an American

model appear to have befitted from these changes over the years. I happened to also have an

interview with two professors, at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, one named Maria Herrera and the

other Sara Paco both from Tarragona, Spain. Herrera is a professor in Spanish language and Paco

teaches Spanish literature at their university. These two professors that come from a European

standpoint on the topic have different ideas. Herrera states she doesnt like the system because

university level means specialization and perfection (Herrera 2017). This is because Herrera

believed that the students should be engaged as much as they can possibly to their studies and

subject manners. On the other hand, Paco states that some general courses may broaden your

mind and not tie you to your degree (Paco 2017). The reasoning behind this being that she

believes that the time a student is at a university is also to grow as a person.

The reason why I decided to write this inquiry paper on this topic was due to my recent

connections to foreign exchange students. They informed me that the curriculum in their

countries are followed differently. There are a number of majors that can be completed outside of

the United States in a shorter time span. A reason being from the fact that their curriculum does
not include general education as a significant requirement. As a student, also in the United States

curriculum I have heard from my peers that they do not put the same amount of effort into these

courses, because they find them to being insignificant towards their future. They see these

courses as easy As for their GPA instead of their educational purposes. Ive also noticed as a

student there is a number of people who drop out within two years of their educational career. In

my opinion these are the years that you are placed in these general education courses which

make me ask myself if these courses werent involved could a number of these students have

continued their education? As if these courses affected the students in a negative way or was it

beneficial because they would have not been able to complete courses in their future through

their major?

My opinion on the topic of whether the United States could do away with the general

education curriculum is clear. Historically this model for the United States has been adapted and

evolved due to the countries circumstances. Although at this point the students in the United

States have no interest in the idea of the bases of the American curriculum. One wants to go

through their education at the fastest rate possible allowing themselves to enter the working field

of their choice. There are students who find benefits from these types of courses that are required

to be taken, because of their universities requirements. Even though education model has been

followed for a number of years, the students have moved on from this idea and could do without

it. There could be a possibility to allow the students to decide whether or not they would like to

be a part of this curriculum, and a number of students will still take apart of these courses.

Although there are many students who could take this time of their education in different forms

for the benefit of themselves.

 Work Cited

Boning, Kenneth. "Coherence in General Education: A Historical Look." JGE: The Journal of

General Education, vol. 56, no. 1, Jan. 2007, pp. 1-16. EBSCOhost,

librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/login.asp

x?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=25178934&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Herrera, Maria. General Education as a Professor outside of the United States. Telephone

interview. 10 Nov. 2017.

Huang, Futao. Universities Look to the US General Education Model. CGHE, ESRC, 16 Oct.

2017, www.researchcghe.org/blog/2017-10-16-universities-look-to-the-us-general-

education-model/.

Kelsch and Fritzell, A. (2014). University of North Dakota Bush Longitudinal Study: What

Students Tell Us About Cross-Disciplinary General Education Goals and Learning. 1st

ed. pp.3-45. 9 Nov. 2017 http://und.edu/academics/registrar/_files/docs/essential-

studies/general-education-longitudinal-study.pdf

Mapeso, Daniela. "General Education as an Abroad Student." In-person interview. 9 Nov. 2017.

Ozaki, Maria. "General Education as an Abroad Student." Telephone interview. 7 Nov. 2017.
Rosenberg, John S. General Education under the Microscope. Harvard Magazine, 26 May

2015, harvardmagazine.com/2015/05/harvard-college-general-education-criticized.

Paco, Sara. General Education as a Professor outside of the United States. Telephone

interview. 10 Nov. 2017.

Wells, Cynthia A. "Realizing General Education: Reconsidering Conceptions and Renewing

Practice." ASHE Higher Education Report, vol. 42, no. 2, Jan. 2016, pp. 1-85.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/aehe.20068.