Liberal Education in the American Context: Practical Trends

The concept of practical liberal education emphasizes integrated learning oriented to all student groups, practical problems in the real-world, project-based learning and experience exploration. The maturity of this concept indicates that traditional liberal education has entered a new historical stage in the United States, which is deeply rooted in external economic and socio-political changes, historical controversies of liberal and occupational-professional education, the theoretical outcomes of liberal education and the exploration experience of colleges and universities. The concept of practical liberal education is a result of a reorientation of traditional liberal education in the new historical context and culture of America, which provides creative solutions to tensions between “professional” and “general knowledge”, “teaching” and “research”, and the “individual” and “community”. This paper clarifies the concept and analyzes the generative dynamic mechanism of practical liberal education, aiming to provide insight into the development trends of liberal education and enlighten teaching integration and higher education reform.