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The Liberal Arts Education in the Post-Pandemic Era : From Speed Battle of Digital Transformation to Sustainable Future

  • The Journal of General Education
  • 2023, (22), pp.39~68
  • DOI : 10.24173/jge.2023.01.22.2
  • Publisher : Da Vinci Mirae Institute of General Education
  • Research Area : Social Science > Education > Field of Education > General Education
  • Received : December 20, 2022
  • Accepted : January 11, 2023
  • Published : January 31, 2023

Jeong, Yeonjae 1

1인하대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the problems and directions of liberal arts education after the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has presented significant questions to not only teachers and learners but also to the liberal arts education system as a whole. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed all-too-obvious questions, such as why students should study the liberal arts, from whom they should learn, when they should learn, and where they should learn, into urgent matters. Consequently, we should have appropriate answers regarding the type of liberal arts education we should provide after the pandemic, given the strong trend of convenience and effectiveness. In this context, this paper sets the tasks of liberal arts education by period and suggests directions to pursue in each period. First, the short-term task is to activate the function of healing and recovery from the scars of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the pandemic has left the strong impression that our society is in danger, and those scars left by the pandemic on the educational community will not heal easily. Accordingly, in teaching the young generation, who is deeply wounded in a society in which disasters have become commonplace, the importance of self-care and the value of connections has increased. The medium-term task is to reflect on the nature of education in the midst of the rapid transformation to digital education. The ‘new-normal’ discourse has made us recognise that lectures based on face-to-face communication are outdated while non-face-to-face classes have become the “new normal”, and EduTech is the catalyst that will change our education system. However, the pandemic has clearly shown that schools could not be completely transformed to a non-face-to-face environment and has made us realise that we should promote the use of and flexible attitude toward EduTech, while also adhering to the irreplaceable elements of face-to-face education. The issues of digital transformation in the field of liberal arts education should be seen from the viewpoint of how to develop students' learning outcomes in the digital era. From this perspective, digital technologies should play the role of an educational support system rather than a substitute system for in-person education. The long-term task is to solidify the framework of sustainable education. It is true that, so far, college education has made us believe that achieving short-term goals is more important than long-term sustainability by basing itself on a modernization paradigm focused on economic growth. However, universities need to provide not only education for the purpose of employment but also basic skills that will promote sustained growth throughout a student's life. Presenting a vision of sustainable liberal arts education is acutely needed in the present day and age where the value and utility of universities are strongly questioned due to a significant reduction in degree effects, subsequent changes in students' attitudes toward higher education, the popularization and commercialization of higher education, the oversupply of higher education, and an uncertain future and employment crisis.

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