Examining Liberal Education, its Place, and Importance in Transnational Education: How to Develop and Maintain Teacher and Learner Autonomy

Abstract

Around the world discussion is bourgeoning on elements of quality in education: what constitutes it and how it can be developed and maintained. Only a few years ago the general idea was that the West had the answers to these questions and that the fast-growing economies in Asia, especially China, would benefit from adopting Western methods of teaching in their efforts to modernize educational practices. In the second decade of the twenty-first century it is becoming clear that the East also has something to offer and that a reciprocal exchange of experiences will bring both worlds forward to a broader understanding of the difficulties and the qualities of internationalization of education. As the flow of students on the move for experiences and education is becoming multidirectional as well as multilingual and multicultural, it is becoming essential that educational policy, educational institutions, and classroom practitioners take up the gauntlet of examining their own underlying assumptions and traditions with a view to making explicit to themselves and others where and in what they find value, what these values are, and how to bring this knowledge into play with new frameworks. With this purpose in mind, the philosophies of the European tradition of free and independent universities within the heritage of the Enlightenment will be examined, and the merits as well as less fortunate developments put into relief against the current discussion of difficulties with internationalization and the creation of a new educational framework.