The Bookshelf: April 30, 2015

Trib+Edu is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of education. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

IN DEFENSE OF A LIBERAL EDUCATION

by Fareed Zakaria

Why Americans should continue to embrace a well-rounded education.

After being accepted at Yale, Zakaria — who emigrated from India, a country whose educational system is deeply rooted in the concept of learning a skill or trade rather than embracing a general education … Zakaria implores all Americans to reconsider the idea of obtaining a liberal education, using solid evidence from Colonial days to the present to show that a liberal education is the ultimate element that separates the educational system of the United States from much of the rest of the world ... Zakaria's arguments are cohesive, and his accessible prose logically progresses as he builds his case for a type of education that opens doors that might otherwise never be discovered … A liberal education gives one the tools to be able to learn anything, whether it is science-based, technology-based, or something altogether different.

A passionate appeal, for Americans in particular and the world at large, to rethink the benefits of a well-rounded, general education.

For full review visit kirkus.com.