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Newman’s Circle of Knowledge and Curriculum Wholeness in The Idea of a University
... They advocate a more comprehensive view of contemporary universities (Blass, 2001;Craig et al., 1999;Deboick, 2010;Thornton, 2004). Teachers who are interested in "Whole person" education, including critical thinking skills and aesthetic appreciation, regularly quote Newman's conceptualization of "liberal education" (Christie, 2011;Gruenwald, 2011;McAllister, 2015;Sullivan, 2015). ...
Newman’s “The Idea of the University” is the essential classic document in the history of Western higher education. All over the world, the educational thoughts of universities are closely related to Newman, and modern authors’ classic understanding of the university concept is derived from this Book. At that time, academia was in an era of ideological confrontation. Debates were mainly based on the two themes of “can other schools’ thoughts be used for reference” and “humanities or science.” Newman gave a clear answer to this in the book and made a corresponding detailed discussion. Newman’s answer embodies Newman’s educational thoughts, which are formed under the guidance of personal, educational philosophy. Therefore, Newman’s educational philosophy is contained in his educational thoughts. Based on this, Newman’s educational philosophy is explored from the educational thoughts contained in Newman’s answers to the above two topics. Newman’s educational philosophy is embodied in his views on schools and disciplines. For other sects, Newman is loyal to knowledge, regardless of sect, learns from each other’s strengths, and innovates. Newman firmly opposes blindly denying the views of the humanities.
The book - The Idea of a University is an outstanding work of Henry Cardinal Newman, published in 1875. It presents a model of university that should engage in a kind of universal learning that embodies all the branches of knowledge. Each branch of knowledge, such as theology or religion is to be an abstraction of the complete set, offering at its unit level, a unique access to truth. Viewed together, all the branches complete and complement each other and checkmate and balance each other’s encroachment and excessive tendencies. No one among the circle can be excluded without prejudice to the accuracy and scope of others as well as the whole. They are therefore mutually complementary and necessary for each other. The Idea of a University should therefore be a place where the search for knowledge should not be exclusive, but liberal in its pursuit of truth. This paper therefore tries to show that the Nigerian system of university education has considerable influence from Newman's(European) university model. This influence notwithstanding, there is a certain stress in the Nigerian model lacking in Newman’s model. The stress concerns utility. While Nigerian educational system is considerably utility-based, it is deficient of the liberal principles of university education enunciated by Newman. The paper concludes by stating that proper blend of utility-based focus with liberal principles aimed at searching for the truth will be useful in resolving the problems bedeviling the educational sector on the tertiary level. In this way, the present practice of rushing for education merely for the acquisition of certificates shall be discarded
The Idea of a University by John Henry Newman is a collection of two books, derived from a variety of source materials, that are famous for their interrogation of three primary themes pertaining to university life: 1) the nature of knowledge; 2) the role of religious belief in higher education; and 3) a defense of liberal education for university students. Ultimately, Newman makes a twofold argument concerning the nature of education for students. First, he passionately defends a liberal education that prizes the development of individual intellect over institutional measurement and narrowly-defined skill development. Second, he argues for potential of the university to bring together diverse perspectives and areas of expertise in service of greater understanding.
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