ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case for a new framing of liberal education based on several decades of research emerging from the learning and developmental sciences. It suggests that general knowledge stems from acquiring both the habits of mind and repertoires of practice that develop from participation in knowledge-building communities. The chapter considers some core assumptions implicit in formulations of liberal education today, focusing on how they portray the "stuff" of learning and comparing this to how learning scientists think about that "stuff". It discusses why learning scientists suggest that current conceptions of practice-based learning oversimplify current research. The chapter draws from work in the developmental sciences that suggests how learning and development unfold over time. Learning occurs in phases repeated in different venues: for instance, the curriculum, the co-curriculum, and the larger community. It also offers as an example of an attempt to weave this body of work into liberal education reform: Clark University's Liberal Education and Effective Practice initiative.
