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On the basis of this discussion, I am led to believe that in the world of employers and employees, what ultimately matters is not the specialised knowledge of a discipline or a set of specialised skills (educational goal A), but a set of global mental qualities and overall abilities which (following Howard Gardner and others) we may call "intelligences" (educational goal D):
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Learning intelligence: Ability to learn new things, to adapt oneself to new situations, etc.
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Critical intelligence: Ability to assess situations, ideas, and arrive at decisions
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Creative intelligence: Ability to innovate ideas, solutions, etc.
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Interpersonal intelligence: Ability to deal with people
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Communicative intelligence: Ability to express oneself clearly and effectively, to understand what others are saying, to persuade others, etc.
These intelligences constitute the basis of the competitive edge in the job market. Thus, the requirements of the market forces (goal B) coincide with the requirements of enhancing the human potential (goal D). This is not to say that goal A is to be ignored. Goal A will be achieved if we aim at goal C (research abilities) in such a way that it naturally leads to goal D.
If we accept the above conclusion, the central question that faces university education can be phrased as: what can university educators do to develop and enhance the qualities listed as I-V?
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