Exploring the Perceptual World
  Livia Marly Sa

Teachers do not have the power to bestow a new set of senses upon students, but they can certainly stimulate the five senses, namely, the auditory, the visual, the tactile, the olfactory, and the gustatory world. What is not written on our DNA, though, is the amount and type of value that the information processed by our sensory system will have on our mind. It is the mind that interprets the signals from the physical world that are captured by our senses, but it is socialization that informs the mind which sensory signals to interpret and how to interpret them. That being the case, we would then be living in three distinct and interactive worlds: the empirical, physical world, which is infinite and goes beyond what our senses can possibly capture; the sensory world, which is the world within the realm of our physical make up; and the perceptual world, which is conceived by our minds and informed by socialization.   full text

Editor's Note:
  Karen Heise

The View From Here:
Lynne Fukuda

Who are this issue's contributors?

Using Experience to Cross Professional and Geographical Boundaries:
East Meets West, Art Meets Commerce
  Susan McGury and Betta LoSardo

Teaching art history to working adults is a dilemma in and of itself. Adults returning to school often perceive work in the humanities as inconsequential to their more relevant goals in business and other work-related topics. Working on a model that underscores experience and its relationship to theoretical learning, we endeavored to develop a course that would unite the students' interests, experiences, and knowledge of business topics with ability to analyze, assess, and categorize works of art. Though a cultural hybrid, Hong Kong's unique culture is focused on productivity and financial gain. While the arts have played an important part in the history and development of Hong Kong as a political and cultural entity, the works themselves have often been kept exclusively for the appreciation of the highest classes of Hong Kong society.

Furthermore, the School for New Learning's own outcomes-based orientation demanded that students take away from the classroom more than factual knowledge of art. Thus, we were faced with a peculiar dilemma: how to make a link between art appreciation and business productivity, and how to encourage students to use their own experiences and insights to augment classroom learning.   full text

Poetry
  Ron Rubin

Enhancing Human Capital Through Capability Education
  Hardson Pindu Kwandayi

Investment in education or human capital is the sine qua non for the development of any nation. Its importance is reflected in the growing recognition that investing in both formal and informal education provides and enhances people's skills, knowledge, attitudes, and motivation necessary for economic and social development (Psacharopoulos & Woodhall, 1985). At the individual level, investment in education yields both monetary and non-monetary benefits. With respect to monetary terms, the human capital theory contends that higher education is accompanied by higher income. However, this has not been consistent with research findings (e.g., Barringer, Takeuchi & Xenos, 1990).

This paper argues that human capital or education per se does not always translate into high productivity and income. Higher education must be retooled and rejuvenated with relevant technical and professional skills required by employers. Each institution should infuse its curriculum with capability education, which encompasses technical, conceptual and human relations skills. Such responsive curriculum will help to bridge the discrepancy between university education and workplace expectations. This will also reduce the gap between one's human capital and income. The paper also delineates important features of the human capital theory, which provides the conceptual framework for the paper.  full text