Theory and practice of liberal education: founders and followers, ideas and principles, the issue of novelty

This article deals with the study of the history and theory of liberal education as well as the educational model of liberal arts and sciences. The author delineates the main principles of J. Newman's theory, presented in his book (the classics of liberal education). The author of the article singles out the principles and structural components of liberal education, he determines the necessary skills that are acquired by students studying within this model. There are being drawn the parallels between the ideology of liberal education and the three basic educational approaches used in modern Russian higher education: personality oriented, activity oriented and competence based ones.