Back To School
Rethinking Education
Known as the “people of the book”, the Jews valued education since their early history [e.g. Wikipedia]. My parents were both teachers for part of their life. My mom taught art and my father taught history, literature and the bible. My only aunt was a teacher for kids with special needs. My sister is a teacher, mostly to teenager’s facing various social and physical challenges. But the respect children and their parents pay teachers and the educational system, as well as teachers’ salaries, have drastically eroded over the last few decades. More importantly, the world we are living in now is vastly different from the one I was born into. We need to go back to school.
Observations from World Teacher’s Day
World Teacher’s Day was established by UNESCO to “celebrate all teachers around the globe. It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers, and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated since 1994.”
The mandate of UNESCO’s Institute for Lifelong Learning states that they are “Taking a holistic and integrated, inter-sectoral and cross-sectoral approach to lifelong learning as the guiding paradigm for 21st century education, UIL promotes and supports lifelong learning with a focus on adult learning, continuing education, literacy and non-formal basic education. Its activities place particular emphasis on furthering educational equity for disadvantaged groups and in the countries most afflicted by poverty and conflict.”
As I was reading this polished verbiage, one thought kept growing stronger and stronger. Nowhere does it actually say what is the goal of education. Should the students acquire some fundamental pieces of knowledge, certain skills, perhaps get a certificate? Whether it is children, teenagers, adults or even old people — what do we want them to BE?
The History of Modern Education
As Allison Schrager writes, “The education system as we know it is only about 200 years old. Before that, formal education was mostly reserved for the elite. But as industrialization changed the way we work, it created the need for universal schooling.
Factory owners required docile, agreeable workers who would show up on time and do what their managers told them. Sitting in a classroom all day with a teacher was good training for that. Early industrialists were instrumental, then, in creating and promoting universal education.
“Factory schools,” as they are now called, originated in early 19th-century Prussia. For the first time, education was provided by the state and learning was regimented. Dozens of students at a time were placed in grades according to their age, and moved through successive grades as they mastered the curriculum. They took an industrialized approach to education: impersonal, efficient, and standardized.”
She notes that “Now that we are moving into a new, post-industrial era, it is worth reflecting on how our education evolved to suit factory work, and if this model still makes sense.”.
I think the answer is clear. It doesn’t.
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
— Albert Einstein
Education Misconceptions
- Education is for kids — education is for all ages, from the time we are born into this world until the time we leave it.
- Education happens in schools — education happens everywhere, any time. When I watch a TV commercial, talk to someone, play, interact in any way with other people and with my environment.
- The purpose of education is knowledge acquisition — the purpose of education is to make an “animal” into a “human being”, which of course requires us to define what a human being is, or should be.
There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
Integral Education
We are living in an interconnected world. From the microscopic particles to the living organisms, plants, animals, people and the entire human society, all these entities are parts of one all-encompassing perfect system, interwoven and interdependent. But we never learn what this actually means , how the system is built, what is its purpose, what laws govern every part in the system and the relationships between the parts, and what are the implications of all of this — for each one of us and for all of us. In fact modern education seems to be the very opposite of what we need — it mostly teaches us how to be independent, isolated, competitive and egotistic.
Integral education is an approach that teaches us how to relate to the world as an interconnected system, understand where we exist, and by that also understand who we are and how we should behave in order to not only survive but even flourish and be happy.
As Dr.
wrote in Education for Global Awareness, “The integral reality where we are raising children today is very different from the one where we grew up. In order for them to thrive in an interconnected world, they must be conscious of how connected we are, and the sooner we begin to teach them this, the better.”.“The main point we need to show is the union among all of nature’s forces in a single, integral mechanism, and how it influences us. We need to come to see that even if we are connected through a mobile device or a computer, and we are living in the virtual realm, we are still connected in the physical world, and not only to other people but to everything.
As a result, children will grow up knowing how important it is to nurture good connections with their surroundings — with the people around them and with all of nature. They will feel that if they do not care for the environment, both social and natural, it will mistreat them, too. That way, they won’t have to suffer the consequences of ignorance, as is happening to us today.
When we think of our treatment of others and of Earth more in terms of a relationship, it is easy to see that reciprocity is necessary. It is clear that a successful relationship requires consideration from all sides, and that the benefits of having friends and loved ones far outweigh the efforts.”
Important integral education topics include:
- Nature — the laws of nature; Nature as a force and a law that sustains the whole of reality; The laws that dictate the evolution of humanity.
- The evolution of the connection between human beings — the development of humanity in various aspects and areas: society, culture, science and so on; The formation of connections between human beings; Mutual influences between countries, cultures and so on.
- Human nature — the motives for connection between human beings and human action; The connection between the ego and the revelation of the global crisis.
- The global crisis — the manifestation of the current crisis at the various levels; The causes for the crisis; Attempts to resolve the crisis and more.
- Society and education — the key to a solution of the crisis; The impact of the social environment on the individual; The social environment as the main means to transform the individual; The existing society and its effects; The education needed for the next level of our development.
- Humanity in its corrected state — our next stage of evolution; Mutual responsibility; Wholeness and harmony; The connection among all of humanity and its impact on all other levels of nature.
In accordance with its goals, integral education uses pedagogical methods that emphasize a holistic perspective and understanding the relationships between the individual and the society. These include:
- Teaching is not frontal but rather occurs in a circle.
- The teacher (educator would be a better word) is an equal participant whose role is to lead and guide the shared learning process.
- The emphasis is on playing and experiencing and not on knowledge acquisition and passing tests.
- Achieving collective rather than individual goals. Collaboration instead of competition.
- Listening to and understanding the other. Role playing. Considering multiple and even opposing views.
- Solving conflicts instead of winning them. A reconciliation club instead of debate club.
- Teaching is an essential part of learning. Older children should mentor younger ones.
Hey, Teachers, Lead Those Kids Along! ¹
Teachers have a pivotal role in nurturing the next generation of children who will grow according to the principles of integral education. First the teachers themselves must absorb the theory and practice of integral education, by learning the relevant principles and methods, experiencing them and playing with them. Armed with this “technology” they can teach children and teenagers the most important thing in life, the secret recipe for success and happiness. Kids of all ages should come to school enthusiastically rather than reluctantly. They should feel that not only are they learning about the fascinating makeup of “life, the universe and everything”², but that the study itself is social and fun, and the teacher is their helpful guide, their older and wiser friend.
The teacher’s realm of influence should also extend to the triangle of child-teacher-parent relationships, and teachers can provide parents the knowledge and perspective they need so that they don’t just “cope” (often unsuccessfully) with their children, but actually participate in their development, and enjoy it.
Finally I agree with UNESCO that lifelong learning should be the guiding paradigm for 21st century education. Education is for all ages and it happens everywhere, in every interaction we have with other people and even with our environment. This implies that we need to revise not only our kindergartens and schools but our entire society. Still the best place to start this transformation process is with the young generation.
Let’s cherish the opportunity to learn anew what does it mean to be human!
- Paraphrasing Ping Floyd’s “The Wall” lyrics
- My favorite book by Douglas Adams :-)
