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Education
Trends
- This group of one-pagers point to the ways in which the purpose of
education is seen to be changing.
- The first four are more philosophical and the second three are
concerned with application.
| Knowledge - the cumulative tradition |
g951011b |
| A polarised list of ideas about Learning and Teaching |
931115c (ggclat) |
| Education - the shifting paradigm |
941213 |
| Traditional v experiential learning |
g971212a |
| Education in National Development - trends |
941007 |
| 34 goals for Education Systems |
941007b |
| Checklist of feasibility factors in education planning |
940914a (ggcff) |
Knowledge - the Cumulative Tradition
Author: Clark GG (1995) - SRDS Webpage -
http://www.srds.ndirect.co.uk
The human animal is successful not because it is big or ferocious or
because it can run fast but rather because it can accumulate and use knowledge to
manipulate the world in which it lives. This ability began in a small way (for several
millions of years) with bands of hunter/gatherers, and has mushroomed recently (within the
last 10 thousand years) through the invention of first agriculture, then industry and now
the science of information processing. A very potted history of the process is presented
below.
Stage/Time Frame |
Social Structure |
Degree of Specialization |
Relationship to nature |
Hunting & Gathering since
6 million years ago |
Small family groups with
simple sexual division of labour |
Most adults can do everything |
Very close to nature |
Early settled agriculture
begins about 8000BC |
Larger social groups with more
elaborate sexual division of labour |
Some part time specializations |
Still close to nature |
Early civilization from about
6000BC |
First towns & cities and
therefore urban v rural division of labour |
Full time specializations
develop eg traders and bureaucrats |
Estrangement from nature
begins |
Industrial Civilization since
about 1700AD |
Mechanised agriculture &
most people live in towns within nation states |
High degree of specialization
which lasts a life time |
Environmental pollution and
destruction on a large scale |
The Information Era since
about 1980AD |
People move back to
countryside. Sexual division of labour much reduced. Nation States lose economic
independence |
Very high specialization but
individuals change in a life time |
Concern for the environment
becomes a political issue. |
The idea of universal and compulsory education for all children did not
begin till about 200 years ago and is still not complete in many parts of the world. In
the early days the task of mass education was to indoctrinate children into behaving
appropriately in stratified industrialised societies and to act as a sieve which could
sort the more able from the less able. Since then there has been an overall movement to
use education for more liberal purposes.
Where does Lesotho stand within these broad patterns? Which global, or
other country, trends and issues have relevance to the Lesotho situation? To what extent
is the staff of the Advisory Service informed of these issues and to what extent are they
willing and/or able to act to shape the future of education in particular directions?
Two user-friendly books are worth reading for overviews of the
present world situation:
Drucker PF (1991) The New Realities; Mandarin
Handy C (1991) The Age of Unreason; Century Business
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A Polarised List of Ideas about Learning and Teaching.
Author: Clark GG (1995) - SRDS Webpage -
http://www.srds.ndirect.co.uk
Theories about the role of education in national development can be
seen as stretching along a continuum from the extreme of cultural indoctrination
(training) at one end to that of individual, mystical illumination (enlightenment) at the
other.
The first of the following tables offers some key phrases linked to
this continuum and grouped according to the five main components of a comprehensive
curriculum strategy.
The second table offers a synoptic listing of key characteristics
associated with John Dewey's (1859-1952) typology of teaching styles which ranged from
"traditional" to "progressive".
Ideas about Learning
|
Training
|
Enlightenment
|
AIMS |
Manpower Planning |
Relevance to Individual |
Central Curriculum Development |
Curriculum Development in Schools |
OBJECTIVES |
Performance |
Understanding |
Truth |
Meaning |
SUBJECT MATTER |
Academic |
Environmental |
Subject Centred |
Learner Centred |
Expert Based |
Experience Based |
ASSESSMENT |
For Selection |
For Development |
Summative |
Formative |
Formal |
Informal |
Terminal |
Continuous |
METHODS |
TEACHER CENTRED |
STUDENT CENTRED |
Didactic |
Interactive |
Passive Student |
Active Student |
Competitive |
Cooperative |
Ability Streaming |
Mixed Ability |
| |
Dewey's categories |
TRADITIONAL
|
PROGRESSIVE
|
imposition from above |
expression and cultivation of
individuality and free expression |
external discipline |
free activity |
learning from text and teachers |
learning through experience |
acquire isolated skills and techniques
by drill |
acquire skills and techniques as a means
to ends which have direct and vital appeal |
preparation for a remote future |
make most of opportunites in present
life |
static aims and materials |
acquaintance with a changing world |
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Education - the shifting paradigm?
in Ferguson M (1980) The Aquarian Conspiracy ; Paladin
| Emphasis on content, acquiring a body
of "right" information, once and for all. |
Emphasis on learning how to learn, how to ask
good questions, pay attention to the right things, be open to and evaluate new concepts,
have access to information. Importance of context. |
| Learning as a product, a destination. |
Learning as a process, a journey |
| Hierarchical and authoritarian structure. |
Egalitarian. Candour and dissent permitted. |
| Rewards conformity, discourages dissent. |
Students and teachers see each other as
people, not roles. Encourages autonomy. |
| Relatively rigid structure, prescribed
curriculum. |
Relatively flexible structure. Belief that
there are many ways to teach a given subject. |
| Lockstep progress, emphasis on the
"appropriate" ages for certain activities, age segregation. Compartmentalized. |
Flexibility and integration of age groupings.
Individual not automatically limited to certain subject matter by age. |
| Priority on performance. |
Priority on self image as the generator of
performance. |
| Emphasis on external world. Inner experience
often considered inappropriate in school setting. |
Inner experience seen as context for learning.
Use of imagery, storytelling, dream journals, "centring" exercises, and
exploration of feelings encouraged. |
| Guessing and divergent thinking discouraged. |
Guessing and divergent thinking encouraged as
part of the creative process. |
| Emphasis on analytical, linear, left-brain
thinking. |
Strives for whole-brain education. Augments
left-brain rationality with holistic, non-linear, and intuitive strategies. Confluence and
fusion of the two processes emphasized. |
| Labelling (gifted, remedial etc) contributes
to self fulfilling prophecy. |
Labelling used only in minor prescriptive role
and not as fixed evaluation that dogs the individual's educational career. |
| Concern with norms. |
Concern with the individual's performance in
terms of potential. Interest in testing outer limits, transcending perceived limitations. |
| Primary reliance on theoretical, abstract
"book knowledge". |
Theoretical and abstract knowledge heavily
complemented by experiment and experience, both in and out of classroom. Field trips,
apprenticeships, demonstrations, visiting experts. |
| Classrooms designed for efficiency,
convenience. |
Concern for the environment of learning:
lighting, colours, air, physical comfort, needs for privacy and interaction, quiet and
exuberant activities. |
| Bureaucratically determined, resistant to
community input. |
Encourages community input, even community
control. |
| Education seen as a social necessity for a
certain period of time to inculcate minimum skills and train for a specific role. |
Education seen as lifelong process, one only
tangentially related to schools. |
| Increasing reliance on technology (audiovisual
equipment, computers, tapes etc). Dehumanization. |
Appropriate technology, human relationships
between teachers and learners of primary importance. |
| Teacher imparts knowledge; one-way street. |
Teacher is learner too, learning from
students. |
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Traditional v Experiential Learning
Source: Reid M A & Barrington H (1994) Training
Interventions - managing employee development; IPD; 0 85292 566 2
|
Traditional
Learning |
Experiential
Learning |
Learning is for ... |
individuals |
individuals & groups |
Learning provides ... |
knowledge |
knowledge & understanding |
Plans are based on ... |
content |
content & process |
Participants ... |
listen,
memorise, prepare for exams |
participate,
discuss, reflect, decide |
Trainers ... |
teach,
lecture, present, evaluate, challenge via questions, carry responsibility |
facilitate,
participate, stimulate, share responsibility |
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Education in National Development - Trends
Lewin K (1985) Educational Goals for National Development;
International Encyclopaedia of Education: Pergamon
Rationales for Education Goals in National Development
- Manpower Planning
- Social Equity
- Nation Building
- Improving Quality of Schooling
- Improving Efficiency of Schooling
Main features of the development of national education goals as
expressed in formal documents:
 | a movement away from fairly narrowly defined manpower development
goals towards a diversity of goals with an increasing emphasis on those with a
non-cognitive element. Social Equity, Nation building, school quality and efficiency are
found in most plans now with varying degrees of emphasis.
|
| a shift towards differentiating goals for different parts of the
education system (partly as a result of a more sensitive appreciation of the multifaceted
nature of the development process)
|
| varying degrees of consonance between planned intentions (goals) and
subsequent action which varies considerably from country to country.
|
| considerable variation in goal priorities between countries, partly
related to economic, political and cultural factors but only adequately explicable through
country level case studies.
|
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34 Goals for Education Systems
Lewin K (1985) Educational Goals for National Development;
International Encyclopaedia of Education: Pergamon
The following list was devised by Lewin who drew upon 28 existing
national plans. The list has been subdivided according to Lewin's 5 categories of
rationales for education in National Development.
Manpower Planning
|
1. increase the possession of general skills
relevant to development |
| 2. increase the possession of skills relevant
to the modern sector |
| 3. improve scientific and technological
capabilities |
| 4. provide agricultural development knowledge
and skills |
| 5. provide rural development knowledge and
skills |
| 6. increase the prospects for self employment |
| 7. provide specific vocational training |
| 8. extend literacy to increase productivity
& innovation |
Social Equity
|
9. develop non-formal education programmes |
| 10. reduce income inequalities |
| 11. equalize educational opportunities and
reduce regional disparities in access |
| 12. reduce occupational differences between
groups which derive from educational imbalances |
| 13. provide basic education as a human right |
Nation Building
|
14. develop and consolidate a national
language |
| 15. promulgate a national language |
| 16. promulgate a national ideology |
| 17. promote self sufficiency and self reliance |
| 18. reduce cultural and psychological
dependency |
| 19. strengthen local institutions |
| 20. develop individual potentials fully |
| 21. localise expatriate manpower |
| 22. ensure physical well being and health |
Improved Quality of
Schooling
|
23. improve educational quality through
curriculum development |
| 24. improve quality through localising
examinations |
| 25. improve teacher training |
| 26. improve in-service professional
development |
| 27. improve resources available to teachers |
| 28. enhance planning and research capabilities |
| 29. increase private education standards |
Improved Efficiency of
Schooling
|
30. reduce dropouts |
| 31. reduce repetition rates |
| 32. increase enrollments |
| 33. improve cost effectiveness of teacher
training |
| 34. improve efficiency of plant utilization |
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Checklist of Feasibility Factors in Education Planning
Beeby C (1966) The Quality of Education in Developing
Countries; Harvard University Press
That which is desirable in education may not be feasible in a given
place at a given time. Thus one of the first tasks of an education planner is to take
account of the existing range of desires for education and to balance these against the
feasibility factors which will act as limitations on the contextualised possible.
5 SETS OF FEASIBILITY FACTORS
Stakeholder Interests
|
Political
Cultural
Educational
Popular |
Resources
|
Financial
Infrastructural
Human |
Administrative Capacity
|
Central
Regional
School Level |
The Teaching Force
|
Competence
Cultural Values
Range of Abilities |
Stage of Development
|
|
The Stage of Development refers to Beeby's observations of the growth
of Primary School Systems.
He labelled them, in ascending order of effectiveness, as
| Dame Schools,
|
| Formalistic,
|
| Transitional
|
| Meaning-based.
|
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