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(This is a draft work in progress...)

Introduction

The starting point for this article is a 'modern classic', 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed' by Paulo Freire.

Freire argues that 'education is freedom'. As the Amazon summary says, "traditional teaching styles keep the poor powerless by treating them as passive, silent recipients of knowledge ... through co-operation, dialogue and critical thinking, every human being can develop a sense of self and fulfil their right to be heard."

Education is clearly an important activity, so we probably should think more clearly about its purpose - what is education for? As the title suggests, there seems to be two quite different (and, at times, mutually opposed) aims: are we seeking to inform people, or helping to form them?

There is, of course, a third major aim, which we rarely acknowledge: babysitting.  Somebody has to look after the children during the day, when the parents are out at work

Context

Education can encompass a very wide-ranging set of activities.  Around the world and through the centuries, it has varied in many ways.  Sometimes it has been an imposed and highly strucured top-down system of instruction; at other times, it has included a voluntary and informal arrangement of individuals seeking knowledge.  And people can choose to pursue education for a wide range of reasons.

What we are looking at here are the systems of education: institutions, partly funded by the state and partly charitable, which deliver education. The people who receive this education are, for the most part, required in their early years to participate; in the latter stages of the process, people are freer to opt in or opt out.

But, at all stages in the process, we have a model of education which largely dates back to the 'good old days' when the aristocracy ruled and everyone else knew their place.  Throughout history, ambitious people have created kingdoms and empires, and these large structures always need powerful institutions, and they need reliable people to run them; those people are always required to reinforce the institutions and train up the next generation.  Institutions have always needed effective administrators as well as competent leaders, and you don't get either by chance  - so education (from the perspective of the state) has always been about forming the people you need, and giving them the information and skills they require to do their allocated tasks.

A Social Tool

Education is a social tool; whether it is good or bad - and who it is good or bad for - depends on the tool, and who is using it.

Many people have discovered that 'education is freedom': in the third world, education - and especially the education of young girls - is often transformative.  If you are not trapped by the knowledge and practices of the subsistence farmers around you, a world of possibilities opens up.  Better nutrition, healthcare and hygiene lead to a healthier and more capable workforce; fewer children die, you can afford to have smaller families and invest more in the next generation.

In this context, education teaches - more or less - what people need to know.  Or, failing that, it teaches literacy, which enables people to go and find what they need to know.  The benefits, both to the individuals being educated and to the society to which they belong - are clear.

But who decides what is taught?  Who decides how?  And, most importantly, who decides why?  The answers vary greatly from place to place - and, of course, over time.

The Political Context

Victorian British public schools produced the administrators of empire; they did this intentionally and openly.  They believed and taught that the 'natives' were inferior, and 'we' had the moral right to use their labour and natural resources while we 'brought civilization' to them.

Chinese schools produce large numbers of trained and obedient workers for the growing Chinese industrial economy.  Their students are taught the knowledge and skills their industries require; they are taught not to question authority.

While British teachers are generally liberal and left-leaning, they operate within a system which is designed to support the status quo; in my experience, many teachers experience a significant tension between their personal values and the values they are obliged to uphold in their work.  They want to open the minds of their students, to help them appreciate the many possibilities open before them; but they have to teach a restricted curriculum and persuade their students to pass exams which test their ability to reproduce the 'correct' answers to questions which (for the most part) nobody outside the education system is interested in.  There are enough echoes of the Victorian public school morality and the Chinese school utility to make many teachers uneasy.

"A lecture is a process which transfers words from the notes of the professor to the note-book of the student without passing through the mind of either." 

References

• Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Freire)