Education Fit for Citizens

An education fit for citizens by Dr Simon Duffy

What do you teach when our phones are getting smarter, but our leaders are getting dumber?

• Education and the economy

• Education and the meritocracy

• Education for education’s sake

• Education for citizenship

• Special education - a case study

• Reimagining education in the 21st century

The Economy: A circular relationship of

consumption and production

£Reducing us to

workers and consumers

How does the Treasury measure the economic value of philosophy?

It is a strange irony that, in the name of ‘The Market,’ teachers are told to design education that makes students ready for work;for the central purpose of the labour market is to adjust itself to whatever array of skills and needs are actually available.

… and what do teachers or politicians know about the skills the economy will

need in 20 years time anyway?

[Frey C B & Osborne M A (2013) The Future of Employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerisation. Oxford. Oxford University.]

47% of existing job roles highly likely to be replaceable by

robots or computers in next 20 years.

(Although teachers have a very low probability of replacement, especially in primary education)

Meritocracy: Corrupting our natural desire to achieve excellence and converting it into an empty exercise in the domination of others out of vanity and greed

Satire becomes fact:

“Today we frankly recognise that democracy can be no

more than an aspiration, and have rule not so much by the

people as by the cleverest people; not an aristocracy of

birth, not a plutocracy of wealth, but a true meritocracy

of talent.”

[Michael Young (the father of Toby) in 1958]

“my vision for a truly meritocratic Britain that puts the interests of ordinary, working class people first.” [Theresa May, 2016]

Education for education’s sake

• Education - from Latin - educare/educere - mould or lead out - shared root with dux

• Learning - from Old English - leornian - to follow a track - shared root with lore

• Teaching - from Old English - tæcan - to point out or show - shared root with tacen [token]

• Developmentthe potential to grow and stretch our capacities

• Authority the power of truth and the wisdom of experience

• Explorationthe possibility of new discoveries

But there is also a powerful case for public

education

“But matters of public interest ought to be under public supervision;

at the same time we ought not to think that any of the citizens belongs

to himself, but that all belong to the polis, for each is a part of the polis,

and it is natural for the superintendence of the several

parts to have regard to the superintendence of the whole.

Aristotle . Politics VIII. [Note that Polis is often (mis)translated as ‘state’ but this is misleading as the term ‘polis’ might be better translated as community.]

Aristotle explains that a community is not made out of equals, but on the contrary of people who are different and unequal. The community comes into being through equalising, 'isathenai.' [Nich. Ethics 1133 a 14] [Arendt]

Could we not see part of our role as preparing our children for citizenship?

“Every educational system has a moral goal that it tries to attain and that informs its curriculum. It wants to produce a certain kind of human being.” [Allan Bloom]

What would an education orientated towards citizenship

look like?

The old ‘transition’ pathway - dominated by systems…

• Hope - there is a meaningful and positive place for you in the world

• Partnership - we are partners with the person and their family - we are not alone

• Leadership - we can generate purposeful action by seeing our actions in a wider context

Katrina’s son Jonathan has complex health needs. He has a tracheostomy and needs to take a breathing unit with him at all times. He suffers from severe epilepsy, which requires rectal medication for treatment. He has severe curvature of the spine, is double-jointed and has hypotonia. His health assessment described him as having severe learning disabilities, severe behavioural problems, global development delays and no speech. He also has bilateral deafness and eczema. In the last 3 years before leaving school Jonathan spent 150 days in hospital with breathing problems.

After leaving school Jonathan had support that was recruited and controlled by his mum, and funded by an integrated personal budget. There were no more stays in hospital; he had a job where he was valued and earned several qualifications; his life changed for the better.

Where could we go if we took citizenship

seriously?

• Purpose - we would be helping each person explore how their gifts could be best realised as their contribution to community life.

• Knowledge - we would treat previous learning as a precious legacy to be protected and carried forward.

• Profession - we would think about our role in the wider context of the community and its capacities.

We would protect educational standards from

political interference and phoney competition

What would this mean for public life?

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