Tutorial 2 The Professionals In Education Simon & Habermas

Being a Teacher

in Singapore

A Designer & A Critical Thinker

Tutorial 2The Professionals in Education1. Philosophical Refections – Key Ideas Herbert A Simon (Chp 9) Jurgen Habermas (Chp 8)

2 Implications3 As Designers4 As Critical Thinkers

Herbert A Simon2 Schools of Thought

1. School of Natural Science – the teaching and learning about how natural things are and work

2. School of Science of Design – how things should be

Herbert A Simon Education as Science of

Design1. Design is the core of all professional

training

2. Schools are all centrally concerned with the process of design

3. Science of design hints at the discovery of how things should be

Herbert A Simon Science of Design

Educators as designers must be open to1. Satisfice – reach a solution that is generally

acceptable but which may not be the theoretical best

2. Style – consider differences in style, give freedom to design and allow designers to choose the way to go

3. Self-constitution – give free choice to students; draw out the gift of himself; discover himself

4. Communal-constitution – be a member of the collective group; collaborate freely

Herbert A Simon Science of Design

5 Ethics 1. to help them acknowledge the need, and

also recognise the opportunity for finding and discovering themselves (nurture potential)

2. to reason logically about factual truths and their relations and to judge suitable means to a given end (reasoning)

Herbert A Simon Science of Design

3. to let intelligence’s direction lead towards choiceworthy ends (decision-making)

4. to alert students of reason’s direction to avoid bad-forms of self-constitution through choices that reason prohibit (moral values)

Herbert A SimonImplications –Nurture

Creativity1. Educators (designers) must communicate the

rationale which guide the design process.2. They must be open to satisfice for a variety of

possible & permissable design solutions instead of optimising for a best design solution.

3. They are free to choose to craft their final design & discuss themselves in the process of design.

4. They should support their students’ authentic self-constitution by supplying a context of freedom and alerting them against irrational thoughts.

5. They guide communal constitution in a democratic way towards a collective decision

Herbert A SimonAs Designers

1. How are you a “designer” in Education?

2. What do you design?

Herbert A SimonAs Designers

3. Show examples of your “designs” as a A) Teacher B) Student C) Principal D) Minister

Use the resources provided to express your designs: rationale (why), plans (what) & processes (How)

Jurgen HabermasCritical Theory

The quest for human freedom and emancipation where human beings are free to participate in the democratic process & to transform their social conditions

The primary goal is to enlighten and emancipate human persons from forces of ideological beliefs or consciousness that are false

Jurgen HabermasReconstruct of the Critical

Theory1. Replace the paradigm of consciousness

(knowing) with the paradigm of communication

2. Shift from struggles with classes (of people) to struggles with crisis (situations)

Jurgen HabermasTheory of Communicative

Action Habermas conceptualises society as constituted

at two levels1. The life world (people & their perceptions) preconscious and taken-for-granted

presuppositions, understandings and perceptual filters that determine how people experience reality (prejudices)

impenetrable, inaccessible & unknowable because it is essentially pre-reflective and vast with an incalculable web of background assumptions employed by human agents in moments of communication (pre-conceived)

Jurgen HabermasTheory of Communicative

Action Intersubjective – that is, representing a set

of shared meanings which make it possible for people to communicate with each other (opportunities & possibilities)

Jurgen HabermasTheory of Communicative

Action1. The system (operations) regulates social relations “only via money

and power” employs self-interested strategic action outcomes are reached by influencing

opponents’ definition of the situation through external means such as weapons or goods, threats or sentiments

Jurgen Habermas Theory of Communicative

Action In modern capitalist and bureaucratic

societies, the lifeworld has become “colonised” by the system where the system imperatives of money and power have invaded or penetrated the lifeworld and thus become the predominant influence on people’s behaviour, morality, ethics and rationality.

Jurgen Habermas Case of lifeworld “colonised” by

system When school teachers’ and leaders’ individual

and collective actions are primarily motivated and determined by the key performance indicators set up by the education ministry along with the benefits or reprisals of the appraisal system, the lifeworld can be said to be “colonised” by the system.

In this case the school teachers and leaders no longer seek to enter into a dialogue or debate and consensual agreement on matters and issues pertaining to the purposes of education and the means of achieving them.

Jurgen HabermasNeed for Communicative

Action The colonisation of the lifeworld leads to crises in

the system in the form of pathologies (illnesses), alienation and loss of meaning, which will inadvertently disrupt the successful functioning of the system.

Preserving the lifeworld would therefore mean the need for communicative action where human agents enter into a rationally mutual understanding to reach consensual action.

Jurgen HabermasCommunicative Action

In communicative-oriented action or universal pragmatics, human agents are constantly and inevitably engaged in the assessment or evaluation of validity claims made by participants.

Challenges Faced by Schools As Critical Thinkers

What do you understand by the following issues? Give an example to illustrate each controversy.

Diversity versus Uniformity Autonomy versus Control Innovation versus Conservatism Equity versus Elitism

Challenges Faced by Schools

Diversity versus Uniformity Vision of TSLN is economy driven Although students are given the choice over

the type of school, programme and subjects to take, the syllabi must be approved by MOE

Challenges Faced by Schools

Autonomy versus Control Autonomy does not mean that they are free

from central control School Excellence Model (SEM) and School

Achievement Tables are means to exert control over education outcomes

Challenges Faced by Schools

Innovation versus Conservatism Singapore brand of leadership is seen as too

“risk-averse” (Long, 2004) Innovative programs will remain fairly

superficial if schools still rely on academic performance

Challenges Faced by Schools

Equity versus Elitism Students possess different socio-economic and

cultural capital Students from higher-income and English-

speaking families tend to cluster in elite schools (Kuek, 2007)

Jurgen HabermasImplications

Policy makers’ primary concern is the efficient and effective implementation of educational reforms

Teachers perceive the tool of implementation is useless, yet they are still constrained to carry out the implementation because of control mechanism.

Give your perspectives on these Initiatives Launch of Thinking Schools Learning Nation

(TSLN) in 1997 Thinking Schools: Teach Less Learn More (TLLM) Learning Nation: Lifelong Learning

More autonomy given to schools to innovate Strengthening of National Education (NE) Ability-Driven Education (ADE)

MOE Initiatives – Teachers’ Views

Jurgen HabermasDiscourse Ethics for an “ideal” speech

situation

Every speaker can state what he believes Anyone who disagrees must give a reason for it Everyone with the competence is allowed to take

part Everyone is allowed to question any assertion Everyone is allowed to introduce any assertion No one will be prevented from excercising his

rights

Give your perspectives on these Initiatives Launch of Thinking Schools Learning Nation

(TSLN) in 1997 Thinking Schools: Teach Less Learn More (TLLM) Learning Nation: Lifelong Learning

More autonomy given to schools to innovate Strengthening of National Education (NE) Ability-Driven Education (ADE)

MOE Initiatives – Teachers’ Views

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