DESCHOOLING SOCIETY

LECTURE THREE – 19/02/2012 & 23/02/12

IVAN ILLICH’S VIEWS ON

SCHOOLS

IVAN ILLICH’S VIEWS ON SCHOOLS

Questions the necessity/value for schools and schooling Children who are deprived of schooling are seen as

seriously disadvantaged Equal schooling opportunities continue to create an

unequal societyi. This is because the child from a poor home lacks the

intellectual stimulation available to children from middle class home. Such stimulation includes conservation, books and travel opportunities.

Continued…

ii. The poor child will generally fall behind because of his dependence on the school only for learning. Schooling therefore perpetuates social class distinction (dehumanizing effect using money and manpower for its task.Schools monopolize the function of education using money and manpower for its task

i. This discourages other institutions from assuming educational tasks.

ii. Work, leisure, politics, city living behaviour patterns and knowledge, instead of becoming themselves the means of education

Equal compulsory schooling must be recognized as economically unrealistic and impossible to achieve

i. The inadequate financing of schools by the state does not provide the quality of schooling expected by parents, teachers and pupils.

ii. This discourages the motivation and financing for the provision of learning outside the school.

Teaching may contribute to certain kinds of learning, but most people receive most of their knowledge outside the school

…continued

..continued

Problem with certification which constitutes a form of

market manipulation which brought about job and

admission requirement, employment and learning

centres.

The problem of language which most of the time is

foreign to some pupils and teachers.

END OF LECTURE: 20-23/02/2012)

AIMS OF WESTERN EDUCATION

Establish hegemony (control) over the indigenous African peopleTransmit the political values, economic interests, cultural priorities associated with the Europeans brought with them to AfricaThe ability to read the bible was the ultimate aim

WESTERN EDUCATION

…continuation

To change the then African mode of production through missionary attempts

To persuade the Khoikhoi and the San to relinquish their nomadic way of life

To teach children trades and handcrafts in the economy of the then ‘new society’

Anglicize the Dutch speaking inhabitants of the colony and also making English the official language at work, business and in schools

Schooling was seen as a vehicle for ‘instilling social discipline’

THE PERIOD BEFORE 1652

No Formal education system took place before the arrival of the colonists and very little formal education was offered through initiation schools.

Group solidarity and traditionalism were the most important values that were inculcated by education.

Education during the Dutch (1652 – 1800)

Education was overseen by the Dutch Reformed Church

Farm children were provided with education by teachers

Mission schools provided education for the African

population. The intention of the missionaries was to

make the African child to despise his culture and no

mother tongue instruction was given on any academic

learning.

…continued

The British introduced Anglicization as one of the aims of

their education after taking away control of schools from

the church.

IDEOLOGY DEFINED

IDEOLOGY

i. It is a comprehensive vision

ii. It is a set of aims and ideas that directs one’s goals, expectations and actions

iii. It is a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of society to all members of society (socialization)

iv. Are systems of abstract thought applied to public matters (political)

Types of ideologies

v) They are a set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work, and offers some political and cultural order

vi) Are largely concerned with how to allocate power and to what extend it should be used.

IDEOLOGIES AND SCHOOLING

• Christian National Education

• This is the official ideological position of Afrikaner Nationalists on education and it has had a very important impact on educational policy and practice

• Is a unique cultural development that combined the Calvinist religion with the political aspirations of the White Afrikaans speaking people of South Africa

• Emphasis on ‘separation is strength’ or the need for racial segregation

IDEOLOGY CONTINUED

Central features of CNE

That all education should be based on the Christian Gospel That mankind was divided into nations and that education

should reflect these national differences According to this movement, Afrikaans schools were not only

to be mother tongue schools, but they were also to be in every sense of the word Christian and National schools, they were to be places where their children were steeped and nourished in the Christian National spiritual culture

They also did not want to mix languages, cultures, religion and race

Ideology continued

They believed that qualities that characterize a nation are a common language, history, culture, philosophy of life, customs, political traditions and legal system

Believe that a child should be schooled to adulthood within the context of a specific community, with its distinctive cultural character and tradition

The importance of the authority of norms and to be ‘obedient to authority’

The teacher had enormous authority in the pedagogic relationship The Christian National conception of schooling is one which views

the process as essentially one ‘moulding’ (the aim being to mould children into the image of their adults)

NCE AND SCHOOLING

• CHE view South Africa as a country inhibited by different national groups who do not share a common language, origin, culture, religion, political tradition or world view – separate education system

Legislation passed to effect that: The Bantu Education Act (1953) The Extension of Universities Act (1959) The Education and Training Act (1979)

…continued

• The CHE had the view point that the Whites, as the possessors of the Christian faith had a civilization mission – to Christianize the Natives through Education and to also help them culturally

• Native Education was to be based on the principals of trust ship, non-equality and segregation. The aim should be to inculcate the white man’s view of life which is their senior trustee (1948:29)

THE CURRICULUM

• Is the planned educational experiences which pupils undergo in their formal schooling

• The nature of any curriculum is very heavily influenced by ideological factors

• ‘the spirit of all teaching must be Christian Nationalist’• Mentioned that religious education was to take place in

accordance with the religious convictions of the parents as expressed in their church creeds