Education for Liberation
Dharmadeva
Education for Liberation
Dr. Marcus Bussey
Education is a function of all cultures and societies. At all times it reflects the ideals and the world experiences of the culture it serves and maintains. In premodern contexts it was an informal and open-ended process involving much doing, emulating and story. At all times scholar-elders were
recognised by their peers for a higher-than- ordinary capacity to manage complexity, link past, present and futures in meaningful ways and to communicate their wisdom with others. With the advent of institutional modernity (c1800) education shifted from these informal settings and became an instrument of the state.
This modernist education is essentially Western in nature. It has been propagated world wide as an important conduit for globalising modernity. The result has been increases in both literacy and numeracy and the attendant knowledge bases of the sciences and humanities. Statistically these increases have been accompanied by higher levels in health, well-being and living standards . The current educational paradigm however also has resulted in a growing imbalance in the global economy, is replicating the thinking that has depleted much of the world of its resources, has undermined local cultures and economies, and has failed to address the poverty in both imagination and moral vision that lies behind the current global financial and environmental crises.
This paradox lies at the heart of modern education. It has achieved great things yet has also failed to prepare people for a future that now asks different questions of humanity. Essentially this is the result of an outdated image of the ‘educated individual’ still dominating the educational enterprise.
When it was conceived in the first half of the 19th century, compulsory schooling was understood to be a form of social engineering that would bring a range of skills and literacies to the citizenry of industrialising states. The ‘educated individual’ was taken to be literate, disciplined, hard working
and patriotic. In this endeavour education has been largely successful. However it adopted a one-size-fits-all approach and devalued creativity while seeing moral virtue in the discipline and patriotism it instilled in the educated.
Today a broader range of literacies needs to be fostered in order to meet the complex challenges that face humanity. Such literacies would include ethics,morality, creativity, spirituality, empathy, imagination, inner vision, courage, discrimination, universalism and so on.
This essay will examine what Prout brings to our understanding of education. As a socio-economic theory it has clear educational priorities and these will be examined below. Prout also has a vision of the ideal ‘educated individual’ that vastly increases the range and focus of education. Prabhat
Ranjan Sarkar calls such an individual a sadvipra. To educate for thesadvipra greatly changes the goals and purpose of learning. For one thing, education lays the foundation to prepare a context from which the sadvipra might emerge – as in premodern societies, it is recognised that though we educate
many, only a few will have the extra depth to become elders (sadvipras) and take on special responsibility for the shaping and guidance of the collective. Yet education must lead all to fulfil their maximum potential for in doing so they can best be utilized by the collective. It is in this validating experience that individual existence becomes meaningful and joyous.
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EducationForLiberationV4-3.pdf