Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future (Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research)

Global Pedagogies Schooling for the Future

Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12-volume Book Series (Springer)

Series editor: Joseph Zajda (Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus) http://www.springeronline.com/sgw/cda/frontpage Book series overview The Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research book series aims to meet the research needs of all those interested in in-depth developments in comparative education research. The series provides a global overview of Â�developments and changes in policy and comparative education research during the last decade. Presenting up-to-date scholarly research on global trends, it is an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly source of information for researchers, policy makers and practitioners. It seeks to address the nexus between comparative education, policy and forces of globalisation, and provides perspectives from all the major disciplines and all the world regions. The series offers possible strategies for the effective and pragmatic policy planning and implementation at local, regional and national levels. The book series complements the International Handbook of Globalisation and Education Policy Research. The volumes focus on comparative education themes and case studies in much greater scope and depth than is possible in the Handbook. The series includes volumes on both empirical and qualitative studies of policy initiatives and developments in comparative education research in elementary, secondary and post-compulsory sectors. Case studies may include changes and education reforms around the world, curriculum reforms, trends in evaluation and assessment, decentralisation and privatisation in education, technical and vocational education, early childhood education, excellence and quality in education. Above all, the series offers the latest findings on critical issues in comparative education and policy directions, such as: • Developing new internal strategies (more comprehensive, flexible and innovative modes of learning) that take into account the changing and expanding learner needs • Overcoming ‘unacceptable’ socio-economic educational disparities and inequalities • Improving educational quality • Harmonizing education and culture • International cooperation in education and policy directions in each country

For other titles published in this series, go to www.springer.com/series/6932

Joseph Zajda Editor

Global Pedagogies Schooling for the Future

Editor Joseph Zajda Australian Catholic University Melbourne Campus Australia [email protected]

ISBN 978-90-481-3616-2 e-ISBN 978-90-481-3617-9 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010929855 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

To Rea, Nikolai and Dorothy

Preface

Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, which is the twelfth volume in the 12-volume book series Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, presents scholarly research on major discourses in comparative education research with reference to globalisation, educational policy and classroom pedagogy for tomorrow. It is a sourcebook of ideas for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in education, globalisation, global pedagogies and schooling for the future. The aim of the book is to provide an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly source of information about the international concern in the field of globalisation, global pedagogies, and educational transformation. The book critically examines the overall interplay between comparative education discourses, globalisation, and education. It draws upon recent studies in the areas of globalisation, innovative schooling, social justice, and the role of the State (Apple 2004; Zajda et€al. 2008; Zajda and Rust 2009; Zajda 2010a). It explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable in the research covering globalisation, policy reforms, social change, and transformational pedagogies. Various book chapters critique the dominant discourses and debates pertaining to global pedagogies and innovative approaches to classroom learning and teaching. Using a number of diverse paradigms in comparative education research, ranging from critical theory, social change, to globalisation, the authors, by focusing on globalisation, ideology and democracy, attempt to examine critically current and alternative pedagogies (Bowles and Gintis 1976; Carnoy 1999; McLaren and Farahmandpur 2005). The book draws upon recent studies in the areas of dominant ideologies in globalisation and education (Zajda 2005; Zajda et€al. 2008; Zajda 2010b). Readers will find here the very latest thinking on globalisation, global pedagogies and educational transformation in the context of global culture. It offers a timely overview of current issues affecting discourses pertaining to global pedagogies and policy research in the global culture. It provides directions in education, and policy research, relevant to transformational educational reforms in the twentyfirst century. The book is unique in that it: • Examines discourses surrounding the politics of education reforms, and global pedagogies • Provides strategic education policy analysis on recent developments in education reforms, learning and teacing vii

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• Evaluates the ambivalent and problematic relationship between the State, education reforms and pedagogy • Offers suggestions for innovative classroom pedagogies, relevant to democratic and empowering schooling in the twenty-first century We hope that you will find the book useful in your teaching, future research and discourses concerning schooling, social justice and policy reforms in the global culture. Joseph Zajda

References Apple, M. (2004). Ideology and curriculum (3rd edn). New York: Routledge Falmer. Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America: Educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. New York: Basic Books. Carnoy, M. (1999). Globalization and educational reform: What planners need to know. Paris: UNESCO, International Institute for Education Planning. McLaren, P., & Farahmandpur, R. (2005). Teaching against global capitalism and the new imperialism. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Zajda, J. (Ed.) (2005). The international handbook of globalisation and education policy research. Dordrecht: Springer Zajda, J., Biraimah, B., & Gaudelli, W (Eds.) (2008). Education and social inequality in the global culture (pp. xvii–xxvii). Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J., & Rust, V. (Eds.) (2009). Globalisation, policy and comparative research: Discourses of globalisation. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J. (Ed.) (2010a). The politics of education reforms. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J. (Ed.) (2010b). Globalisation, ideology and education policy reforms. Dordrecht: Springer.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the following individuals who have provided invaluable help, advice and support with this major research project: Bernadette Ohmer, Springer Marianna Pascale, Springer Harmen van Paradijs, Publishing Editor, Springer We also want to thank numerous reviewers who were prepared to review various drafts of the chapters. These include: Helena Allahwerdi, University of Finland Alberto Arenas, University of Arizona Kingsley Banya, Florida International University Karen Biraimah, University of Central Florida Phil Clarkson, Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus) Erwin Epstein, Loyola University Chicago Kassie Freeman, Southern University and A&M College System David Gamage, University of Newcastle Haim Gaziel, Bar Ilan University Macleans A. Geo-JaJa, Brigham Young University Mark Hanson, University of California (Riversdale) Yaacov Iram, Bar Ilan University Ljubo Majhanovich, Windsor University Suzanne Majhanovich, University of Western Ontario Kas Mazurek, University of Lethbridge Wolfgang Mitter, German Institute for International Educational Research Dorothy Murphy, Associate Editor, Educational Practice and Theory, James Nicholas Publishers Adam Nir, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Carlos Ornelas, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana Sev Ozdowski, University of Western Sydney Val Rust, University of California (Los Angeles) Margaret Secombe, University of Adelaide Ken Smith, Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus)

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Tony Taylor, Monash University David Turner, University of Glamorgan John Whitehouse, The University of Melbourne Rea Zajda, James Nicholas Publishers We are particularly grateful to Harmen van Paradijs, Publishing Editor, Springer who supported this project, and who took the responsibility for the book production process, and whose energy and enthusiasm ensured that the book was published on time.

Contents

Preface...............................................................................................................

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Acknowledgments............................................................................................

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Global Pedagogies: Social, Cultural and Technological Change................. xiii Joseph Zajda Section Iâ•… Global Pedagogy: Perspectives 1 Global Pedagogies and Communities of Meaning and Hope: Education in a Time of Global Fragmentation....................................... H. Svi Shapiro 2 Rethinking Global Education in the Twenty-first Century.................... Sadiq A. Abdullahi

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3 Globalization and Postnational Possibilities in Education for the Future: Rethinking Borders and Boundaries............................. Stephen David, Nadine Dolby, and Fazal Rizvi

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4 Framing Education for the Future: A Conceptual Synthesis of the Major Social Institutional Forces Affecting Education............... Duncan Waite, Lejf Moos, Ciaran Sugrue, and Cungang Liu

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5 Values, Roles, Visions, and Professional Development in the Twenty-first Century: Australian and Japanese Principals Voice Their Views.................................................................... David T. Gamage and Takeyuki Ueyama 6 When Indigenous and Modern Education Collide in the Global Culture................................................................................. Alberto Arenas, Iliana Reyes, and Leisy Wyman

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7 Global Agendas in Special Education: A Critique................................. 111 Margaret Winzer and Kas Mazurek Section IIâ•… Global Pedagogy: Case Studies ╇ 8 Global Transformation of a Nordic Learning Society: The Case of Finland................................................................................. 129 Ari Antikainen ╇ 9 Education for Sustainability and the Role of Future-Focus Pedagogy....................................................................... 145 Caroline Smith 10 Sustainable Living by the Bay: Improving Student Engagement in the Science Classroom for the Twenty-first Century................................................................... 157 Lyn Carter and Ranjith Dediwalage 11 Preservice Female Teachers’ Mathematics Self-Concept and Mathematics Anxiety: A Longitudinal Study................................ 169 Rita M. Johnson, Kenneth H. Smith, and Sherrie Carinci 12 ‘Learning to Be’ for Tomorrow’s Schools: A Transcultural Dimension into Teaching............................................. 183 Marie-Laure Mimoun-Sorel Name Index....................................................................................................... 197 Subject Index.................................................................................................... 203

Introduction – Global Pedagogies: Social, Cultural and Technological Change Joseph Zajda

Globalisation, Social and Cultural Change Social, Economic and Technological Change A number of perspectives dealing with social and technological change in the future were developed by Alvin Toffler (1970, 1980). He is one of the most prolific futurists, and is widely known for his works discussing social, economic, organisational and technological transformations affecting societies around the world. However, one of the forerunners of schooling for tomorrow was Ivan Illich (1971) and in his book Deschooling Society, he advocated a number of radical policy proposals for changing schools and pedagogy. Illich argued that schools had to be transformed, and in particular, he was a visionary in foreseeing the use of decentralised schooling and the use of information technology in educational settings in the future. He came to believe that information technology had a potential to create decentralised ‘learning webs’, which would generate quality learning for all: A good educational system should have three purposes: it should provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at any time in their lives; empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally, furnish all who want to present an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known. (Illich 1971)

Similarly, Postman and Weingartner (1969) were equally critical of traditional schools and proposed a new model in pedagogy based on inquiry learning, one of the cornerstones of schooling for tomorrow, where such concepts as critical literacy and reflection would become essential learning tools. Works by John Holt (1964, 1967, 1972, and 1976) offered a new approach for classroom learning and teaching, based on humanistic and child-centred pedagogy.

J. Zajdaâ•›() Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus), Australia e-mail: [email protected] xiii

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Since the 1980s, numerous books have been published, dealing with various visions of schools for tomorrow (see Faure 1972; Beare and Slaughter 1993; Power 1995; Delors 1996). Most seemed to be addressing economically and technologically driven, as well as standards-driven, education reforms, as a result of various social and cultural transformations, brought on by forces of globalisation (Zajda 2009a). Colin Power (1995) observed that the world was undergoing ‘profound scientific and technological revolutions’ and education had to play a key role in preparing young adults for life and work in the twenty-first century: Education must prepare the citizens of today to live and work in the world of tomorrow, a world in which the only constant will be change. Yet, if the technological revolution is the most visible sign of the times, political, social and economic changes are also imposing new challenges and responsibilities upon education systems. Certainly, the most urgent of these is that of constructing a culture of peace and tolerance in which differences and diversities are viewed as a source of richness and not as a threat to one’s own values and being. Our very survival may ultimately depend upon our success in confronting this challenge. (http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/brochure/003.html)

The Moral Function of Global Pedagogy At the same time, since the 1990s, a number of scholars and policy analysts began to stress the moral function of global pedagogy. For instance, Jacques Delors (1996) in his report to UNESCO of International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century, Learning: The Treasure Within, believed that education had an important role to play in promoting tolerance and peace globally: In confronting the many challenges that the future holds in store, humankind sees in education an indispensable asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice. (p. 13)

A similar concern with a moral dimension in education is present in Jérôme Bindé (2002) in ‘What Education for the Twenty-First Century? where it is suggested that a new paradigm shift in education should be aiming to ‘humanize globalization’ (p. 391, see also Bindé 2000). At the same time, he reminds us that one of education’s future major challenges will be ‘to use the new information and communication technologies to disseminate knowledge and skills’ (Bindé 2002, p. 393; see also Zajda 2009d).

The Schooling for Tomorrow Project More recently, one of the important works in the area of global pedagogies is The Schooling for Tomorrow project (SfT), which is a major CERI project in developing futures thinking in education. Schooling for Tomorrow (SfT) was launched in

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November 1997 at an international conference in Hiroshima. It is an international project located in OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). Schooling for Tomorrow offers six scenarios of schooling for the future, constructed through the OECD/CERI programme on ‘Schooling for Tomorrow’. The goal is to improve our understanding of how schooling might develop in the years to come and assess the potential role of education policy and pedagogy to help shape these imagined futures for schooling. Two of the scenarios cover the continued unfolding of the existing models (The ‘status quo extrapolated’), the next two describe the substantial strengthening of schools with new dynamism, recognition and purpose (described as ‘Re-schooling’), while the two final scenarios depict future worlds that witness a significant decline in the position of schools (‘De-schooling’). The report suggests that there is an urgent need to develop different ways of integrating futures thinking with global pedagogies more fully in education policy and practice. Global pedagogies are more likely to promote critical thinking and reflection on the major changes, such as economic, social, political, and technological, taking place in education and society (see also OECD’s 2009b A Decade of Schooling for Tomorrow).

Issues in Education for Tomorrow Some of the policy and pedagogy issues in education for tomorrow include ‘new forms of governance and policy-making’ to prepare our schools for the twenty-first century (Johansson 2003). An innovative approach to governance and education policy is based on long-term thinking, where policy-makers are engaged in a proactive process of constant learning Policy-making, not just students, teachers and schools, must be in a process of constant learning. For this, methods and strategies for long-term thinking are needed. Despite the fact that education is par excellence about long-term investment and change, forwardthinking methodologies are woefully under-developed in our field. (p. 148)

Johansson also argues that schools play a significant role in cultural transformation: In sum, schools have been very important and, in many respects, successful institutions. They were integral to the transformation from agrarian to industrial societies. They represent a very important investment for our countries in making the further transformation from industrial to the knowledge-based societies of today and tomorrow, but for this they must be revitalised and dynamic. (p. 151).

At its 57th session in December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the years from 2005 to 2014 the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The need to act, with reference to education for sustainable development (EfS), is the result of a growing international concern about the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the world and the need for ‘improved quality of life, ecological protection, social justice and economic equity’ (http:// www.environment.gov.au/education/publications/caring.html).

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In October 2009, Angel Gurría, (OECD Secretary-General) in ‘Education for the future - Promoting changes in policies and practices: the way forward’ described some of the changes and priorities in education for tomorrow. Some of them are: …We need to form people for a more inclusive world: people who can appreciate and build on different values, beliefs, cultures. Inter-personal competencies to produce inclusive solutions will be of growing importance. Second, the conventional approach in school is often to break problems down into manageable bits and pieces and then teach students how to solve each one of these bits and pieces individually. But in modern economies, we create value by synthesising different fields of knowledge, making connections between ideas that previously seemed unrelated... Third, if we log on to the Internet today, we can find everything we are looking for. But the more content we can search and access, the more important it is to teach our students to sort and filter information. The search for relevance is very critical in the presence of abundance of information…The 21st century schools therefore need to help young individuals to constantly adapt and grow, to develop their capacity and motivation, to expand their horizons and transfer and apply knowledge in novel settings. (Gurria 2009)

A New Paradigm Shift in Pedagogy Already in Towards Schooling for the Twenty-First Century, Per Dalin and Val D. Rust (1996) argued that there had to be a new paradigm shift in learning and teaching for the twenty-first century. The authors discuss major transformations globally, including political, economic, ecological, epistemological, technological and moral ‘revolutions’ (p. 32). They stress that in a conflict-ridden world, the ‘school must play a basic role in peace education’ (p. 64). One could argue that the new and evolving paradigm shift in pedagogy is dictated by forces of globalisation, politico-economic change, ‘knowledge society’, and ITCs, to name a few (see Zajda and Gibbs 2009). As argued recently in The Politics of Education Reforms (see Zajda and Geo-JaJa 2009), the term ‘globalisation’ is a complex cultural and social theory construct and, at times, a convenient euphemism concealing contested meanings and dominant perspectives and ideologies, ranging from Wallerstein’s (1979, 1998) ambitious ‘world-systems’ model, Giddens’ (1990, 2000) notion of time-space distantiation’ (highlighting the ‘disembeddedness’ of social relations and their effective removal from the immediacies of local contexts), and Castells’ (1989) approaches, to globalisation by way of networking, where the power of flows of capital, technology, and information constitutes the fundamental paradigm of an emerging ‘network society’, to a view of globalisation as a neo-liberal and bourgeois hegemony, which legitimates an ‘exploitative system’ (see Apple 2004; Bowles and Gintis 1976; Carnoy 1974, 1984, 1989, 1999; Geo-JaJa and Mangum 2002; Ginsburg 1991; Ginsburg and Lindsay 1995; McLaren 2005; Ritzer 2005; Zajda 2008; Zajda 2009a). We have suggested that globalisation, with its political, social and economic systems, and the competitive market forces have generated a massive growth in the knowledge industries and information communication technologies (ICTs) that are having profound and differential effects on educational institutions and nations in general

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(OECD 2001a; Zajda and Geo-JaJa 2009). One of the effects of forces of globalisation is that educational organisations, having modelled its goals and strategies on the entrepreneurial business model, are compelled to embrace the corporate ethos of the efficiency, accountability and profit-driven managerialism. Hence, the politics of education reforms in the twenty-first century reflect this new emerging paradigm of standards-driven and outcomes-defined policy change (Zajda 2009b). Current research on globalisation, social stratification and education reforms demonstrates the need to understand and analyse both the intended and the unintended effects of globalisation on economic competitiveness, educational systems, the state, and relevant policy changes – as they affect individuals, educational institutions, and policy-makers. Recent education policy research also reflects a rapidly changing world where citizens and consumers are experiencing a growing sense of uncertainty, alienation, loss of values, and loss of flexibility (Zajda 2009c). Research indicates that cultural capital, as a significant dimension of educational inequality, continues to shape and influence students’ academic achievement and destinies globally. Cultural capital, as coined by P. Bourdieu, defines dominant conceptions of what constitutes knowledge, knowing, and social value. Educational systems, by upholding a single ‘gold standard’ defining knowledge, excellence and quality in education, not only reinforce the differentiated achievement status of privileged social strata, but also reward those who are conversant with implicit rules of dominant ideology.

Current Issues in Global Pedagogy As discussed above, The Schooling for Tomorrow project (SfT) offers a number of alternative futures for pedagogy. While they mention various perspectives, the authors do not offer relevant pedagogical theoretical models. When we write about schooling for tomorrow, we are influenced by what we know, our biases and our priorities. For example, a policy-maker, concerned with vocational training and skills, is more likely to stress changing dynamics of human capital, credentialism and vocationalism in the future (see Zajda 2008). A curriculum design expert would be interested in presenting alternative curricula models. A social justice writer is likely to focus on educational inequalities in the global economy. An ITC expert, on the other hand, would focus on the increasingly rapid development and ubiquitous proliferation of information and communication technologies, under the sign of globalisation. An ITC researcher is not likely to write about a new digital divide; between the ‘info rich’ and ‘info poor’ societies has now been added to the tradition social stratification divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ (McIntosh 2005, p. 3). Svi Shapiro (University of North Carolina) picks up the thread of growing alienation in societies in ‘Global Pedagogies and Communities of Meaning and Hope: Education in a Time of Global Fragmentation’, offer a new vision of pedagogy for tomorrow’s schools. He argues that in the age of ultra consumerism and materialism, there is a ‘growing hunger for communities where people can feel recognised

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and needed’ (Shapiro 2008). He suggests that the essence of global pedagogy is the one which re-connects the individual with our global community: Our teaching must, in this global age, help to breach the walls of insularity and indifference to the lives of others. Our strong communities of meaning, while nurturing a secure and confident self, must also be vehicles for enhancing our sense of responsibility and concern for those who live across the economic, social, cultural, linguistic and religious borders, which traverse both our nation state and our global community.

Sadiq A. Abdullahi (Florida International University) continues the debate on global education, by re-defining global pedagogy for tomorrow. His focus is on teaching global education in colleges. He maintains that global education is a paradigm of effective citizenship education. On a similar note, Stephen David (Northern Illinois University), Nadine Dolby (Northern Illinois University) and Fazal Rizvi (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) in their work explore further the emerging nexus between globalisation, global pedagogy and rethinking borders and boundaries in tomorrow’s world. They believe that diasporic communities already embody the seeds of a cosmopolitan belonging and emergent new cosmopolitanism. There is clearly a need to re-examine current models of societal organisations, especially education systems and propose new possibilities. This is discussed by Duncan Waite (Texas State University) and his co-authors in ‘Framing Education for the Future: A Conceptual Synthesis of the Major Social Institutional Forces Affecting Education’. It is argued that by engaging in a more interactionist ontology of social institutional forces impacting in schooling, it may be possible to acquire a better understanding of those major and influential forces that constitute the structures, however dynamic, within which and through which human actors practise their individual agency. Schools will need a new generation of leaders. In ‘Values, Roles, Visions and Professional Development in the Twenty-First Century: Australian and Japanese Principals Voice their Views’, David T. Gamage (University of Newcastle) and Takeyuki Ueyama (the Nihon University, Japan) offer a comparative study of the principals of Australian and Japanese schools and their visions for ideal schools in the twenty-first century. The chapter focuses on principals’ views on core values, roles, visions and opinions on leading and managing schools for the visions for ideal schools. The findings are based on the analyses of data from empirical surveys of 145 school leaders in Australia and 260 in Japan from 130 schools from each country. Despite socio-cultural differences, the research findings demonstrate that a central concern of both the Australian and Japanese principals was the success for all students and all teachers. They expected their ideal schools to be attractive places of joy and happiness for children and adults, with adequate funding, diversity, creativity, ICTs and with parental and community involvements – an authentic learning community. One of the most urgent educational policy and classroom pedagogy issues in schools for tomorrow is addressing an unresolved moral dilemma of the social justice and democracy and human rights issues in indigenous education. In ‘When Indigenous and Modern Education Collide in the Global Culture’, Alberto Arenas, Iliana Reyes and Leisy Wyman (University of Arizona) argue that there is an urgent need to promote indigenous cultures, both locally and globally. In their chapter, the authors

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make the case that the specific goals and practices of indigenous education, with an indispensable particularistic approach, find opposite hegemonic counterparts in national systems of education that end up diluting and weakening its intended purpose. By exploring curricular and pedagogical issues, the relationship between children and nature, connexions between school and community, the promotion of certain languages above others, and the commodification of education, this chapter explores the common tensions that arise from the divergent epistemologies of indigenous and Western, modern education in the global culture. The chapter concludes that if indigenous education is to be successful, it must continuously re-invent itself to ensure that it honours the basic cultural tenets of the ethnic groups it serves, recognises the hybrid nature of many indigenous practices, and uses learning as a springboard to foster social and environmental integrity both locally and globally. Over the last two decades, inclusive schooling has assumed the momentum of a general globalisation movement. In ‘Global Agendas in Special Education: A Critique’, Margaret Winzer and Kas Mazurek (University of Lethbridge) argue that ‘Inclusion’ both as a general phenomenon, as well as the specific case of inclusion for students with special needs, is fraught with both general and particular problems. This chapter analyses how inclusion is interpreted, modified, and sometimes subverted or rejected, in different national and cultural contexts. The authors conclude that despite the continued prostelyzing of international bodies and the exportation of western models and mandates, societal perceptions of disability and the manner in which they should be treated educationally and socially are heavily nation/culture-bound. The success of inclusion, in its philosophical, policy and pedagogical guises, depends on adapting itself to the social, cultural, political and economic realities of a particular nation. In ‘Global Transformation of a Nordic Learning Society: The Case of Finland’, Ari Antikainen, Department of Sociology, University of Joensuu, argues that what underlies this success is the Nordic pattern of welfare state and education together with a peculiar cultural identity. A Nordic learning society is characterised by lifelong learning, comprehensive education emphasising equity and interaction between the institution of education and other institutions. The future alternatives of this learning society depend on the emerging Nordic model of information society based on changing network, national identity and welfare state in the context of Europeanisation and globalisation in general. Educators have always challenged the economic and political forces that have shaped society. And now it is the very future of Earth that is the central concern. Education for sustainability must become embedded in education for all and at all levels of schooling. It is central to the difficult and complex transition from ruthless materialism, consumerism, scientism, and the technologically and profit-driven control of nature and humanity to ecological sustainability. In ‘Education for Sustainability and the Role of Future-Focus Pedagogy’, Caroline Smith (Australian Catholic University) advocates that an explicitly futures-focused approach is essential for students to be able to actively engage with education for sustainability (EfS). It is argued that given current global situation, it is clear that sustainability is the key issue for global pedagogies in the early twenty-first century and beyond. The chapter sug-

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gests that one of the key pedagogical roles of Futures Education is to enable all students, whatever their age, to become active participants in creating and learning to bring forth the different realities of sustainability, and to generate a renewed sense of hope and purpose for a sustainable future that is worth living for in the global culture. On a similar note in ‘Sustainable Living by the Bay: Improving Student Engagement in the Science Classroom for the 21st Century’, Lyn Carter (Australian Catholic University, Melbourne) and Ranjith Dediwalage (St. Leonard’s College, Melbourne) examine an innovative classroom pedagogy in schools in the Melbourne Bayside area. Their project adopted a pedagogical approach from the critical constructivist paradigm, which enabled a shared control of the learning process, empowering students to have a critical voice in questioning teachers’ actions. Our experience within Sustainable Living by the Bay has been positive in improving student engagement and motivation in learning science. Marie-Laure Mimoun-Sorel (Australian Catholic University, Melbourne) in ‘Learning to Be for Tomorrow’s Schools: A Trans-cultural Dimension into Teaching’ investigates existentialist and moral dimensions in classroom pedagogy, based on contructivist and transdisciplinary pedagogy. The chapter critiques the Learning to Be concept through a transdisciplinary action research conducted in a Year 6 French class in Australia. The purpose of this research was to participate first-hand in the construction of knowledge of what might be the Learning to Be dimension into teaching. The methodology was adapted to include a transdisciplinary approach facilitated by the work of Ron Ritchhart on intellectual character (2002). This transdisciplinary research favoured the understanding of the Learning to Be dimension and its implications in class. Increasingly, the term ‘self-concept’ and closely related ‘self-esteem’ and selfefficacy’ are cited as some of the major variables in classroom pedagogy. One of the case studies deals with the significance of the self-concept in pedagogy for tomorrow’s schools. In ‘Preservice female teachers’ mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety: A longitudinal study’, Rita M. Johnson (California State University), Kenneth H. Smith (Australian Catholic University) and Sherrie Carinci (California State University, Sacramento, California) examine the place of the selfconcept in classroom learning for tomorrow’s schools Self-concepts and anxiety toward mastering school subjects, especially school mathematics, together with self-esteem and self-efficacy, will continue to occupy a significant place in global pedagogies, where the focus is on offering worthwhile and authentic quality education for all. It is hoped that by addressing issues of anxiety and self-concept when teaching mathematics, students from all social and cultural backgrounds will be encouraged to develop a sense of academic success and achievement.

Conclusion The above analysis of social change and education policy reforms in the global culture shows a complex nexus between globalisation, ideology and education reforms – where, on the one hand, democratisation and progressive pedagogy is

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equated with equality, inclusion, equity, tolerance and human rights, while on the other hand, globalisation is perceived (by some critics at least) to be a totalising force that is widening the socio-economic status (SES) gap and cultural and economic capital between the rich and the poor, and bringing power, domination and control by corporate bodies and powerful organisations. Hence, we need to continue to explore critically the new challenges confronting the global village in the provision of authentic democracy, social justice, and cross-cultural values that genuinely promote a transformative pedagogy (Dalin and Rust 1996; Zajda 2009c). We need to focus on the crucial issues at the centre of current and on-going education reforms, if genuine culture of learning, and transformation, characterised by wisdom, compassion, and intercultural understanding, is to become a reality, rather than rhetoric (Bindé 2000; Coulson 2002; Zajda 2009a).

References A Decade of Schooling for Tomorrow. (2009). Draft background report. Paris: OECD. Adams, D., & Hamm, M. (2005). Redefining education in the twenty-first century: Shaping collaborative learning in the age of information. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. Beare, H. & Slaughter, R. (1993). Education for the twenty-first century. London: Routledge. Bindé, J. (2000). Toward an ethics of the future. Public Culture, 12(1), 51–72. Bindé, J. (2002). What education for the twenty-first century? Prospects, 32(4), 391–403. Carnoy, M. (2001). Work, society, family and learning for the future: a new challenge to social cohesion? Prospects, 32(4), 391–403. Coulson, A. (2002). Delivering education. In E. Lazear (ed.) Education in the twenty-first century (pp. 105–145). Stanford: Hoover Institution Press. Dalin, P. & Rust, V. (1996). Towards schooling for the twenty-first century. London: Cassel. Delors, J. (1996). Learning: The treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-First Century. Paris: UNESCO. Delors, J. (1998). Education for the twenty-first century : issues and prospects : contributions to the work of the international commission on education for the twenty-first century. Paris: UNESCO. Faure, E. (1972). Learning to be: The world of education today and tomorrow. Report of the International Commission on the Development of Education. Paris: UNESCO. Gurría, A. (2009). Education for the future – promoting changes in policies and practices: The way forward. http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_37455_1_1_1_1_37455,00.html. Holt, J. (1964). How children fail. New York: Pitman. Holt, J. (1967). How children learn. New York: Pitman. Holt, J. (1972). Freedom and beyond. New York: Elsevier North-Holland. Holt, J. (1976). Instead of education. New York: Delacorte. http://www.oecd.org/document/15/0,3343,en_2649_35845581_35773263_1_1_1_1,00.html. Johansson, Y. (2003). Schooling for tomorrow – principles and directions for policy. In networks of innovation: Towards new models for managing schools and systems. Paris: OECD. Lazear, E. (2002).Education in the twenty-first century. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press. OECD (2001a). Education policy analysis. Paris: OECD. OECD (2001b). Trends shaping education. Paris: OECD. OECD (2001c). What schools for the future? Paris: OECD. OECD (2006). Schooling for tomorrow: Think scenarios, rethink education. Paris: OECD, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. OECD (2009a). The schooling for tomorrow. Paris: OECD, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation.

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OECD, (2009b). Education at a glance. Paris: OECD. OECD (2009c). The schooling for tomorrow. Paris: OECD, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Plank, D. (2003). Understanding the demand for schooling. Michigan: Michigan State University. Power, C. (1995). Education and the future. www.unesco.org/education/educprog/brochure/004. html. Toffler, A. (1970). Future shock. New York: Bantam Books. Toffler, A. (1980). The third wave. New York: Bantam Books. Weingartner, C. (1969). Teaching as a subversive activity. New York: Dell. Zajda, J. (2008). Credentialism and VET: The importance of qualifications and skills. Educational Practice and Theory, 30(1), 3–24. Zajda, J. (2009a). Globalisation, and comparative research: implications for education. In J. Zajda & V. Rust (Ed.), Globalisation, policy and comparative research (pp. 1–12). Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J. (2009b). Globalisation, nation-building, and cultural identity: The role of intercultural dialogue. In J. Zajda, H. Daun, & L. Saha (Eds.), Nation-building, identity and citizenship education: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 15–24). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J. (2009c). Values education in the global culture. In J. Zajda & H. Daun (Eds.), Global values education: Teaching democracy and peace. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J. (2009d). Global pedagogies for democracy, tolerance and peace. In Daun, H., Iram, Y. and Zajda, J. (Eds.), Global values education: Teaching democracy and peace. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J., & Gibbs, D. (Eds.) (2009). Comparative information technology: Languages, societies and the internet (pp. 1–12). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Section I

Global Pedagogy: Perspectives

Chapter 1

Global Pedagogies and Communities of Meaning and Hope: Education in a Time of Global Fragmentation H. Svi Shapiro

1.1â•…The Search for Community and the Erosion of Public Life It is no shock that there is a growing hunger for communities where people can feel recognized and needed (Putnam 2000; Bellah et€al. 1985). This is not a problem that we face only here in the USA. It is clear that there is, in many countries and places, a yearning to feel a part of something that is larger than the very small sphere of our private lives. Whether this takes the form of a resurgent nationalism in some situations, religious communities with almost a tribal identity elsewhere, or groups that unite people behind the commonality of race, ethnicity, or geographical region, it is quite clear that our atomizing and fragmented world is producing alternative forms of human relationships that give individuals the feeling of being a part of something that transcends their own limited lives (Bauman 2001). The price of worldly success in our materialistic, consumer-driven, competitive world is increasingly experienced, even by those who have done well by it, as being spiritually and emotionally too high. If we are to educate a new generation so that their lives are richer and more purposeful than our present dominant values would allow, we must ensure that the desire for, and the capacity to build, meaningful communities is an integral part of what education is all about. For many in our world, this desire to find our way back into deep connection and engagement with others who can share our dreams, hopes, and concerns is the most pressing issue of our time. The turn toward more individualistic lifestyles and privatized institutions promoted by conservative governments over the 20 years as well the consumerist culture has turned public spaces that must mediate community increasingly into one of neglect and decay. Whether in healthcare, housing, transportation, or education, the story is one of double standards – where publicly provided institutions or systems are synonymous with the poor, and where standards are increasingly inferior as when compared to those found in the private domain. It has been ironic that

H.S. Shapiroâ•›() Education and Cultural Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_1, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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those conservatives who have often been the loudest in their condemnation of the decline of community and the need for an ethic of social responsibility have pursued agendas that have sought to allow the standards and ethics of the marketplace to exert ever more dominance in our social, economic, and cultural lives (Reich 2002). In working to ensure a world in which private interests and profit are less and less hindered by responsibility to the larger community, the free-marketers have helped create a society that increasingly resembles a predatory jungle – a place in which each person is concerned about himself or herself with their own needs and interest, not those we hold in common. Sadly, it is often only when cuts are made to services or benefits that are felt directly by individuals, are we awakened to what is happening on at a broader level. The effort to privatize social security is another representation of this, as an “all in it together” form of social insurance is replaced by the mentality in which we each must take care of our own futures as aging members of the society. Meanwhile, a bunker mentality spreads, which calls for a social ethic of each for himself or herself; individualism, separateness, and isolation frame our disposition toward the rest of the world. Allof this has been given added impetus by corporate behavior with its proliferation of lay-offs, downsizing, and closings, and the greedy, selfish, and often illegal actions of executives and managers. It is a world that has mocked any notion of obligation or commitment to workers, consumers, or the general community (Korten 2001). Nothing really counts here, except for the hunt for immediate profits. Public accountability has been a barrier to be subverted by whatever means necessary. Yet, in spite of all this, it is believed that there is still a deep hunger for communal life and public good in the USA. Despite the shift to the Right, large majorities continue to affirm the importance of protecting our environment, maintaining investments in public libraries, schools, and cultural resources, and ensuring the availability of healthcare for all. Even the concern with protecting the “flag” is believed to be an expression of the concern for community (though this is often a community that tries to stifle critique of government and free debate of national policy). Behind all of this can be heard the cry for a society in which our shared concerns, not just our private interests, are honored, and where there is a strong sense of the public good instantiated in our civic world and in our social institutions. The political discourse that has sought to achieve these ends is not without its own conflicts and contradictions. It is clear, for example, that many people subscribe to the notion of smaller, less wasteful government, but also support a state that ameliorates the failures, hazards, and dangers of the free market. In this sense, the state is, paradoxically, both the focus of much popular anger and also the repository of much of our needs and aspirations as a community. It not only irks us with its costs and intrusiveness, but it also instantiates our collective responsibilities and obligations. For all its flaws, the state embodies some notion of a shared purpose; its ultimate client, we want to believe, is the public good and the national community. Perhaps, this paradox helps explain the anguish and anger around the question of supporting “our” troops when they are off fighting a war. For many, whatever the reasons for going to war (whether it is legitimate national defense, or the attempt to further enrich corporate interests or assert political power), the soldiers risking their

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lives are part of the national “family,” and as such, need to be given our full emotional support (Lerner 1997). Obviously, for others, irrespective of the sacrifices of these men and women, the legitimacy of the war that they are fighting cannot be ignored. And those who object to the war are easily painted into the corner of being insensitive and unsupportive of those who share our national community.

1.2â•…Public Schools and the Democratic Community Apart from these issues of peace and war, perhaps nowhere has the struggle around the question of community been more contentious than around the institution of public education. Indeed, all of our societal schizophrenia around questions of the private and public, equity and the distribution of wealth, democracy and capitalism, are in evidence there. In its most ideal rendering, public schooling represents a space where all of our children may be educated; a place where the rights of citizenship take precedence over the privileges or disadvantages of social and economic life. Understood in this way, public education becomes a crucial element in the making of a democratic community. Public education brings everyone together in one setting, and therefore, it is hoped by those who argue for such a vision that all children, regardless of their background, may acquire the sense of belonging and cultural literacy that are the requisites for full participation in this community. It is well documented that public education falls very far short of this ideal. For many children and their parents, the schools reflect the same racial and other social inequalities that divide the rest of our society. Indeed, schools often reinforce the terrible obstacles to real and full economic, cultural, and political participation in this society. Sadly, of course, the reality of public schools has always been a long way from its democratic promise. The fundamental ideal of a place where the offspring of all citizens might meet and come together as a community has always been upset by the harsh realities of privilege, inequity, and racism. The historic struggles to eradicate the effects of a segregated system of public education are well known. Less obvious have been the continuing pernicious effects of class and race in maintaining schools vastly different in their resources, funding, expectations of students, and educational climate. Jonathan Kozol (1991), among others, has vividly documented the horrendous conditions that beset schools in poor and underfunded districts, producing debilitating and demoralizing environments for kids. This reality, which undermines and belies the public school as a vehicle for promoting a civic community, mirrors the increasing polarization of wealth and opportunity found in our wider society. Urban schools, with their violence, high dropout rates, and low morale, exist as altogether different institutions from those in suburban areas that function as conduits to good colleges and economic well-being. Social and economic apartheid like this is quite clearly incompatible with any meaningful idea of a democratic community. Social and economic privilege and exclusion is not the only problem that we face as we seek a community. One of the most difficult and perplexing issues that

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confronts educators is the growing awareness that such a community does not mean sameness – indeed sameness or uniformity has usually killed the energy and involvement of many students who see their own lives and experiences far removed from what schools attempt to teach them. There is an increasing recognition of the ways in which education has denied the contribution and presence of many kinds of people; whether because of class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or nationality, it has become clear just how much we have ignored or invalidated the knowledge and traditions of others – those who fall outside the majority norms of the culture. As educators, we have come to see how this process demeans and silences our students as the classroom becomes a place that is quite foreign to their homes, neighborhood, or community (Ladson-Billings 1994). It takes only a cursory look at many schools to see how education affirms the knowledge and experiences of some young people, and silences and marginalizes that of others. In this regard, the emergence of multicultural awareness in our schools is an important and liberating phenomenon. It is certainly a mark of progress that children are being taught to question the notion that “Columbus discovered America” or that the West was “opened up” by European settlers, with all of its ethnocentric assumptions about the meaning of civilization; or that history, social studies, and English are beginning to be taught in more expansive and inclusive ways. Still, even where there are good faith efforts, multiculturalism too often become trivialized – a matter of feasts and fiestas. It offers a very superficial appreciation indeed of what difference has meant to communities often denigrated or excluded by those in the mainstream of society. Whatever its limitations, these efforts represent real cracks in the wall of cultural prejudices and assumptions that have confronted generations of young people, shutting out or silencing those whose language, traditions, history, beliefs, and experience seem to exist on the margins of the society that we live in.

1.3â•…Growing Up in An Uncertain Age The postmodern society that we have entered is one in which clear-cut barriers and boundaries in so many areas of our lives have eroded or even collapsed. Our age is one of uncertainty, flux, and ambivalence, in which little seems absolutely certain or fixed (Bauman 1995). Who we are seems labile and fluid; borders that once marked distinctions between nations, or ethnicities, have become porous; personal identities can be reworked and remade; rules and truths appear relative; what we know depends on where we stand, and who the knower is determines what is known; beauty and aesthetic value is a matter of social preference; age-old religious faiths can be melded with traditions that were hitherto quite foreign; and moral values require constant re-interpretation and adaptation to a particular cultural ethos. Even things that hitherto appeared permanently defined, such as gender, are now seen as having boundaries that can be crossed, and sexuality can be bent in many directions. Indeed, our very physical being can now, with the help of cosmetic medicine, be reconstituted and remade.

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There is much to celebrate in all of this. The unfixing of boundaries, truths, moral certitudes, and firm distinctions, has given us the promise of a world that is more open, flexible, tolerant, and free. Yet, there is also a price to pay for our postmodern attitudes – one that has had some traumatic consequences for how we, and especially our children, can be expected to conduct our lives. And, in this, conservative critique finds a powerful resonance in the anguish and uncertainty of many parents across the political and cultural spectrum. It is, for example, quite clear that the desire for discipline and structure in the raising of the young now hits a powerful chord across a wide range of parents. This desire emanates from the increasing feeling of a world in which a moral and spiritual rootlessness is the prevailing sensibility (Bauman 1997). For many people, there is the sense of having been cast adrift from the stabilities of place, family, and normative communities. The postmodern world is one in which individuals increasingly feel as if they are in exile – existentially and morally afloat in a world that constantly disrupts and dissolves any sense of permanent connection in an enduring web of meaning and community. Indeed, far from acknowledging the pain and dislocation of so much alienation, we are urged by Madison Avenue to enjoy the tumultuous ride. Our culture urges to always find what is novel, “revolutionary,” exciting, and different. In the world of the TV remote, our attention span is short, our capacity to switch “channels” is made easy, the options seem endless, and our expectation for immediate gratification is unlimited. In ways that distort the broad concern for the disintegration of ethical life and the erosion of the sense of social responsibility, talk of tradition, values, and discipline is mistakenly understood as only the language of the political Right. Yet, a world in which all that is solid melts – religious belief, identity, community, jobs, marriages, and more, this is a matter that confronts all of us. And nowhere is this more painfully so than with regard to the upbringing of our children. Daily, all of us, especially parents, are forced to confront the fall-out from the postmodern condition – the selfdestructiveness of adolescents, suicide, drugs, alcoholism, compulsive dieting, widespread depression and generalized rage, and a cynical detachment from social institutions. However manipulative or distorting it can be, conservative discourse and evangelical Christianity, or other orthodox religious traditions do address the widespread anguish that so many parents feel in these uncertain and confusing times. The rise of a harsh and rigid Islam too can be understood as a product, at least in part, of the disintegrating effects of modernity and capitalism (Ali 2003).

1.4â•…Dimensions of the Loving Community There are, I believe, terrible social and personal consequences when a society places such a disproportionate emphasis on individual goals and success as we, in the USA, now do, because it is only through community that we are able to meet those three dimensions of human existence that are essential for our well-being, and we ignore them at our children’s, and our own, peril.

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In the first place, the community provides the means through which we may receive the recognition of our presence, and affirmation of our value, in the world. I am disturbed at how often students in my classes will declare that they believe, and hope, that this sense of personal value is something that they can attain entirely on their own. In other words, they have learned to see the need for others to recognize and affirm them as a sign of weakness or inadequacy. Their goal is one of emotional self-sufficiency. I point out to them that such a quest flies in the face of what it means to be human. I say to them that we are “made” for relationship. The need for others who provide us with the mirror through which we come to know who we are is a quintessential aspect of our humanity. Far from a weakness, it marks the inseparability of individual lives from our social bonds and connections. The philosopher and social critic, Cornel West, noted that our identity is who we are in relationship. I tell my students that what ought to be a cause for celebration and joy – that we are, as human beings, bound to one another for the very basic need of affirming that each of us is wanted and needed in the world – is regarded by some of them as something scary and unreliable. It is, I continue, a sad commentary on the culture that we live in, and on their education, and much of their social interactions are competitive dog fights to show who can outshine the other. So many of their relations with others are shaped by the sense that there is a winnowing out going on as to who will get the kudos, and who will be ignored. It is hardly surprising, I continue, that relationships are viewed not as the source of affirmation, but as an unreliable, even dangerous, vehicle in which their emotional well-being is at risk. Most of the students love to watch those so-called TV reality shows where groups of young adults are brought together to vie with one another, to show who can survive the longest in an aggressively competitive environment. Such shows deliberately provide a forum to demonstrate the utterly deceitful, insensitive, and hurtful ways in which people act, as each seeks to satisfy their own selfish wants. For many of my students, it is this image of how social groups interact that provides an apt metaphor for human relationships, rather than the community that seeks to positively affirm the presence and value of all who are present. Perhaps, the voyeuristic pleasure in watching these shows is in the way in which they provide an opportunity to share in a kind of vicarious “community” of sufferers, in which we can re-experience with others what it feels like to be abused or put down in this way. Perhaps, too, we can experience some guiltless satisfaction at our feeling of loathing for the despicable conduct of the eventual winner. Despite all of this, it is interesting that when asked about the kind of schooling they would like to create for the youngsters whom they will eventually teach, it is almost always one that resembles the loving community – a place where all children are fully recognized and their unique presence unconditionally valued. Secondly, communities that are serious about this unconditional valuing of all who they comprise (is there any other kind of real community?) must also be places that ensure that they provide care and support for everyone. Compassion is inseparable from real community. To recognize all within a community is to be cognizant of the different needs that each child or individual brings to the table. In this sense,

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communities are much more than declarations of words. They are places where resources are shared and distributed so that everyone, to the maximum extent possible, has what they need to realize their full possibilities. Meaningful community, in other words, cannot be separated from social justice. Material issues are often paramount here – adequacy of food, clothing, medical care, transportation, and so on. In the case of a private school, there is the thorny problem of who can afford to attend, and how one community’s needs affects, or pulls resources, from others. At all schools, there is the need to assure the availability of truly adequate educational resources to all students. The varying circumstances of each individual must be addressed so that no one falls short of what they need to thrive. For educators, this issue of the unequal economic and social circumstances of students and their families certainly casts a dark shadow over our hopes and desire to see the school as a genuine community. Community is both a place that asserts the fundamentally equal value of all lives, and, at the same time, a place that compassionately addresses us as beings with differences that must not be treated as sources of humiliation or unfair disadvantage. Perhaps (and despite its disingenuous practical manifestations), the idea of legislation that seeks to “leave no child behind” resonates with this appealing vision of the USA as a compassionate community that cares for all its young members, including those who have had least. Of course, we must always remain on guard at the misuse or exploitation of these noble sentiments for political gain. The third dimension of community is one that provides the sense that we are on a shared journey – a journey of the spirit that provides us with resources to form a compelling vision for meaningful lives. Unquestionably, it is this that is the most difficult dimension in the search for community – especially in the context of education. I know from my own experience that, among educational administrators, there is a growing awareness about the importance of caring and supportive environments for children (an awareness which I believe has grown with the increasing number of women in the field of educational administration). And, indeed, especially at younger age levels, there are schools that do some wonderful things to promote the sense of being a caring and loving community. However, the notion of schools being communities of meaning is a much more complex and challenging proposition. It is one that immediately raises questions about the fundamental purpose of education, and also questions about cultural and social values. What are our goals as educators? What is it that we wish to convey to our students about living purposeful and meaningful lives? Do the usual school goals – better attendance, more quiescent behavior, improved grades, higher test scores, more students going on to college, and so on – represent an adequate configuration of purposeful goals for young lives? Is it possible to seriously address questions of meaning and purpose without challenging our larger values as a culture? And would not such reflection inevitably take us into the thorny territory of morality and spiritual matters? The short answer to all of these questions is, yes. A school that seeks to become a community of meaning must certainly find itself addressing the kind of things that are now, for the most part, ignored or buried under the weight of accepted and

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conventional educational concerns. This means having to embark on a difficult path of reflection – one that demands courage, honesty, and imagination. It certainly requires leadership from those who understand that we need a very different vision for what it means to lead a purposeful life that takes us far from the banal conformities of money, career, and success that are so very inadequate to the existential and social crises facing humanity in the twenty-first century. In a parallel way, when we say that our lives are meaningful, it is because we feel ourselves to be connected to some larger worldly or cosmic purpose. We see our life’s energies expended in some way that furthers the possibilities of others’ lives or, perhaps, some larger historical movement or universal process. Purpose or meaning represents the ability to transcend what is, inevitably, our own small and insignificant space in the scheme of things, and to see our own finite being as part of a much larger story. It is a story that might tell of our connections to family, religious community, ethnicity, nation, or to the earth and the chain of life itself. It might place us in the struggle for a more just world or for more compassionate and ethical lives. It might too, of course, tell of conquest and domination of others, of glorious empires, of blood and race, or of being God’s elect or chosen collectivity. Whatever form this transcending narrative takes, this quest for meaning compels us. It is the quintessential human capacity – a need that, we know, if not adequately responded to, will produce in us a sense of futility and despair about our lives. To say that life is meaningless is to declare that there is little purpose in the energies we must expend to live. It is the spiritual death that precedes our physical death. One does not need a degree in clinical psychology to recognize how filled our world is with the casualties of these conditions: depression, anxiety, “burn-out,” inertia, and apathy are all its manifestations. The more we live, think, and act in individualistic ways, the more we live in a way that separates us from others and the more shrunken is our sense of meaning. Lives that exist in spheres of narrow or egoistical pursuits can only produce a diminished sense of purpose. We have come to recognize that it is the widening and deepening of connections among human beings, as well as to the natural world that is our ultimate home, which augments the meaningfulness of our lives. The more we can see and experience our lives within the web of connections to others, the more purposeful our existence is felt to be. To recognize these connections is to fill us with the sense of wonder and appreciation for life; it also galvanizes us to fight against those forces in our world that act in ways that threaten or destroy these life-giving relations. Cultures that are predicated on encouraging the drive for self-interest and self-gain must be seen as cultures in crisis. They are cultures that are pushing human beings toward lives of spiritual emptiness and despair. The relentless emphasis on individualistic goals and ambitions, the endless pursuit of private wealth and material acquisitiveness, and the constant competition with others in our professional and personal lives that undermines trusting relations with others, can only produce a greater and greater sense of alienation or disconnection from others. It is a culture of shallow meanings, which provides little that speaks to, or nourishes appreciation of, more enduring or compelling purposes in our lives.

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1.5â•…The Search for Communities of Meaning In the face of this, there is no more significant function for education than to provide a space within which meaning and purpose can be discerned. The emptiness of our culture gives particular urgency to this task. Within a community of meaning, one can begin to appreciate a moral and social purpose to our lives that transcends the limited, frequently damaging, concerns of the dominant culture. Such a community becomes the link between the concerns of one’s own life and the struggles of a larger group of people to spiritually and physically survive. The community enables us to see our own life as something much more than an isolated, brief moment of consciousness, simply here to satisfy our egoistical wants. Within this community of meaning, one can see one’s own life as a continuing link in a chain that connects an individual to countless others who have felt similar responsibilities, perceived and attended to similar challenges, and experienced, celebrated, or commemorated familiar events and moments with similar rituals. The community of meaning replaces the self-absorbed human being with one whose concerns are focused on the good of others. Instead of separation and detachment from other human beings, it offers the richness of mutual support and shared purposes and goals. And, finally, it provides a vehicle for realizing that the deep sense of meaning in our lives comes not from the results of any short-lived spasm of personal ambition and gain, but from joining with others in continuing the work and struggles of previous generations to better the human condition. Some have argued that this community of meaning is nothing more than an act of human imagination (Anderson 1991).Of course, there is truth to this. Yet, it is clear that human existence demands precisely this exercise of imagination, because without it, there can be no moral life, and no enduring sense of connection to others is possible. The real issue is not imagination – we humans cannot live without it anymore than we can live without food. No, the issue is what kinds of tales we tell about who we are and how we ought to live. For the stories we live by determine just what kind of world we will inhabit and how we will treat others. It is an interesting phenomenon of recent times that schools (along with many other organizations and institutions) are more and more drawn into the idea of developing, for themselves, mission statements that lay out the creed and the goals of the institution. In terms of developing what I have called here a community of meaning, this is, I believe, a good and helpful step forward. It does imply that those who come together to work within an educational setting will attempt to articulate some shared, binding vision that animates everyone’s plans and actions. Such a vision does not attempt to supply detail or specificity to every aspect of the complex life of a school. It does, however, usually try to provide an overarching social and ethical framework, within which each person can attempt to give some larger sense of meaning and direction to what they do. It provides a template against which teachers, administrators, and students may ask themselves as to how they contribute to the broader goals and purposes of the institution. Sadly, however, these mission statements more frequently resemble the banalities of a Hallmark card than offering

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a strong and compelling statement that gives purpose and direction to our everyday work. And, like the cards we buy, they are more often filled with soothing words that are carefully chosen to conform to conventional wisdom rather than challenge the dominant meanings and values. To talk seriously today about questions of purpose is to confront the spiritually empty and morally corrosive effects of our consumer culture, and the many forms of human degradation and suffering that blight our world. To evade this challenge is to turn our mission statement, as well as anything else that we attempt to do that is concerned with finding meaning and purpose, into a bland mush that supplies us with little that really sustains or energizes us. It represents a refusal to engage, in a serious way, with the critical concerns that face us, and our children, at this moment in history. If we are to be serious about creating our community of meaning, we will, perhaps, have to see ourselves also creating, what the theologian Sharon Welch has called, “communities of resistance” (1985). Such communities, she says, provide the social, moral, and intellectual support needed to challenge the dominant values and ethos of our culture. The pressure of cultural and ideological conformity about what our children need to be concerned with and pursue in their lives – good colleges, lucrative careers, affluent lifestyles, money, good looks, etc., makes it a difficult struggle to sustain an alternative view of what is important, and how we should behave and treat one another. It is clear that to sustain a community of meaning that offers a real alternative to the values and meanings that currently dominate our culture will require parents and educators whose concern about the moral, spiritual, and social development of young people is truly central to the vision of the school. Such a community will knowingly and courageously articulate a vision that offers a significant alternative to the present direction of both school and society, and work to ground their everyday work in this vision. Of course, the latter may seem like a very far-fetched possibility at this time of intensifying concern with tests and academic performance. There is no doubt how difficult it would be to develop such schools with these transformative goals in the face of all the political, administrative, and ideological obstacles. Still, I am writing here about the longer range and broader struggle that all of us, as parents, teachers, teacher-educators, and citizens, must consider if we are to have a sense of the direction we need to be traveling, and the issues that we must raise, if we are to engage in what Michael Lerner calls a politics of meaning in our culture (1997). It is important to remind ourselves that our time is one in which communities of meaning that seek to resist and challenge where our world is going, have had, and will continue to have, an important influence on many aspects of our lives. And even where they do not achieve all their goals, they are affecting our world in important ways. We can see this politics of meaning at work in numerous important social movements from anti-racist and civil rights struggles to those virtual global “communities” fighting for a more democratic, equitable, and environmentally similar economic and political order. Each represents a challenge to the way we define our values, priorities, and concerns as a culture. Perhaps, this helps us to better understand the push for separate Black schools in the United States. Those who advocate such schools have in mind not only raising the poor achievement of many African-American children in

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our public schools, but there is also a wish to create more “Afrocentric” educational environments for students who can redress the debilitating cultures that so many Black kids find themselves in at school – cultures that have a devastatingly destructive effect on their sense of self-worth and personal efficacy. However, more than this, Afrocentric education celebrates the generative vitality and creativity of the African and African-American heritage, and the contributions, so often ignored, to both American life as well as to world culture. It provides a very different picture of Africa and African civilizations than the jungle images so endemic to European and North American literature and popular culture. Instead it offers a history of the rich and vibrant African cultures that slavery and colonialism destroyed. It provides a community of meaning in which a younger generation can see themselves as the current bearers of a history that represents an extraordinary story of physical as well as spiritual and social survival. They can come to appreciate the moral, political, and spiritual power of the Black struggle for human rights and social equality – a struggle that has provided inspiration to other oppressed groups worldwide. Furthermore, students can learn about and celebrate the traditions and practices that have sustained and nurtured this dream. This has included a social gospel in which Christianity is understood as the re-enactment of a community’s struggle to escape the bondage, suffering, and degradation of enslavement and racial subjugation. It has meant communities that have survived through a remarkable history of collective support and solidarity, and the “other mothering” of Black women who saw their kinship group as extending to the needs of all children within this community. Furthermore, it produced the rich legacy of artistic and cultural creativity that has provided America and the world (and continues to do so) with images of consolation and survival, as well as insurgency against the oppression of the body and soul. All of of this becomes part of an education that must urgently address the moral, social, and spiritual development of a generation of Black youngsters who have “bought into” the dominant individualistic dreams of wealth and celebrity, or the fantasies of power through thuggish violence and underworld scams. Education here is for the mind, heart, and soul of a younger Black generation, whose conventional education has offered too little in the way of shared meaning, ethical purpose, and spiritual sustenance. In a parallel context too, we can understand the struggle over bilingual education as something that represents much more than a discussion about the best way to teach English to non-native speakers of the language. For some in the Hispanic community, the issue of the use of Spanish among students of Mexican-American or Puerto Rican origin represents a claim that this is a matter of the preservation, not just of a language, but a way of life. Bilingual/bicultural education, as it is called, means the opportunity for students to learn the heritage, history, traditions, and the contributions to humanity of this group. Of course, as with Afrocentric education, the educational community is seen as one that can nourish the pride of a people whose culture has been excluded or marginalized by the dominant Anglo society, and to better understand the way their lives have been shaped by the economic, cultural, and political forces that have worked against them. Such a community can empower students to overcome or resist the discrimination and injustice

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that they will encounter through a positive sense of their past history and a renewed sense of the cultural, social, spiritual, and political values that they share. We think too of others who have struggled to see education as the work of a community of care, support, and meaning. For example, Quakers who created and sustained a remarkable legacy of independent schools that, even today, offer environments that nurture students in the values of critical thought, independence of mind, an obligation to speak “truth to power,” the importance of human freedom, social justice, and individual dignity. Quaker schools have continued to provide spaces that encourage young people to understand democracy, not as words on the page of a civics text book, or abstract and legalistic-sounding declarations, but as a living and vibrant form of communal living in which each person is expected and encouraged to be a thoughtful and articulate participant in the deliberations and decisions of a community. Not least, Quakers have seen their schools as seed beds of moral and social regeneration in a world of economic injustice, social exclusion and material waste, and irresponsibility. And they have continued to be centers of advocacy for peace-making in a world so enamored with violence as forms personal expression and as means to resolve conflict. It is hardly surprising that graduates of Quaker schools and colleges are disproportionately visible and active in movements of social change and transformation.

1.6╅Closed Communities of Meaning Of course there are others who define their educational work in terms of a community that nurtures or defends moral and spiritual meaning. Conservative Christian communities, as is well known, have withdrawn their children in large numbers from public schools, claiming the need for an education that cannot be found there. They certainly view their education as an important vehicle for shaping their community of meaning. These meanings are seen as a way of inculcating a set of moral, social, and religious beliefs that are oppositional to the cultural values that shape public life in the USA. In place of what are viewed as the relativistic moral values that are now dominant in the American life, these Christian communities educate their children in the belief that there are clear-cut and certain rights and wrongs. As a result of this turn towards relativism, there is, it is believed, permissiveness in the way we bring up kids that leaves them without a sense of ethical direction. They argue that life in this country is increasingly guided by the pursuit of short-term pleasure and immediate gratification (De Graaf et€al. 2005). There needs to be, they say, a return to the traditional values that elevated the importance of work, responsibility, perseverance, and obligation. And the importance placed on change, novelty, and indulgence in our lives has produced a generation that has little sense of self-discipline or commitment. Their critique of American culture certainly resonates with many parents. Indeed, it is interesting that there is a good deal of overlap with the critique of consumer culture that is found among those on the political left with whom they do not ordinarily share much sympathy. At both ends of the political

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spectrum, there is a belief that our culture feeds an overemphasis on materialism, an exaggerated concern with the self, and little sense of personal responsibility. The conservative approach to education stresses, without apology, the need for strict discipline and respect for authority – the importance of “tough love” that imposes a rigid structure of behavior and consequences on young people who, it is believed, must learn that appropriate behavior depends on the ability to control the sinful, immoral, and socially destructive dimensions that are always a part of what it means to be human. Of course, it is easy to see similar influences at work in the proliferation of other “closed” educational communities among Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and others (Maalouf 2000). It is not hard to understand the relevance of these kinds of communities of meaning, and what they offer educationally. In a world that does indeed face a crisis of moral and spiritual meaning, they offer an understandable appeal to many parents in anguish about how to bring their kids up without falling prey to the problems of drug addiction, alcoholism, sexually transmitted diseases, teenage pregnancies, and self-destructive behavior. Yet, there are serious problems with the education that is offered by these conservative communities. There is, for example, the danger of communities that approach the world with an unquestioned certitude. For every issue and problem, there is a sure answer whose validity is vouchsafed by the sacred text. The price of such certainty is a refusal to fully open oneself to the contrary views, ideas, and knowledge of those different to oneself. Such an opening, it is believed, can only produce a “contamination” of one’s world view. In this sense, those who have views and opinions different from one’s own are a threat to the correctness of the knowledge that we share with others in the group. This is contrary to the democratic ideas about truth and understanding, which assumes that the best answer is the one that emerges through the open encounter of different ideas, where each is allowed to make the most persuasive and plausible case that is possible. Conservative communities are, in this sense, prone to be closed communities that limit their engagement to others who are like them, and have little openness to others who think differently about the world, and are possessed of ideas, experiences, and values that are dissimilar. Such communities are unlikely to encourage students to become too critical or to challenge the accepted beliefs of the community. The goal is much more likely to be a conformity to, and reinforcement of, the prevailing ideas and knowledge. Such a view of education seems oppositional to a democratic world view, which requires the cultivation of minds and hearts open to the challenge of new or different ideas, and students ready and able to exercise a critical intelligencethat is unafraid to question the accepted, even hallowed, beliefs that they encounter. The problem of being closed is, of course, certainly not restricted to conservative religious communities. We have to see this as a problem, or potential problem, of all communities of meaning. All such communities are entered into, and sustained, by a degree of single-minded commitment to their rightness. And there is a short line from genuine conviction to total, undoubting adherence. The history of ideological and religious movements can leave us in no doubt that one generation’s subversion of the dominant truth quickly becomes the next generation’s blind

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loyalty to the “emergent” truth. The sad result is to view those who hold other ideas as a threat to oneself and one’s fellows, and to view these others with suspicion, fear, and not infrequently, hate. Conservative educational communities also demonstrate another dimension of this separation from others that I raised earlier in this paper. It is hard to deny that some, perhaps many, of these schools were created as a way to escape the racial integration of public schools. In this sense, such schools express a narrow notion of community far from the ideal of the diverse cultural, ethnic, religious, and economic mix that one can find in the public-school world. They are like gated communities that seek to keep out anyone who does not resemble the accepted members of the community. Of course, it is not hard to discern the psychological impulses that lay behind such behavior; fear of those unlike ourselves and a sense of threat that comes from difference. There is also a desire to escape the undoubted troubles and problems that beset some of the world of public education – violence, classroom disruptions, insensitive bureaucracies, low academic expectations for many children, inadequate facilities or resources, and so on. The increasing movement towards these private academies reflects the increasing drive to deal with our needs and concerns as a nation, not through the means and institutions of the broad society, but in ways that address only a limited and restricted groups of citizens. Communities are no longer about enhancing the general welfare of the society, but taking care of one select group or another. There is, indeed, a growing desire to take care of our own by withdrawing from the larger society into particular and selective institutions that may effectively address what people like us need. These, not surprisingly, do little for our neighbors who are unable to afford or gain admission to this more exclusive group of people. We can see this happening in healthcare, where, rather than a broad universal form of coverage that would apply to all citizens, there are increasingly wide differences in the kind of insurance available (if it is available at all). In social security, there are proposals for “opt out” programs for those who can afford to risk their income as seniors playing the stock market – a process that would draw money off from the general pension fund. And we can see it also in the appeal of voucher programs for educating kids. Here, the promise is to those parents and students attending inadequate schools that lack resources, quality teachers, and the expectations for achievement found in better-off neighborhoods. Such students will be given the chance to attend more successful private or parochial schools. Unfortunately, there is a sleight of hand at work here. It is as if we can fix our public problems by privatizing them. We are asked to believe that inadequate resources, and the low expectations and hopes of kids growing up in impoverished neighborhoods, can be banished as problems by simply having the kids attend other schools. Private schools work well precisely because they are able to be selective as to who they admit. If all the previously excluded kids now had access to these schools, then the private advantage would no longer exist. They would have become, de facto, public institutions. Private answers to public problems imply, by definition, favoring a few over the many. The private is always about addressing some people’s needs more than others, ensuring that one community receives privileges not available to others. In the end, we must decide about the

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community to which we belong: the narrow or exclusive one, or a broader and less restrictive one that includes adults and children whose ethnicity, religion, economic background, language, among other things, represents a greater human diversity reflective of the whole society to which we belong?

1.7â•…Educational Leadership So what is to be done? A valuable development is in the fact that some of the more forward-thinking university programs that prepare educational leaders have begun to shift their emphasis from teaching administrative skills to the importance of individuals being capable of articulating an ethical and social vision for their schools. This entails potential educational leaders defining their work as something other than line managers who can fill the output prescriptions of those above them in the school bureaucracy. The changing definition of the educational leaders’ role is a potentially radical one. It asks him or her to see the school as a community that must, with the help of all those who are stakeholders in it (teachers, staff, parents, and students), define a mission for this community that speaks to the moral, social, spiritual, and intellectual development of those they teach, as well as the organizational culture they wish to create for themselves. From my own experience working with students in such a program, there are many wonderful, as well as difficult, challenges associated with this project. There is the need, for example, for students to actually begin to think about education’s purposes far beyond that of raising test scores or keeping order. Students must think a lot more deeply about what an educational community is about, and in particular, what are the broader and deeper purposes of education. Most students realize that such questions are, in the end, really not “educational” questions at all, but moral, social, and spiritual questions. They come to see their work as, in some way, always about responding to the two fundamental questions articulated by the late educational theorist James B. Macdonald: what does it mean to be human? and how should we, as human beings, live together? Considering such questions is not easy for school administrators and teachers who have typically been called upon to think in only the most pragmatic and instrumental ways. The recognition that the work of education is always deeply implicated in our philosophical, moral, religious, and cultural thinking is something society has sought to denyas it focused on only the most shallow, vulgar, and conventional goals for our public schools. Yet, in my work, I have seen how these potential school leaders begin to understand that to engage in the task of making school a community of meaning, can have no real significance unless there is this opportunity for all concerned to reflect on education in its fullest purpose and possibilities. Of course, there are enormously difficult and challenging implications to this process that many students are quick to recognize. How does a diverse and complex community reach some kind of consensus on the meanings it wants to shape their children’s education? Can we, as a culture, find a sufficiently common ground of ethical and social values to enable this process to reach agreement?

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My short (not always entirely satisfying to students) answer to this is that, whatever the difficulties, we must attempt to engage these issues. No challenge could be more important to a free society in an era when there is such an extraordinary crisis in our society’s values and meanings. It means we must face for ourselves, and our children, the full impact of the commercialization of our culture, and its addiction to destructive levels of competition, individualism, and the pursuit of personal success. Educational leadership in this context is something much more than keeping the wheels of the school machinery humming; it is to assume the role of a catalyst for encouraging a community’s serious deliberations on what are the most compelling and meaningful goals for their children’s education. The educational leader becomes someone with the insights and courage to help others formulate a transformative vision for this school and its community. And, of course, someone who has the determination to fight for this vision in the face of the many contrary pressures that exist to undermine it. I have no illusions about the difficulties, or some would say impossibility, of following this road. However, here is not the place to address all of the complex challenges of taking on the role of a transformative leader. Others have addressed this in ways much better than I can do (Giroux 2006; Purpel and McLaurin 2004). Still, I am sure that to abdicate in this responsibility is to simply write off schools as sites that can offer our children anything that can speak to the yawning abyss of meaning in our society. It would mean schools continuing with business as usual in a time that cries out for radical change in the goals and purposes of education.

1.8â•…Discussion However much we seek a community of meaning for ourselves, or our children, there is enormous danger when such communities seek to be exclusive and sealed off from interaction with others’ ideas, identities, and influences in the world. While such communities offer security and safety for their members, they are also sure to contribute to the fragmentation, intolerance, and divisiveness of our world. They become neo-tribal communities that are locked into their own sense of authoritarian truth and self-contained arrogance. One thing that has become all too evident in our postmodern world is that human identity is never shaped within one single circle of influence. We are all made in an overlapping series of social and cultural circles that affect us in a myriad of ways. Much as some would like to view who they are as the result of a very circumscribed and limited field of influence, this view only serves to maintain a mythic sense of our own purity (something that serves essentialist explanations of racist, fundamentalist religious, and authoritarian explanations of who we are). The truth that applies to everyone is that all identities today are a hybrid mixture. We are all, in some way, a patchwork quilt of complex origins, our beliefs deriving from multiple sources, and living in a world where, even the most isolated of us, is likely to find himself or herself exposed to an extraordinary range and diversity of influences. This much is undeniable. What we

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have to decide is how we are to deal with this reality. Our choice is whether we live in ways that deny the complex weave of our relationships with others, as some would prefer, or whether we acknowledge how much we are part of others’ lives, and honor how much we owe to others for what we have, and who we are. The decision we make here is very important indeed. To accede to the former view means to pursue the neo-tribal view of community and its concern to try to purify our world of the presence of others. Others are seen as an intrusion, threat, or contaminant of our world and our need is to shut them out as much as possible from influencing or interacting with us or our children. Our only responsibility for others derives from our hope that they might eventually become more like us. It is easy to see the reflection of this view in anti-immigrant feelings, hostility to gays, blanket fear of Islam, or the English language only movement. The second view is a quite different one. While we may see ourselves as part of a particular community that is important to our sense of purpose and our well-being, we also recognize ourselves as not members of this one community alone. Our lives are seen as inextricably connected to others, and this means we have debts, obligations, and responsibilities towards all these others who are, in some way, a part of our lives. My sympathies are certainly with the latter view. We must not forget, for example, that our world extends much further than to those who are near and familiar to us. Those who live on the other side of town pay taxes to support the public amenities that we want; they work and provide products and services that are necessary to our world; their children grow up to assume responsibilities that directly impact the quality of all our lives. Of course, it is not simply those on the other side of town who are implicated in our lives. The quality of life in our own small sphere is deeply enmeshed with the lives of countless others across our nation whose work, political participation, civic engagement, and cultural contributions shape the quality of life for all of us (West 2004). And now, as never before in human history, what happens in our neighborhoods and cities, as well as in our nation, are dependent on things that happen globally. In an extraordinary new way, time and space have become compressed so that economic developments, political events, cultural innovations, and intellectual advances rapidly affect and impact all our lives, no matter if they occur on the other side of the world or in far-away places. And in this new global condition, borders and boundaries have become increasingly permeable: disease, terrorism, and environmental deterioration are international conditions that affect us all. And the huge flow of migrants across the borders, of people looking for a better life for themselves and their families, increasingly disrupts our notions of who truly belongs where, what is the relationship between citizenship and identity, and who is to be treated as an integral part of our communities. All of this, I believe, points our work as educators in the direction of providing young people with a much more complex vision of community and belonging. We must educate them so that they see themselves as members of multiple communities that are linked and overlapping with one another. Young people will need to understand their lives as ones where they become comfortable with the crossing of cultural borders and inhabiting diverse social contexts. Their own identity consists of a number of different allegiances, multiple spans of concern and responsibility, and overlapping

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fields of cultural identification and consciousness. And we need to convey this sense as a source, not of anxiety and fear, but of celebration and of possibility. Such an emerging consciousness implies a whole new importance to the teaching of foreign languages, which is, of course, the precondition to communication with others on a more level and respectful basis (as opposed to our expectation that everyone ought to talk to us in English!). It also implies a curriculum that is deliberately aimed at increasing the understanding of other cultures and ways of life, and without the arrogance or condescension that this often carries. It also means that we need to have a more sensitive and critical awareness of our own culture, so that we can begin to see the kinds of assumptions that we bring into our interactions with others, and also how our “own” culture is always and everywhere deeply influenced and shaped by the experience and expressions of others. It speaks to the need for education to facilitate greater opportunities for travel and cultural exchanges (something which is happening in higher education). Finally, however, this larger consciousness is one that is predicated on an expanded, indeed universal, sense of moral responsibility. Our teaching must, in this global age, help to breach the walls of insularity and indifference to the lives of others. Our strong communities of meaning, while nurturing a secure and confident self, must also be vehicles for enhancing our sense of responsibility and concern for those who live across the economic, social, cultural, linguistic, and religious borders, which traverse both our nation state and our global community. This defines the essence of global pedagogy.

1.9â•…Conclusion It is no exaggeration to suggest that our world is at a critical juncture. One path leads toward increasing divisiveness, suspicion, and fragmentation among human beings. The other direction is toward relationships of mutual and reciprocal responsibility and connection. Our future can either be one in which we face the possibility of increased violence and recrimination, or instead, greater social justice, acceptance of difference, and care toward others and the earth. Education as that sphere of human activity, which is most concerned with the deliberate way in which consciousness and conscience is formed, and identity inculcated, has the capacity to contribute significantly to pursuing this latter road. Surely, no greater ethical imperative now confronts educators.

References Ali, T. (2003). The clash of civilizations. London: Verso. Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities. London: Verso. Bauman, Z. (1995). Life in fragments. Cambridge: Polity. Bauman, Z. (1997). Postmodernity and its discontents. Cambridge: Polity.

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Bauman, Z. (2001). Individualized society. Cambridge: Polity. Bellah, R., et€al. (1985). Habits of the heart. Berkeley, CA: University of California. De Graaf, J., et€al. (2005). Affluenza. San Francisco, CA: BK Press. Giroux, H. (2006). The Giroux reader. Boulder, CO: Paradigm. Korten, D. (2001). When corporations rule the world. San Francisco, CA: BK Press. Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities. New York: Crown. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Lerner, M. (1997). The politics of meaning. New York: Perseus. Maalouf, A. (2000). In the name of identity. London: Penguin. Purpel, D., & McLaurin, W. (2004). Reflections on the moral and spiritual crisis in education. New York: Peter Lang. Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone. New York: Simon and Schuster. Reich, R. (2002). I’ll be short. Boston, MA: Beacon. West, C. (2004). Democracy matters. New York: Penguin.

Chapter 2

Rethinking Global Education in the Twenty-first Century Sadiq A. Abdullahi

2.1â•… Global Pedagogy One of the main goals of global education is to develop in students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective national and global citizenship (Zajda et€al. 2009). Other goals include developing students’ capability to act responsibly and contribute productively in the global community. The central objectives are to prepare and develop students to (a) understand multiple perspectives and demonstrate knowledge of different cultural understanding (beliefs, values, perspectives, practices, and products); (b) understand similarities and differences in peoples, cultures, and nations; (c) demonstrate knowledge of global dynamics, issues, problems, trends, and systems; (d) demonstrate the capacity to think, write, reflect, and articulate issues, problems, and ideas from historical, philosophical, sociological, psychological, and global comparative context; and (e) develop and demonstrate the ability to make decision and apply knowledge of global education to solve problems in the global community (Abdullahi 2004; Zajda 2005; Zajda 2010a; Zajda and Rust 2009). In the twentieth century, global educators were faced with issues and problems emanating from the two great wars. Understanding conflicts is an important theme in global education. There are three broad categories of conflict: religious warfare, ethnic conflict, and conflicts that arose out of historical animosity between groups and individuals, such as resource demand or simple greed. For example, the ideological conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union over liberalism, communism, and fascism, and capitalism and democracy shifted emphasis to improving some aspects of the American education. During this conflict in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1. This suggested that the Soviets were winning the technological and military race conflict. Furthermore, in the 1960s, the struggle for civil and human rights and poverty control in the USA took on a global dimension as

S.A. Abdullahiâ•›(*) Florida International University, Homestead Senior High School, 2351 SE 12th Avenue, Homestead, FL 33035, USA e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_2, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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many countries in the developing world, particularly in Africa, fought and won political independence from European domination. As a consequence, many global educators were concerned about the implications for education everywhere. In the twenty-first century, global educators deal with issues and problems caused by poverty, globalization, global terrorism, and human and ecological abuses. Observers of global events believe that the increase in social and political violence is a direct result of the perpetual neglect by the governments. Consider the situation in Africa. There are reports of high poverty and increase in malaria and AIDS cases in the western, eastern, and southern part of Africa. The ethnic and religious conflicts between Christians and Muslims, Hindus and Muslims, Hutus and Tutsis, blacks and Afrikaners are disturbing. Global educators are quick to make the case that a problem in one part of the world has the potential to affect other parts of the world. They argue that the world is interconnected and interdependent (see Zajda et€al. 2008; Zajda 2010). As a consequence, Merry Merryfield, one of the leading proponents of global education, called on social-studies global educators to move beyond the global education conceived in the twentieth century to a global education for a new world, a world characterized by globalization, global terrorism, human rights, and ecological abuses. The new framework must seriously consider how to develop a pedagogy that will be integrative and link language, religion, politics, economics, and legal systems to one universal mode transmitting learning and knowledge to future generations without seriously undermining national sovereignty and national identity.

2.1.1â•…Historical Context Global education or international education is not a new phenomenon. Since 1918, there has been a need to establish international schools to deal with problems caused by World War I. World War I left an unparallel distribution of political and military power and economic imbalances in Europe. In 1945, after the end of World War II, there was an urgent need to educate the world, particularly after the creation of the United Nations in 1948 and the Declaration of Human Rights. In 1960, there was the emergence of the Cold War. The subsequent collapse of the Cold War led to the conceptualization of a global education within the context of citizenship education in American public schools (Zajda and Daun 2009). The global events of 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, such as the oil glut, the IMF/ World Bank structural adjustment policies in the developing world, the integration of national economies, and globalization, ushered in a rethinking of the purpose and goals of education. However, in the 2000s, the global community has to confront the emergence of religious fundamentalism, corporate greed, human rights, and environmental abuses.

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2.2â•…Global Education in American Schools The introduction of global education in the American schools in the USA began with the publication of the Foreign Policy Association’s report entitled An Examination of Objectives and Priorities in International Education in U.S. Secondary Schools in 1968. The publication paved the way for the conceptualization, design, and implementation of global education programs in teacher education and public schools. As a result, global teacher educators, such as Lee Anderson, Charlotte Anderson, John Goodlad, Robert Hanvey, Jan Tucker, Kenneth Tye, Steven Lamy, Merry Merryfield, Toni Kirkwood, and James Becker conceptualized, designed, and implemented global education programs for teacher education in the early 1970s. Their work was a response to changes in the world caused by political and economic forces. They believe that information and knowledge about the world should inform our collective minds, so that young people everywhere can better understand themselves and their role in the world relative to other people, cultures, and nations. Their ultimate goal is to see students become active participants in changing their communities and the world. They also believe that global education can be the mechanism for social and political change at the school level. The integration of global education into the American schools has been slow and difficult. Tucker and Evans (1996) wrote that during the mid-1980s, some global education programs came under attack from every corner, including the Center for Teaching International Relations (CTIR), University of Denver. As a consequence, many colleges of education and school districts across the nation failed to endorse or promote global education. Even lessons learned from World War II and the end of the Cold War were not enough to sway people in the direction of promoting and developing global perspectives in American schools. There was the perception by the radical right wing that “global education is un-American and has a secular humanistic plot” (p. 193). Two global education programs – the Iowa Global Education Association (IGEA) program, which grew out of the model United Nations program in the early 1970s, and the Chadwick Alger’s “Columbus and the World, the World in Columbus,” were designed to supplement the teaching of citizenship education program. Citizenship education was the core organizing theme of social studies education in American schools at the elementary level. The pilot programs subsequently became the models for other global education programs.

2.2.1â•… Task Force for Global Education In 1977, Ernest Boyer, United States Commissioner of Education, established a Task Force on Global Education to examine the national need for global perspectives in education. One of the findings was that there is a need for developing global

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perspectives in American schools. In the 1980s, another Task Force of the United States Governors Association, chaired by former Governor of Arkansas and former president, William J. Clinton, was formed. One of the conclusions of the task force was that international education is as important as economic prosperity, national security, and world stability. The Task Force made seven recommendations: 1. International education must become a part of the basic education of all of our students 2. More of our students must gain proficiency in foreign languages 3. Teachers must know more about international issues 4. Schools and teachers need to know about the wealth of resources and materials, other than textbooks, that are available for international education 5. All graduates of our colleges and universities must be knowledgeable about the broader world and conversant in another language 6. Business and community support of international education should be increased 7. The business community must have access to international education, particularly information about exports, trade regulations, and overseas cultures (America in Transition 1989). As a result of the declaration, colleges of education and school districts across the nation began to encourage the teaching of global education. Many global educators developed courses and applied for various types of state and federal grants. In 1981, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the leading professional organization for social-studies educators, issued policy position statements that urged schools to become effective agents of citizenship education for a global age. In 1982, the NCSS defined global education as “the efforts to cultivate in young people a perspective of the world, which emphasizes the interconnections among cultures, species, and the planet (p. 1).” The NCSS recommended that social-studies curricula should emphasize: 1. Globalization of the human experience 2. Individuals, non-state groups, such as multinational corporations, churches, and scientific organizations, as well as local governments and national leaders 3. People and the environment 4. Linkages between past and present social, political, economic, and ecological realities and alternatives futures and 5. All people making choices in the ways in which they participate in world affairs. Since the 1981 NCSS declaration, past presidents have urged social-studies global educators to promote and advance the teaching of global education in colleges of education and American schools. For example, in 1983, NCSS President, Carole Hahn, challenged social-studies educators to prepare students to be both national citizens and citizens of the global society. In 1992, NCSS President, Charlotte Anderson, urged social-studies educators to help students understand and address global issues. She stressed that students need to learn from, and work collaboratively with, individuals representing diverse cultures, religions, and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialog.

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In the 1990s, national professional organizations, such as the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education also issued position statements supporting global education in schools. Many state departments of education also issued mandates to school district to support and endorse the teaching of global perspectives in elementary and secondary schools. Wisconsin was one of the first state departments of education to promote international education. Other state departments beginning with those in Michigan, Ohio, New York, and Florida followed the suit. National and state agencies were immediately formed to design curriculum frameworks for global education. For example, in 1982, the Florida Department of Education accepted the Florida State Board of Education, a framework for developing global education programs at the local level.

2.3â•…Global Education One of the fundamental goals of global education is to prepare students for responsible national and global citizenship in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world. Developing students’ global perspectives and cross-cultural sensitivity and understanding are the means that global educators use to achieve their goals. Global education is the study of the interface of political, ecological, cultural, and economic systems in the world. Teacher educators have developed programs geared toward improving teachers’ global thinking and global consciousness by developing global awareness programs through the expansion of social-studies curriculum with more content on Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. Others have infused the voices of others in the curriculum (Kirkwood 1995; Merryfield 2001; Zajda 2010b; Zajda et al. 2008; Zajda, Biraimah & Gaudelli 2008; Zajda and Rust 2009). Anderson (1991) argued that global teacher educators should prepare secondary social studies teachers to teach about issues and problems of the world, such as foreign policy, maintenance of national security, control of warfare, reduction of world poverty, promotion of human rights, and preservation of environment. Furthermore, Anderson argued that global educators at the secondary level should focus on expanding and improving the study of world history, world geography, world economics, world politics, or world ecology. Others seek to expand students’ understanding of cultural diversity through the cross-cultural study of literature, art, music, dance, religion, and social customs. Many others seek to expand and improve the study of foreign languages, including the rarely studied languages that are of growing importance to the USA, such as Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. Still, many other global educators devote their energies to improving instruction about the other regions of the world such as Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. Still others focus on improving education about world problems such as the maintenance of national security, the control of warfare, the reduction of world poverty, the promotion of human rights, and the preservation of ecological well-being.

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Some seek to place the study of American society and its history in a world context so as to highlight the ways in which American cities, states, and the nation as a whole are linked to the rest of world (p. 13). With the emergence of twenty-first century issues and problems, global educators began to rethink global education for the new century. This was evidenced in national, regional, and international presentations at conferences on global and international education worldwide. Globalization. Globalization has economic roots and political consequences. It also has implication for global pedagogy. How do we create and deliver instruction in the global pedagogical jargon that will bind and not divide people, cultures, and nations? Stromquist (2002) believes that global educators need to become highly conscious of the effects of globalization in shaping the contemporary world. The vision for the reconceptualization of the field for the new century should be guided by the idea of inclusion, diversity, and commonality. Although global issues, such as global warming, environmental pollution, population growth, hunger, refugees, poverty, conflicts, inflation, AIDS, etc., continued to form the content for global education, how teachers deliver the content becomes critical. However, topics such as uncensored information on the Internet, illegal drug trafficking, corporate greed and corruption, intolerance, and religious extremism allow social-studies teachers to frame controversial topics within the context of current events to discuss, analyze, evaluate, and predict future outcomes. Thus, content knowledge and content delivery have become an integral part of the rethinking process. The problems of globalization in developing nations can also offer teachers and students the opportunity to analyze global issues and problems comparatively. The idea that the world has not only become an interdependent and interconnected global village, but also a stage for increasingly hostile and violent place where political and economic mismanagement and perpetual conflicts should be critically examined and analyzed. Global teacher educators understand that teachers and students must be active participants in addressing and resolving global problems.

2.4â•…Conceptualizing Global Education Merry Merryfield (1997) believes that it is important to examine the work of several scholars when reconceptualizing what global education should look like in the twenty-first century. As the readers will see in the next section, there are different conceptualization models for global education. Some teacher education programs have used a specific framework, while others have adapted ideas from other scholars. The fundamental question in any reconceptualization process is the attempt to answer the what, why, how, and when questions of global education (Zajda 2005). The ultimate goal of global education is to have a student change his/her worldview, from negative to positive. For example, a white student in Alabama, USA, may view a black student in Zaria, Nigeria, favorably. With information and new knowledge, the student may change his or her negative cultural mindset. Developing a global perspective therefore becomes a critical part of teaching global education? Why do

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global educators begin with clarifying what perspective consciousness is? Robert Hanvey provides an insight, and defines perspective consciousness as the “recognition or awareness on the part of the individual that he or she has a view of the world that is not universally shared, that this view of the world has been and continues to be shaped by influences that often escape conscious detection, and that others have views of the world that are profoundly different from one’s own” (Hanvey 1976).

2.5â•…Global Education: Structure and Design Merry Merryfield (1997) believes that some global educators presume that a clear conceptualization, structure, and design are critical for successful dissemination and institutionalization of global education. There was consensus among global educators that the global education for the twentieth century has failed to achieve its intended outcome. For example, in the 1980s, the National Governors Association reported that there was inadequate teacher preparation in global education and international studies. As a result, the USA is failing to meet the economic, political, and social challenges of today’s world. In 1988, the Association of Colleges and Schools of Education in State University and Land Grant Colleges issued a document titled The Purposes of American Education Today: Conceptions of Schooling, in which the Association outlined the vision and objectives for teacher education that failed to represent a global vision. The document asserted that schools must (a) emphasize on the acquisition of basic, traditional subject matter skills, (b) provide a humane environment, (c) provide modern technology, (d) provide a pedagogy to accompany modern technology, (e) acknowledge that teachers are critically important, (f) collaborate and form partnership with the lower schools, (g) cultivate rigor and optimism in students, (h) develop aesthetic and affective domain in young people, and finally, (i) be inclusive of all students. However, the Association failed to assert that schools of education should develop a global-education curriculum that will prepare preservice teachers to be active leaders in teaching and promoting global education. Despite the lack of support from the Association, which was made up of deans of schools and colleges of education, global teacher educators developed programs and competed against other academic programs within the college. At the public schools level, the primary responsibility of teaching global education lies with secondary social studies teachers, many of whom simply infuse global education content in their curriculum.

2.6â•…Global Education Curriculum The global education curriculum has been shaped by the early global educators, many of whom have offered different versions of global education in the 1970s. Individuals like Robert Hanvey, Chad Alger, James Becker, Lee Anderson, Steven

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Lamy, Willard Kniep, Roland Case, Charlotte Anderson, Jan Tucker, and Merry Merryfield have advanced different models of global education.

2.6.1â•…Global Education Models The Florida International University’s social studies/global education program has used the Robert Hanvey framework to teach global education. The framework has been outlined in his seminal paper, An Attainable Global Perspective (1976), in which he outlined five interdisciplinary and interconnected dimensions of global education: (a) perspective consciousness, (b) state-of-the-planet awareness, (c) cross-cultural awareness, (d) awareness of global dynamics, and (e) awareness of human choices. The Chad Alger framework has been captured in his work at the Mershon Center’s Columbus and the World program that focused on real-life connections between Columbus, Ohio, and the rest of the world. Many teachers, teacher educators, and state departments of education have adopted this framework. In 1986, Alger and Jim Harf presented five basic themes for global education: values, transaction, actors, procedures and mechanisms, and issues. The James Becker framework focuses on a world-centered, global approach versus teaching that is nationalistic or regional. He emphasized the holistic approaches to global education, which bridge several disciplines. He provided teachers with multiple avenues for conceptualizing how global education can be infused into social studies. The Willard Kniep framework offers the curricular dimensions for global education. Kniep’s dimension include: (a) universal and diverse human values and cultures, (b) global systems (economic, political, technological, ecological), (c) persistent global problems and issues (peace and security, development, environmental, human rights), and (d) global history. The Roland Case framework builds on Hanvey and Kniep conceptual frameworks. Case (1991) believes that global perspectives should have a substantive and perceptual dimension. In the substantive dimension, he argues that knowledge of the various features of the world and the way they work should be emphasized to improve students’ cognitive development. Teachers should promote knowledge of people and places beyond the student’s own community and country, and knowledge of events and issues beyond the local and immediate environment. In the perceptual dimension, Case believes that teachers should encourage students to use the substantive global knowledge as a lens with which they can focus their discussion of controversial global issues, so that the students can learn to be open-minded. Case’s differentiation of the substantive and the perceptual stresses open-mindedness, anticipation of complexity, resistance to stereotyping, inclination to empathize, and nonchauvinism. The Charlotte Anderson framework, mainly designed for elementary schools include the following: (a) you are a human being, (b) your home is planet Earth,

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(c) you are a citizen of a multicultural society, and (d) you live in an interrelated world. Global education curriculum offers scope and sequence for developing global perspectives. According to Lamy (1991), a successful global education program should have the following: (a) should introduce teachers to substantive and verifiable information, (b) courses or programs should provide teachers with opportunities to explore the core assumptions and values, (c) prepare students for the future by introducing them to a wide range of analytical, interpretive, and evaluative skills, and (d) must introduce students to strategies for participation and involvement in local, national, and international affairs. Diaz et€al. (1999) believe that global education should be organized in two fundamental ways. The first is the discrete approach. They believe that the discrete approach consists of (a) creation of a separate unit or separate course. They argue that one of the disadvantages of creating a separate unit is that students may or may not make the connection to global knowledge and to the rest of the curriculum. The other approach is the infusion approach. This approach enables a socialstudies teacher to integrate global content and information into his or her instruction, using current local, state, national, and international issues. They argue that issues in global education are better explored using the infusion approach. They also argue that the infusion approach may pose some difficulties for teachers, because some of them may lack the global knowledge and pedagogy necessary to teach global education. They recommend that global education curriculum should include (a) the teachers’ awareness of the attitudes toward global education, which are present in the schools and communities, where they teach and (b) teachers’ awareness and use of the different global education models. Both the approaches offer the students the opportunity to learn about the world. Many school districts in America encourage the infusion model. There are cases wherein, an International Business (IB), a magnet program offers global education as a discrete course. The next section provides concrete examples and illustrations of how global education can be taught using a global education framework. Other global educators, such as Toni Kirkwood (1995) have written that global education is designed to expand an individual’s perception of the world. Students with a global perspective are sensitive to the multicultural, bilingual, multilingual, and transnational nature of the human condition. She argues that students should exhibit an intellectual curiosity about the world that transcends local, national, and regional boundaries. Merryfield (1997) believes that global education curriculum should have the following elements: (a) human beliefs and values, (b) global systems, (c) global issues and problems, (d) global history, (e) cross-cultural understanding and interaction, (f) awareness of human choices, (g) development of analytical and evaluative skills, and (h) strategies for participation and involvement. Merryfield (2001) believes that the center of global education should include multiple voices, moving away from Euro-centric, imperial worldviews that divide the world, toward a global-centric and cross-cultural worldview that unites the world. Moreover, Merryfield suggests that there is a need to reexamine what global knowledge the teachers have and how they teach in the classroom.

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Furthermore, believe that a global-education curriculum should select content that establishes linkages between various interacting global systems. They argue that global content should reflect the fact that all global issues, such as environment, political economy, sustainable development, world economy, and security are closely interrelated and interconnected. The American Forum for Global Education (2002) also supports the structuring of global education curricula in American schools to include (a) conflicts, (b) economic systems, (c) global belief systems, (d) human rights, (d) planet management and empowerment, (e) political systems, (f) population, (g) race and ethnicity, (h) technocratic revolution, and (i) sustainable development. Tonkin (2002) maintains that a global-education curriculum will become significant when global issues, problems, and challenges become relevant to the lives of teachers and students.

2.7â•…Examples of Classroom Implementation Robert Hanvey’s Global Education framework has been used for teaching a course called Developing Global Perspective at the college level. At the secondary level, the global content across the two disciplines, America Government and Economics, has been included. The infusion approach is highly recommended at the secondary level, and other approaches could also be considered.

2.7.1â•…Global Pedagogy The social-studies teachers who participated in this study were observed for 3 months at different high schools in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. According to Grossman (1998), in an authentic global classroom, global educators must provide an environment for “authentic” learning experiences. In an authentic classroom, a lesson must allow for higher order thinking, depth of knowledge, substantive conversation, and connections to the world beyond the classroom. Massialas (1996) suggested that global curriculum should be organized around the following criteria: (a) relevance, (b) reflection, (c) action, (d) practicality, and (e) depth of understanding (Diaz et€al. 1999). The Hanvey (1976) global education five dimensions help global educators to sort information into manageable categories for an authentic discussion in the classroom. The first dimension is Perspective Consciousness. In this dimension, the teacher will use instructional strategies, such as discussion of multiple perspectives concerning ideas and issues, simulations on perceptions of different societal norms and practices, differentiation between prejudice and discrimination, values clarification, causes and consequences of stereotyping, and the importance of respecting others with different orientations. Abdullahi (2004) observed that teachers used critical analyses of print and nonprint resources, identification of global events, issues,

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and problems, and examination of the effects of world conditions to address stateof-the-planet awareness, or Hanvey’s dimension 1. A teacher should include discussion of multiple perspectives concerning ideas and issues, and simulations on the perceptions of different societal norms and practices. The second dimension is the State-of-the-Planet Awareness. In this dimension, a teacher should include critical analysis of print and nonprint resources, identification of global issues and their impact, examination of the effects of world conditions on the students’ lives and community, and mapping of cultural, physical, and interdependent regional characteristics. The third dimension is Awareness of Global Dynamics. In this dimension, a teacher uses a comparative study of cultures, role-playing, and storytelling; inquiry into cultural borrowing, cultural diffusion, and their effects on people and nations; emphasis on the commonalities rather than the differences in the cultures; and development of tolerance and empathy. The fourth dimension is Cross-Cultural Awareness. A teacher uses cross-cultural understanding and interaction, open-mindedness, interdependence, interconnectedness, anticipation of global complexity, and resistance to stereotyping, to help a student develop cultural sensitivity and understanding. A teacher differentiates between prejudice and discrimination, values clarification, causes and consequences of stereotyping and scapegoat, and the importance of respecting others with different orientations. A teacher should include strategies that demonstrate systems-thinking, cultural, economic, ecological, political, social, and technological interdependence among the nations, and identification of reciprocal linkages of people and nations to local communities. The fifth dimension is Awareness of Human Choices. In this dimension, a teacher uses comparative study of different cultures, examination of cultural, economic, ecological, political, social, and technological interdependence among the nations, and inquiry into the decisions and choices that individuals, groups, and nations make to shape the world. A teacher should include inquiry into the choices that individuals, groups, and nations make, which influence the future of the world, identify, plan, and implement a community project of local and global implications, and connect electronically with peers worldwide to share concerns and propose solutions to global problems.

2.8â•…Conclusion The global village is upon us. The twenty-first century is approaching the first quarter. Foreign policies, economic cooperation, and education policy reforms around the world promote national interests. Globalization has economic, political, and educational consequences (Zajda and Rust 2009). Global educators and social-studies teachers, in particular, must revise global education for the twenty-first century. Global education offers the promise and hope for a world desperately in search for answers to global problems.

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References Abdullahi, S. A. (2004). Teachers’ knowledge, awareness, and pedagogy of global education in secondary schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida International University, Miami, FL. America in transition: International frontier (1989). Report of the task force on international education. Washington, DC: National Governors Association. Case, R. (1991). Key elements of a global perspective. Social Education, 57, 318–325. Diaz, C., Massialas, B. G., & Xanthopoulos, G. (1999). Global perspectives for educators. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. American Forum for Global Education (2002). Annual report. New York: American Forum for Global Education. Hanvey, R. (1976). An attainable global perspective. New York: Center for Global Perspectives. Kirkwood, T. F. (1995). Teaching from a global perspective: a case study of three high school social studies teachers. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Florida International University, Miami, FL. Lamy, S. L. (1991). Global education: A conflict of images. In K. A. Tye (Ed.), Global education: From thought to action (pp. 49–63). Alexandria, VA: The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Merryfield, M. (2001). Moving the center of global education: From imperial worldviews that divide the world to double consciousness, contrapuntal pedagogy, hybridist, and cross-cultural competence. In B. W. Stanley (Ed.), Critical issues in social studies for the 21st century (pp. 179–208). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing. Stromquist, N. P. (2002). Education in a globalized world: the connectivity of economic power, technology and knowledge. New York: Rowman & Littlefield. Tucker, J. L., & Evans, A. M. (1996). Crucial issues in teaching social studies K-12. In B. G. Massialas & R. F. Allen (Eds.), Critical issues in teaching social studies K-12 (pp. 181–209). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Zajda, J. (2005). The international handbook of globalisation, education and policy research. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2010a). Global pedagogies. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2010b). Globalization, education and social justice. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J., & Daun, H. (Eds.). (2009). Global values education: Teaching democracy and peace. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J., & Rust, V. (2009). Globalisation, policy and comparative research: Discourses of globalisation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J., Biraimah, B., & Gaudelli, W. (2008). (Eds.). Education and social inequality in the global culture. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J., Daun, H., & Saha, L. (2009). Nation-building, identity and citizenship education: Crosscultural perspectives. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J., Davies, L., & Majhanovich, S. (Eds.). (2008). Comparative and global pedagogies: Equity, access and democracy in education. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Chapter 3

Globalization and Postnational Possibilities in Education for the Future: Rethinking Borders and Boundaries Stephen David, Nadine Dolby, and Fazal Rizvi

3.1â•…Modern Educational Systems and the Nation-State Modern educational structures and systems are largely a product of the nation-state. As scholars have reflected (Green 1997; Spring 2002), the schools that we have inherited in the twenty-first century were designed within national boundaries, and with national purposes – economic, political, and social – as the highest priority. Thus, schools were, and in many cases today, still are, one of the most significant locales in which young people learn what it is to be an “x” – either formally, through what is explicitly taught, or informally, through adapting to the practices that structure daily life (McDonald 2002). Despite the historic strength of the relationship between a nation and its schools, significant fissures are emergent. As is clear from the abundance of scholarly literature produced within the past two decades, the processes of globalization have spawned multiple forces – privatization, hypercapitalism, neo-liberalism, among others – that have begun to weaken the tight bond between the states and educational systems.1 In this chapter, we take up one aspect of the shifting idea of “nation” in the contemporary context of global change. We are specifically concerned with investigating the way that youth both imagine and produce identities that challenge the simplistic boundaries of “nation,” and the idea that national schooling systems necessarily produce seamless national selves. Using data from our qualitative studies in three diverse locations, Malaysia, the USA, and South Africa, we examine how young people around the globe are producing identities that seep beyond The literature on global economic restructuring is vast, and a complete review is beyond the limits of this paper (see also Apple 2001, 2003; Burbules and Torres 2000; Lipman 2003; Stromquist and Monkman 2001; Stromquist 2002; Zajda and Rust 2009; Zajda et€al. 2008).

1â•›

S. David and N. Dolby Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA F. Rizviâ•›() University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Educational Policy Studies, 377 Education Building, 1310 S. 6th St. MC 708, Champaign, IL 61820, USA e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_3, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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national borders, and are rewriting the global landscape of the human community. Drawing on Craig Calhoun’s (2002) work, we argue that it is inadequate to analyze these identities within paradigms that insist on a choice between a “thick” (exclusionary) identity, and a “thin” (detached) one. Instead, we suggest that postnational possibilities for identity abound, though they refract differently, depending on varying historical, political, economic, and social circumstances. In the remaining part of this chapter, we first briefly review the literature on nation and national identity in the context of global movement. We then examine how some young people are renegotiating the meaning of “nation” and its role in how they imagine themselves, their communities, and their identities. We conclude with reflections on the implications of these new imaginings for educational policy and practice.

3.2â•…Education, the Nation-State, and Global Movement We begin this section with a short personal reflection. Recently, one of us (Nadine) returned from South Africa. On the flight back from South Africa, she sat next to a woman, Riannon, from Cape Town, and her daughter, Tamara. During the flight, Nadine discovered that Riannon had only just returned from a 6-week holiday to the USA a few days before, on Wednesday. It was now Sunday, and Riannon and Tamara were back on the plane again – a 30 plus hour journey – as Riannon’s father was having emergency heart surgery in the USA. Riannon was born in South Africa, but has lived most of her life in Canada and the USA. However, it was Tamara, her 10-year-old daughter, whose story – whose identity – was the most fascinating. Of Indian descent, Tamara was born in Canada of South African and Canadian parents, and has lived her life between South Africa and the USA. Her parents recently divorced, and her mother remarried – to a Zimbabwean of British descent. It occurred to Nadine that, in the complexity of her situation, national belonging may present a formidable and daunting dilemma. Tamara might very well feel more comfortable – more at “home” – (Massey 1994) on a plane, for the ground presents a dizzying array of conflicting affiliations: Canada, South Africa, the USA, India, Zimbabwe, and Britain. To whom, to what, does Tamara owe allegiance? Her mother expressed dismay that Tamara’s expensive private school in Cape Town required her to learn two local languages – Afrikaans and Xhosa; neither appears useful in her decidedly global future. French, Spanish, even Chinese, Riannon observed, would be more useful to Tamara than languages spoken only on a speck of the earth. Tamara’s reality, and her (possibly large) stack of passports and permanent residence visas, highlights some of the challenges of applying a bounded paradigm of “nation” to the decidedly less bounded inhabitants of the globe at the turn of the twenty-first century. While certainly Tamara is among the global elites in her multiple affiliations and constant jet travel (Iyer 2000), the cracks in the edifice of nation extend well beyond those who are economically privileged and physically mobile. National identities are grounded in sustaining mythologies, which assume that lines are easily drawn between one “people” and another. Nations, of course, have been

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heavily invested in this inventing and policing of lines: the borders that separate nations can be porous (as between the USA and Canada, particularly before September 11), extremely rigid and tension-filled (as between North and South Korea), or a combination of the two. For example, the border between the USA and Mexico is both fluid and rigid. While American companies, such as Tyson Foods, are accused of actively recruiting and facilitating illegal migration to fill low-paying, hazardous processing jobs (such as in slaughterhouses), US border patrol agents simultaneously capture dozens of Mexicans every night, as they unsuccessfully attempt to cross the “no-man’s land” between Mexico and Texas. Thus, states often face contradictory impulses: to maintain national borders and national identities, and simultaneously to erode these same borders when it suits their economic and political purposes. At the same time, there are forces that are increasingly beyond the control of states. As Saskia Sassen (2001) observes, the “global cities” of New York, London, and Tokyo are situated in, but are not of, their corresponding nation-states of the USA, Britain, and Japan. Thus, “New York” is not necessarily the quintessential “American” city, but is, in fact, the exact opposite. Less economically advantaged states are also forced to respond to global forces, and rework their ideas of national identity. Peggy Levitt’s (2001) research on the Dominican Republic exemplifies the way in which states reshape their notions of citizenship to accommodate new global realities. Dominican communities are increasingly transnational and diasporic, and the economic health of the Dominican Republic depends on the movement of its citizens residing abroad. In response, the state is rethinking its idea of “citizenship” and parliamentary representation, to ensure the continuation of close national ties between the state, the nation, and Dominican nationals living abroad. Many other nationstates, including Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Portugal, and India (Appadurai 1993, 1996; Levitt 2001) are similarly revamping and broadening the way the “nation” is imagined, to embrace those beyond the physical borders of the nation. Aiwha Ong’s (1999) writing similarly documents the way that Chinese nationals deploy “flexible citizenship” to develop new spaces of attachment that defy traditional national borders. Flexible citizenship is also evident in multiple other venues: Mexican President (then presidential candidate) Vicente Fox campaigning in the USA for Mexican votes, and calls in South African newspapers reminding Greek citizens to vote in upcoming Greek elections. Instead of rejecting their diasporic citizens, many states are embracing, and in some cases, even encouraging, the extension of the national imaginary well beyond geographic, political lines. As Appadurai (1996) observes, there are increasing patterns of “sovereignty without territoriality,” where the assumed connection between a geographical locale and a “people” is fractured. The above developments, among many others, suggest that the nation is becoming an increasingly contradictory space of identification. Some scholars, for example, Martha Nussbaum (1996), advance the idea of a “cosmopolitan” identity, premised on a common human bond that exceeds and transcends the nation-state. But Bruce Robbins (1998), also concerned with cosmopolitan identities, stresses the significance of local attachments, and calls for the proliferation of ties that work both above and below the level of the nation-states. Arjun Appadurai (1993) similarly invokes the idea of “new patriotisms” (such as the now defunct Queer Nation) that evolve from

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Â� multiple, local attachments, which move, octopus-like, throughout the world.2 Amy Guttman (1996), critical of Nussbaum’s stance, asserts that the notion of a common human bond is too abstract, and that no global polity has attempted such a project. Clearly, few people feel emotional attachment to global bodies such as the United Nations, and other global entities (such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the G-8) inspire solidarity only in opposition. The work of these scholars, and others, challenge the paradigm of “nation” in conceptualizing identities, and suggest that we need to invent other tools for understanding how human beings negotiate their multiple affiliations and places of attachment. As Appadurai (1993, p. 428) argues, “bounded territories could give way to diasporic networks, nations to transnationals, and patriotism itself could become plural, serial, contextual, and mobile.” Such shifts threaten the assumed coevalness of state and nation, a bond that has undergirded educational systems throughout the world. Ulf Hedetoft and Mette Hjort (2002, p. xvi) observe that “where the age of nationalism and the nation-state demanded that the political and the prepolitical community, citizenship, and ethnicity/identity, be imagined as one, the postnational era threatens to disaggregate the two…” and in place of national identities postnational ones emerge. In the following section, we turn to a discussion of three qualitative studies that suggest that youth’s identities are increasingly being formed in this “postnational space,” the interstice that runs between, above, and below nations, and seriously disrupts homogeneous national identities promoted by educational systems.

3.3â•…Writing the PostNation: Youth and New Identities In this section, we discuss data from three qualitative studies conducted with youth in the USA, Malaysia, and South Africa.3 Though differing in their specific designs and purposes, all three studies try to understand how youth identities are shaped by, and contribute to, the proliferation of new identities and affiliations that challenge the fixed contours of nation.

3.3.1â•…The United States: Destabilizing Center Identities The data discussed in this section are drawn from a comparative study of 46 American and Australian undergraduates who studied abroad for 5–12 months

An emergent example of this may be flashmobs. Though still only a few months old, and thus undeveloped, they have the potential to create new spaces of identification. See flashmobs.com for a history and description. 3â•› Space precludes a full discussion of these three studies. For extended discussion and analysis, see Rizvi 2000; Cornbleth and Dolby 2001. 2â•›

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during the period 2001–2002. For comparative purposes, the study was limited to American students studying abroad in Australia, and Australian students studying abroad in the USA. All students were interviewed before their study abroad experience, and when they returned. Students were also e-mailed a series of questions approximately 2 months after the beginning of their study abroad experience. While data were collected from both American and Australian students, for purposes of this essay, we will discuss only data from the American students, who were enrolled at a large, public research university in the Midwest. Before studying abroad, American undergraduates had a strong, though undeveloped, sense of their national identity, and little to no understanding of how they would be positioned as “Americans” outside of the USA. Thus, they are surprised at their predeparture orientation when an invited Australian student comments “Australians hate Americans.” While the study abroad advisor, and other professional members of the staff, attempted to tone down and smooth over her observations, the impact of her statement was significant, as outgoing students were surprised, puzzled, and alarmed by this (largely) new information. For example, during the predeparture interview, Danielle commented, “Because I live in America, I don’t really understand how Americans are mean.” For the American students in Australia, the most meaningful challenge to their sense of a national self emerges as they begin to realize that they are not the sole “authors” of their American identity, and how “America” as symbol is deployed in the world. For example, Karen comments, I saw how much information that the rest of the world, or Australia specifically, gets about us. Because they actually get a lot of information about what’s going on here, and I felt almost disappointed that I didn’t know, it seemed like I didn’t know as much stuff as some people knew about the United States.

While some students retreat into what Calhoun (2002) would label a “thick” or exclusionary identity, others actively attempt to disrupt this closed sense of nation, and to broaden their sense of the possibilities of a national identity that is not invested solely in itself and its superiority. Linda reflects, I had no idea that people had this view of Americans, that we thought that we were just so great and we just dominate and are in charge. We’re very snotty and rude and get our way. And that was kind of a shock to me. So the whole time I was there, I tried not to portray that image as much as I could because I think that’s sort of terrible.

In this instance, Linda’s encounter with Australians and the resultant encounter with her own American identity leads to a practice and rewriting that does not sway between “thick” and “thin” identities. Students like Linda do not reject their national identity, but attempt to rewrite it outside of the mythology of American domination that they have been surrounded by since birth.4 Thus, they explore a decidedly postnational aspect of their American selves. While retaining an “American” trace, they simultaneously explore the connections and possibilities

See Lauren Berlant (1993).

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that exist in understanding the perspectives of others’, and of formulating an identity that is grounded in the multiple, local attachments suggested by Appadurai.

3.3.2â•…Malaysia: Diasporic and National Selves Malaysian youth certainly confront a different set of historical circumstances and contemporary realities than their American counterparts, yet in some critical ways they are more mobile, diasporic, and “transnational” than the Americans. The qualitative data in this section are derived from in-depth interviews conducted with 26 Malaysian students living in the Brisbane area of Australia, and enrolled at the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, and Griffith University. Malaysia is a particularly rich arena for examining the interplay between national and global imperatives, because the Malaysian government simultaneously insists on binding the nation together through the promulgation of Malay culture and language, while embracing global capitalism, and the importance of international education for its youth. Thus, Malaysian youth confront a national identity that is much less exclusionary, much more open to and of the world, than their American counterparts, though it still insists on a strictly bounded sense of culture and identity. Malaysian students in Australia are aware of the contradictory nature of “national” identity in Malaysia. As Ahmad reflects, “English is the global language and even in Malaysia you cannot go very far unless you are a confident speaker of English. That is why the Malaysian government now realizes it can’t be anti-English like it was.” Here, we see one of the contradictory moments in the emergent paradigms of nation: for Malaysia to succeed as a nation, to maintain its sovereignty, and to grow economically, it is forced to embrace English, a language that is not of its nation. To refuse to do so, as Ahmad suggests, would be to undercut the growth of the Malaysian nation. For Chinese Malaysians, whose opportunities are limited in Malaysia by government affirmative action policies that favor the Bumiputras (Muslim and indigenous Malays), studying in Australia expands their employment possibilities. For many Malaysian Chinese students, their ability to speak English and Chinese gives them a global competitive advantage unavailable to Bumiputras: what is a disadvantage within the bounds of their nation (their Chinese heritage) becomes an advantage within a broader, global landscape. These Chinese Malaysian students do not solely reject their Malaysian national identity, but embrace a diasporic Chinese one – a specific node of identity (or what Appadurai might refer to as a “new patriotism”) that is available to them through their experience in Australia.

3.3.3â•…South Africa: National and Global Transformations Our final example is drawn from a 1-year, ethnographic study of a multiracial high school (Fernwood High School, a pseudonym) in Durban, South Africa, in 1996,

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2 years after the first democratic elections were held, and Nelson Mandela was elected the president. South Africa is unlike Malaysia and the USA where longer periods have been devoted to the project of a national identity, which enjoyed the promotional support of most of its modern social institutions. Besides Mandela’s charismatic call for a “Rainbow Nation,” the partial solidarity that sustained a long drawn out national struggle for freedom, and the demise of the older apartheid nation, the project of national identity formation is, not surprisingly, muted and often conflicted. As is detailed elsewhere in greater length (see Dolby 2001), South African youth draw increasingly on global popular culture, particularly global commodities, to create and define racial identities and boundaries within the school. For the most part, these students are not physically mobile, in contrast to their American and Malaysian counterparts. However, the end of apartheid, and the wider opening of the South African nation to the world has created new possibilities for global imaginings. While South Africa is able, for the first time, to create an inclusive, democratic nation, its youth are increasingly more intrigued by the global possibilities now available. For example, Molefe, who is from a family that was politically active in the anti-apartheid struggle, notes that for some Africans the end of apartheid provides the opportunity to escape hardship in South Africa, and embrace (perceived) luxury elsewhere in the world. He reflects, Some black people want to leave because they say we’ve suffered too much and now we want to live in luxury. Because they see on TV., correct me if I’m wrong, but when you see a house in the U.S. you always see a double story house, a white picket fence, three cars, and three kids, two boys and a girl. And the father is the head of this huge company, and the mother is the head of this huge company. And people just see the TV. and they think the U.S. is that.

Molefe’s insights reveal that the end of apartheid – and the constitution of a new state – does not necessarily guarantee that those worst affected by apartheid will feel allegiance to the new state, and a strong sense of national identity. Instead of wishing that the luxuries and opportunities available in the USA were also possible in South Africa, Molefe indicates that many intuitively feel that it is not a possibility in the immediate future, and that the pursuit of personal happiness, wherever it might be found, is a more pressing and important goal than the creation of a new national identity. Not all students agree with Molefe but those who do not, often find that their perspective is a minority one. Amanda, for example, asserts, I’m proud that I’m a South African, and like in the prefects’ room, a lot of the prefects say they want to get out of this country, this country has no future. The way I’m looking at it I’m South African and it’s what I make of it…. So I can just join the rat race and leave, or I can stay here, and make something for myself.

Despite the fact that both Molefe and Amanda are considerably less geographically mobile than the American and Malaysian students discussed earlier, both are still conscious that the connection between their identities and their nation is neither natural nor absolute. Both reflect on the possibility (if not the actuality) of leaving that permeates all socioeconomic classes at Fernwood High School. The South African nation, for Molefe, Amanda, and other Fernwood youth, is not an entity that is automatically part of how they see themselves in the world, and is certainly not the limit of their imaginings.

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3.4â•…The Possibilities of Postnational Identities As the above reflections suggest, youth’s identities often express a desire and practice that exceed the parameters of corresponding national identities. These desires are no longer simple instances of egotistical self-interest, but reflect profound shifts in the global social structure, which mirror increasing opportunities to create more postnational and cosmopolitan modes of being. Ahmad concludes that he can be Western and a Malay Muslim without contradiction. Linda decides that a blustering, hubristic American persona is not only to be avoided but personally embarrassing and distasteful. Molefe appears to be attracted by a material social sensibility embodied by a marketed American suburban ideal. The identities embodied by these students are not undifferentiated, global ones that float above the earth with no connections, nor are they identities that are naively humanistic, and embracing of all peoples in a “we are the world” fashion. Instead, the patterns of possibilities that emerge here suggest a more open, if pragmatic, approach to negotiating a place in the world. Their identities undercut the work of educational policies and practices that insist on erasing the multiple attachments that they embody and negotiate in their daily lives. Their identities raise the question: what does it mean to have a “cosmopolitan” belonging, and how can education foster such a sensibility?

3.5â•…Education, Globalization, and National Identity: An Evaluation One of the inherent dangers in the constant theorizing about globalization and corresponding shifts is the incessant focus on the “new,” as if such global interaction and movement only began sometime in the mid 1990s. Yet, as Leon Tikly (2001), Doreen Massey (1998, p. 122), and others have often pointed out, nation-states have always been a “product of interaction.” As Massey observes, …“Englishness” did not somehow grow out of the soil but rather is a complex product of all the peoples who over the centuries have settled that part of the British Isles, of all their contacts and influences. The quintessential cup of tea could not be sipped without plantations in India, Opium Wars in China – and if you take sugar – a history of slavery in the Caribbean. (Massey 1998, p. 123)

For those on the receiving end of colonial practices, the link between education and the nation-state was never a local, autonomous one, but one fully implicated in the global politics of empire. Youth growing up in the shadow of the British Empire, for example, never experienced allegiance to a democratic, sovereign state that represented them, but an imposed, colonial one. Such realities have existed only on the periphery of globalization theorizing, in the rush to declare the “end of the nation-state” (Ohmae 1990). While center, industrialized nation-states are currently undergoing serious challenges to their national self-imaginings (Anderson 2006), most of the world cannot easily harken back to a

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united past, even in myth. Despite claims to the contrary, education and nation-states, have always been, as Massey argues in reference to culture, “products of interaction.” Clearly, British colonial curricula, and subjects, were formed in this space. The fervent nationalisms expressed by American curricula in the 1950s was a direct product of American interaction with other forces in the world, specifically communist and socialist forces that were represented as a threat to American life. Similarly, exclusionary and inclusionary discourses in multiple nation-states – for example Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa – are promulgated by the social forces that engage that society at a particular moment: forces that well exceed the borders of the nation-state. Increased immigration and a corresponding growth in a society’s racial and ethnic diversity can trigger contradictory responses: at once to embrace newcomers and transform curriculum and policy to center their particular needs and desires, and to protect the threatened “core” of the nation (see Bennett 1998; Suransky-Polkaow 2002). What is at stake in this new world is not only the way that schooling is organized, but the very definition of what it means to be “x.” As Lyn Ilon (1994, p. 99) warns, there are dangers in fully embracing a retreat from national control, and national educational priorities. She cautions that “a national system of schooling is likely to give way to local systems for the poor and global systems for the rich.” In such a system, a small segment of elites will receive an education that prepares them for the global economic, a second tier will receive an adequate education to fulfill necessary administrative and bureaucratic functions, and the majority of people will be schooled to fill low-skill, low-paying jobs. Such shifts are already evident in the economies of many industrialized nationstates, which have expanding low-skill, low-opportunity positions in fields such as tourism, and substantial losses of skilled, high-paying manufacturing jobs. As is well known, these jobs – though not their high salaries and benefits – have moved to poor nation-states, whose governments are desperate for capital infusion, and often beholden to the policies of supranationals such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (Bello 2002; Klein 2000; Ross 1997). Despite the overwhelming force of these new global economic imperatives, it is clear that spaces of possibility are still open (Klein 2000; Quart 2003) – spaces that can provide the grounds for a larger, postnational identity to provide the ethical and moral frames for human actions and sensibilities. For example, diasporic communities, both forced and unforced, already embody the seeds of a cosmopolitan belonging and a postnational structure of affiliation without the service of any supranational legislative body (Levitt 2001). On a smaller, but still significant level, the youth profiled in this essay also point to the possibilities of postnational identities – emergent new cosmopolitanisms. For educators, such identities present the challenges inherent in working within what Kathleen Hall (2002), drawing on Salman Rushdie, terms “translation.” Her study analyzes how Sikh youth in Britain negotiate multiple spaces of belonging – home, school, temple, and shopping arcade – and call up varying combinations of “Sikhness” and “Britishness” in their daily lives. Like the youth profiled in this essay, these youth pragmatically respond to the conditions that they encounter, redrawing the mythical borders of the “nation,” and pushing the boundaries of identity.

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Educators have yet to fully embrace the pedagogical possibilities of working within these emergent spaces, instead of consistently denying their existence. Yet, the development of a humanistic, global “self” – one of the implicit objectives of any progressive educational practice – is dependent on exactly that. What is crucial for educators is to create reflective opportunities for youth to understand the conditions of their lives in a relation with the lives of others around the globe. In an era in which metaphors of “travel” have replaced metaphors of “dwelling” to describe the human condition (Clifford 1997), such imperatives are more crucial to the future than the current global, educational policy obsession with testing, standards, and the devaluing and decentering of teachers in the educational process. As Paul Willis (1990) observes in his discussion of youth culture in Britain, youth naturally provide the “sparks” for societal change. The sparks evident in this essay point to the potential of paths of identity, which are grounded, yet not nationally bound, which welcome “travel” as a compelling feature of the organization of human communities, and which are flexible and pragmatic.

3.6â•…Conclusion Globalization is not solely a force imposed from “out there,” but is also itself a site of struggle. These struggles are evident everywhere in education, through attempts to protect public spaces and the notion of the public good (Dolby 2003). The varying modes of cosmopolitanism discussed in this essay sketch the possibilities that lie within youth’s lived responses to changing social conditions, and the limits of nation in an intensified global environment.

References Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism. New York: Verso. Appadurai, A. (1993). Patriotism and its futures. Public Culture, 5(3), 411–429. Appadurai, A. (1996). Sovereignty without territoriality: Notes for a postnational geography. In P. Yaeger (Ed.), The geography of identity (pp. 40–58). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Apple, M. (2001). Educating the ‘right’ way: Markets, standards, god, and inequality. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Apple, M. (2003). The state and the politics of knowledge. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Bello, W. (2002). Deglobalization: Ideas for a new world economy. London: Zed Books. Bennett, D. (Ed.). (1998). Multicultural states: Rethinking identity and difference. London: Routledge. Berlant, L. (1993). The theory of infantile citizenship. Public Culture, 5(3), 395–410. Burbules, N., & Torres, C. (2000). Globalization and education: Critical perspectives. New York: Routledge.

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Calhoun, C. (2002). Imagining solidarity: Cosmopolitanism, constitutional patriotism, and the public sphere. Public Culture, 14(1), 147–171. Clifford, J. (Ed.). (1997). Traveling cultures. Routes: Travel and translation in the late twentieth century (pp. 17–46). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Cornbleth, C., & Dolby, N. (Eds.). (2001). Social identities in transnational times (A Special Issue of the Journal). Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 23(3). Dolby, N. (2001). Constructing race: Youth, identity, and popular culture in South Africa. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Dolby, N. (2003). Popular culture and democratic practice. Harvard Educational Review, 73(3), 258–284 (Fall 2003). Green, A. (1997). Education, globalization and the nation state. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Guttman, A. (1996). Democratic citizenship. In J. Cohen (Ed.), For love of country debating the limits of patriotism (pp. 66–71). Boston: Beacon Press. Hall, K. (2002). Lives in translation: Sikh youth as British citizens. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Hedetoft, U., & Hjort, M. (2002). Introduction. In U. Hedetoft & M. Hjort (Eds.), The postnational self: Belonging and identity (pp. vi–xxxii). Minnesota, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Ilon, L. (1994). Structural adjustment and education: Adapting to a growing global market. International Journal of Educational Development, 14, 95–108. Iyer, P. (2000). The global soul: Jet-lag, shopping malls and the search for home. London: Bloomsbury. Klein, N. (2000). No logo. New York: Picador. Levitt, P. (2001). The transnational villagers. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Lipman, P. (2003). High stakes education: Inequality, globalization, and urban schools. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Massey, D. (1994). Space, place, and gender. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Massey, D. (1998). The spatial construction of youth cultures. In T. Skelton & G. Valentine (Eds.), Cool places: Geographies of youth cultures (pp. 121–129). London: Routledge. McDonald, K. (2002). Post-national considerations for curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, Spring, 91–106. Nussbaum, M. (1996). Patriotism and cosmopolitanism. In J. Cohen (Ed.), For love of country: Debating the limits of patriotism (pp. 3–20). Boston: Beacon Press. Ohmae, K. (1990). The end of the nation state. New York: Free Press. Ong, A. (1999). Flexible citizenship: The cultural logics of transnationality. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Quart, A. (2003). Branded: The buying and selling of teenagers. New York: Perseus. Rizvi, F. (2000). International education and the production of global imagination. In N. Burbules & C. Torres (Eds.), Globalization and education: Critical perspectives (pp. 205–226). New York: Routledge. Robbins, B. (1998). Introduction Part I: Actually existing cosmopolitanism. In P. Cheah & B. Robbins (Eds.), Cosmopolitics: Thinking and feeling beyond the nation (pp. 1–19). Minnesota, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Ross, A. (Ed.). (1997). No sweat: Fashion, free trade, and the rights of garment workers. London: Verso. Sassen, S. (2001). The global city: New York, London, Tokyo (2nd ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Spring, J. (2002). American education (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Stromquist, N. (2002). Education in a globalized world: The connectivity of economic power, technology and knowledge. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Stromquist, N., & Monkman, K. (Eds.). (2001). Globalization and education: Integration and contestation across cultures. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Suransky-Polkaow, S. (2002). Fortress Denmark? American Prospect, 13(10), 21–24.

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Tikly, L. (2001). Globalization and education in the postcolonial world: Towards a conceptual framework. Comparative Education, 37(2), 151–171. Willis, P. (1990). Common culture. Milton Keynes, UK: Open University Press. Zajda, J., Biraimah, B., & Gaudelli, W. (Eds.). (2008). Education and social inequality in the global culture (pp. xvii–xxvii). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J., & Rust, V. (Eds.). (2009). Globalisation, policy and comparative research: Discourses of globalisation. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Chapter 4

Framing Education for the Future: A Conceptual Synthesis of the Major Social Institutional Forces Affecting Education Duncan Waite, Lejf Moos, Ciaran Sugrue, and Cungang Liu

4.1â•…The Nexus Between Education and Society Education, and its formal counterpart, schooling, seem at times to be at the center of political or cultural debates, arguments, and controversies. In the USA, for instance, education has, at various times, been at the center of the so-called “culture wars” (Anderson and Herr 1999; Waite 2002; Waite et€al. 2001). One of the battlegrounds in these culture wars, again using the USA as an example, have been the interplay, the role of religion, and religious beliefs in schooling, with interest in the science curriculum shown by, roughly speaking, those who believe in a more literal interpretation of the Christian Bible1 and those who push for a conventional scientifically informed curriculum. Across the globe, other issues dominate or inflect educational considerations – for example, immigration, national history, and/or language can be divisive issues in national educational considerations, and this is

1 â•›These are the so-called creationists; so called because they believe the Christian god created the universe, according to the biblical text, in 6 days. They then believe in a global chronology that would follow from and support that belief about the genesis of the world/universe. They reject other theories (e.g., Darwinian evolution) as inconsistent with their beliefs or what they perceive to be the “facts” of the case.

D. Waiteâ•›(*) The International Center for Educational Leadership and Social Change, 328 ASBS, Texas State University, 601 University Dr. San Marcos, Texas 78666, USA e-mail: [email protected] L. Moos The Danish School of Education, Department of Education, University of Aarhus, Tuborgvej 164, 2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark C. Sugrue School Leadership and School Improvement, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 184 Hills Road Cambridge CB2 8PQ, UK C. Liu Shandong Yingcai Vocational Technology College, No. 2 Yingcai Road, Hi-tech Development District, Jinan, Shandong Province, China 250104 J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_4, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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particularly the case in Ireland, for example, where very recent economic progress led to a major influx of immigrants, challenging an educational system that is almost exclusively denominational. What makes education and schooling of interest to policymakers and ideologues alike? Why is education an issue in political contests? How is education affected by these political contestations? To more fully comprehend education and schooling, we suggest educationists – policymakers, teachers and teacher-scholars, administrators and leaders – need a better understanding of the multitudinous societal forces that influence schooling and how they do so. Though an exhaustive analysis of these societal forces and the issues they engender is nearly impossible – given their Â�magnitude, scope, and local variations – we wish to present here an initial and exploratory conceptualization of the social institutional forces at play that affect education, and how they do so. This initial take on the social forces that influence education is, of necessity, tentative and illustrative (i.e., evocative), rather than authoritative and exhaustive. We offer this treatise as a springboard for further, more in-depth, examinations of education. The success of our efforts here will be evidenced by application of these concepts by variously situated practitioners within different educational action fields (e.g., teachers and leaders), by educational policymakers, and by educational scholars. We believe that a more complete understanding of the social institutional forces that affect education would inform and, perhaps, better the work of educators and others concerned with education and schooling.

4.2â•…On Societal Models: Their Usefulness and Their Limitations – A Caveat One difficulty in conveying our understanding of the forces impacting education is exacerbated by the media we have at our disposal. These media are graphic – currently two-dimensional – and linguistic or verbal. In this latter instance, we are hindered by our facility with language, or lack thereof, and by the images or understanding (or lack thereof) our language is able to evoke for the reader. The nature of the media through which we attempt to represent the social institutional forces that affect education are inordinately static, where the forces we are attempting to depict are extremely dynamic. For example, the major social institutional forces we discuss and portray in our figure or schema (Fig.€4.1) are represented by two-dimensional rectangular boxes and the interplay between them by bidirectional arrows, where the forces themselves are neither so neatly circumscribed nor contained. They are not so well defined; that, plus the interplay and intersection of the forces within an actor or a social situation are, again, dynamic and convoluted. Herein lies another of the stumbling blocks to the presentation of a model, any model: The presenter’s and the audience’s level of understanding, influenced, in part, by the cognitive complexity either party possesses. Our own cognitive schema may serve as limiting factors in conceptualizing the principles our models intend. This limiting factor – and it is or can be substantial – is compounded by our mental acuity and by the nature of models in general. As we know, the map is not the territory.

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Culture Schooling/Education

Individual

Community

Fig.€4.1╅ Social institutions and their relation to schooling or education

Our mental schema, though they have increased in complexity over the years, are still elementary representations of the so-called reality. Examples abound of the increasing complexity of our models and the relative inadequacy of them (see Senge’s 1990, discussion of mental models, for example). Not too long ago, the predominant model in communication theory was the sender–receiver model, where the person initiating the communication sends a message to the receiver. Recent developments in communication theory, however, have shown increasing complexity in modeling communication. Consideration of Â�context, intentionality, indexicality, reflexivity, discourse, dialogue and dialogism, among others, increases the complexity of communication models tremendously. In other realms or disciplines, models are becoming more complex, and still scholars see the limitations and inadequacy of them. In the realm of economics, Samuelson (2005, p. 39) noted how “our ideas for explaining trends in output, employment and living standards – what we call ‘macroeconomics’ – are in a state of disarray.” He continued: “Economics textbooks once described the U.S. economy as mainly self-contained. Americans sold to each other; Americans’ savings were invested mostly in American investments … Trade was small. Globalization has shattered this model.” He summed up by saying that “Although I could extend this list, the message would remain: change has outpaced comprehension” (p. 39). Or take another domain where modeling is both critical and highly sophisticated: weather forecasting. Despite recent advancements in predicting the weather from

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more sophisticated models, better instruments and the application of supercomputers to the task, still, according to a forecaster from the National Weather Service, “Forecasting is still an inexact science” (Charles McGill as quoted in Brookes 2005, p. 95). Incomplete understanding of the phenomena and inaccurate representation of them in a model both contribute to the problem: “Even the most sophisticated computer models drastically simplify the real atmosphere” (p. 102). Indeed, nearly every area of human experience is apt to be modeled. We apply mental models (Senge 1990) to most aspects of our individual and collective lives. Religion, in general, and particular religions are a type of model, cosmological and ethical though they may be. Humans are meaning-making animals. In fact, some suggest that the human brain may be hard-wired to perceive patterns, even when there are none there (Guthrie 1993). Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie claims this to be a survival instinct, and that it is often coupled with anthropomorphism – seeing a human or human-like hand in occurrences. Guthrie credits this impulse as being behind religious beliefs; that is, the belief that there is a human-like figure behind otherwise unexplainable occurrences and phenomena (many then call this impetus “god”). Crediting previous thinkers “from Bacon to Nietzsche and beyond” (p. 169) with parallel development of these ideas, Guthrie notes how we seem to be in possession of a “perpetual and involuntary search for the most significant patterns. Immersed in this search, we see, as Bacon pointed out, more pattern than exists” (pp. 169–170). Of religion, Albert Einstein wrote: I cannot imagine a god who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, or who has a will of the kind we experience in ourselves. I am satisfied with the mystery of life’s eternity and with the awareness of – and glimpse into – the marvelous construction of the existing world together with a steadfast determination to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature. This is the basis of cosmic religiosity, and it appears to me that the most important function of art and science is to awaken this feeling among the receptive and keep it alive. (Albert Einstein, An Ideal of Service to Our Fellow Man, 1954, cited in the Austin American-Statesman, July 30, 2005, p. E1)

Friedrich Nietzsche (1968, p. 274) noted how “the entire apparatus of knowledge is an apparatus for abstraction and simplification – directed not at knowledge but at taking possession of things.” He further held that “the most strongly believed a priori ‘truths’ are for me – provisional assumptions…” (p. 272, emphasis in original). For both Einstein and Nietzsche, the popularly held models of the time were inadequate or insufficient to explain how each understood the world, the cosmos, and human understanding itself. The inadequacy of models to capture lived experience is highlighted by Georg Simmel’s (1968) observation that: life as such is formless, yet incessantly generates forms for itself. As soon as each form appears, however, it demands a validity which transcends the moment and is emancipated from the pulse of life. For this reason, life is always in a latent opposition to the form. (p. 12)

Other human dispositions, limitations, and/or self-imposed constraints flavor the models one might generate or the models to which one might be attracted. For example, egocentrism and self-interest, along with other human characteristics, influence one’s perception. In a recent article on conflict of interest among physicians who accept money from pharmaceutical firms for research or for consultation – a prevalent practice in that profession, a professor of the Harvard Business

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School, Max H. Bazerman, is quoted as saying, “When honest human beings have a vested stake in seeing the world in a particular way, they’re incapable of objectivity and independence” (Harris and Roberts 2007, p. A 18). Models themselves embody both ontological and epistemological assumptions and have pedagogical implications, generally intended by the authors or designers of the model. (The converse is true, as well; i.e., that pedagogical models have underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions inherent in them.) However, readers and users of a model – this model and others – bring their own assumptions, biases, and understandings to it. In the present case, we run the risk in introducing our model that it might be misread or misinterpreted (that is, read contrary to our intentions and/or understanding). It is, after all, only two-dimensional, and limited by our capacity to conceptualize and communicate our understanding of the phenomena in question. A reader brings his/her conceptualization to the reading of the model’s schematics. For example, a positivist might read causality into the model we do not intend. This cannot be helped, but in noting the likelihood of its happening, we invite the reader to supply the dimensionality and the dynamic to the model that we are so far unable to do. We, ourselves, intend more of a systems or dynamic approach. We hope that our model serves an educative function, permitting those who grapple with it and its implications a certain newfound understanding of the social world. It is our intention that the model we present might serve as a springboard to more complex models and understanding for the reader and perhaps for the field of education as a whole. Still, given these limitations, we will feel that the benefits of even an initial and rudimentary discussion of major social institutional forces warrants this undertaking, but we do ask the reader to keep in mind the dynamic nature of the forces we are attempting to portray and discuss. In fact, we invite our readers to take our initial offering and bend it, shape it, mold it, and otherwise change and extend it to help illuminate the social contexts they encounter.

4.3â•…Social Forces at Play: An Overview Throughout history, there have been at least three macroinstitutional forces at play continuously in dynamic interaction that have shaped human societies (see Fig.€4.1). There are, of course, other forces at play – forces, some of which might be termed “natural,” that have a tremendous impact on human society. For example, large weather patterns such as a tsunami or hurricane are not caused by social institutions, but, as in the case of global warming, may in fact be influenced by them, and in turn influence them. Other such forces might include overpopulation and poverty. Epidemics and pandemics are other forces with, especially today, global impact and are forces that, though they might not be “caused” by the major social institutional forces, are in dynamic interaction with them. Other worldwide forces might be more ideational or psychic in nature. Widespread epistemological or ontological changes might be initiated or spread by one or all of the three major institutional social forces we mention. These ontological, epistemological, or, if you prefer, paradigmatic changes (Kuhn 1962) stand in dynamic relation to the major social forces.

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The major social institutional forces we wish to discuss are those inherent in (a) business and commerce, (b) government and the state, and (c) civil society, including religion and the church(es). Wallerstein (2004), in his discussion of geoculture, described these phenomena as “what liberal ideology had designated as the three separate arenas of modern, civilized social life: the market, the state, and civil society” (p. 75). We, however, do not see these as separate. These social institutions and the forces they set in motion are always everywhere in a dynamic interaction. The relative power or influence of any of these three, what we term the macrosocial forces, is/was dependent on several factors, some of which we will address in the following discussion. As an example of the dynamic interrelation of these forces, we note the World Values Surveys undertaken by Inglehart (2003) over the last 25 years. Inglehart has shown how representative countries’ gross national product (GNP) (Fig.€ 4.2)

Fig.€4.2â•… Selected countries’ Gross National Product (GNP). Based on world values surveys: R. Inglehart (2003, Fall). World values. LS&A Magazine, p. 33. Used by permission

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correlates with either more traditional or less traditional values (Fig.€4.3). Business/ commerce, as represented by GNP, correlates with societal values; roughly, the wealthier a nation, the more likely it is to exhibit more secular or rational values, in Inglehart’s terms. The poorer the country, the more likely it is to exhibit traditional or religious values. Inglehart’s maps (Figs.€4.2 and 4.3) reflect values, wealth, and “the cultural zones that correspond to the world’s major civilizations as shaped by religion, patterns of colonization, and other historical factors such as whether a society experienced communist rule” (pp. 32–33). The integration or overlaying of the economic map on the cultural map reveals how “economic development seems to have a powerful impact on cultural values,” where “economic development seems to move societies in a common direction, regardless of their cultural heritage” (p. 33). Nevertheless, wrote Inglehart, “a society’s cultural heritage also plays

Fig.€ 4.3╅ World values. Based on the world values survey(s): R. Inglehart (2003, Fall). World values. LS&A Magazine, p. 33. Used by permission

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a major role” (p. 33), and cites the effects of communist rule, the Catholic and Protestant churches, and Confucian spirituality on its respective society’s values. Inglehart’s (2003) World Values Surveys and their analyses reveal the USA to be a deviant case – high on both scales; that is, high on the economic and high on the religiosity/traditional values scales. Inglehart concluded that the USA “is not a prototype of cultural modernization for other societies to follow” (p. 34): “On the traditional/secular-rational dimension, the United States ranks far below other rich societies, having levels of religiosity and national pride comparable with those found in developing countries” (p. 34). “Thus”, Inglehart wrote: [I]t is misleading to view world cultural change as “Americanization,” as many proponents and opponents of globalization maintain. … Development and globalization are not making other countries resemble the United States. In fact, America is a major deviant case – a country that is both rich and religious. The impression that the world is becoming homogenized and moving toward a uniform “McWorld” is largely an illusion. … Beliefs and values continue to differ radically, in ways that are not apparent until they are measured by surveys. Precisely because the manifestations of globalization are so evident, its effects tend to be overestimated. (p. 34)

The deep cultural beliefs, values, and in our case, their manifestation through the interactions of the major social forces is what we are attempting to draw out in this project, especially, in line with Inglehart (2003), their often subtle variation across cultures. We wish to stress both the spatial and temporal dimensions of cultural/ societal variation. Often an age, time, or a specific locale at a particular time may be characterized by the predominant influence of one or more of these forces.2

4.3.1â•…Lived Examples There are arenas of human interaction, belief, and/or behavior that fall outside the influence of the three major social institutional forces, at least in their ideal instantiation. However, the three major forces may, in some ways, attempt to colonize even these. Take, for example, human sexual intercourse: In their natural form, sexual relations between individuals are unmediated by business, the state, or religion. However, sex is big business: “sex sells.” Businesses use sex to peddle their products, just as some sexual relations are of a business or an exchange nature (e.g., prostitution). The government, at least in the USA, has historically legislated against certain sexual practices (e.g., “gay marriages,” “sodomy,” and incest and pedophilia). Religion, and its various churches or denominations, attempt to influence the sexual practices of adherents as well. The Roman Catholic Church, for instance, historically disapproved of the use of contraception. Its stance on abortion 2â•› As an example, the current cultural conditions in much of Continental Europe (e.g., Denmark), are such that the second author holds that business/commerce and the government/state are influential, but suggested that civil society be placed in a superordinate position relative to the church/ religion in our model. The implication is that Denmark is a much more secular society than some. This seems to corroborate Inglehart’s (2003) work (Fig.€4.3).

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is well known, and continually stirs up controversy, as it attempts to influence US politics and policies at home and abroad. There are, of course, many ways to approach an examination of the lived world and the forces at play within it. Often, the approach one takes is dependent on the discipline to which he or she ascribes and/or practices; that is, the discipline in which the author, practitioner/scholar has been educated and socialized or that with which the particular individual feels most comfortable. For example, the issues with which we wrestle here might suggest, for some, the question of the interface between the public and private spheres. This begs the question of what constitutes the public and private realms, and how are they constituted? What processes are involved? What are the trends? What are the outcomes or ramifications? Though we have chosen to undertake an examination of what we term “major social institutional forces,” we admit that there are other ways of looking at the world. However, we contend that the approach we take and the propositions we offer are relevant, or may be made so quite easily, to many, if not most, of the orienting questions of various disciplines. Our approach is both an aid and a hindrance, and we freely admit that. We also acknowledge the particularity of what affects the individual, situated in a unique time and place. This model or schema may not be able to account for the universe of particulars. Our hope is that readers will consider it as another way to help think about what we do, as scholars of education and its practitioners. We next discuss the “major” social institutional forces and their interplay, with implications for education.

4.3.2â•…Religion/Church(es) Within the arena of the civil society, and serving here as a proxy or a representative example, we find the social institutional force of religion. Religion(/church[es]), as we are using the term here, connotes the institution chartered to promulgate and enforce religious thought and belief (i.e., the doctrine or dogma) and their enforcement. As evidence of the phenomenon mentioned above – that is, that not all human interactions, beliefs, and behaviors fall within the purview of one or more of the major social forces – we acknowledge that there are spiritual tendencies, beliefs, and practices outside the domain of any established religion or church. Though we do not wish to underestimate these spiritual forces, neither for the individual nor for the society as a whole (Rothberg 1999), we hold that, generally, the more individualistic or particularistic spiritual phenomena wield less power over individuals and society than do organized, institutional religions and churches. Throughout much of the last two millennia, the Roman Catholic Church and several Protestant denominations held sway over, especially, European society and its individuals (Sale 1991). This dominance lasted until the Age of Enlightenment. This epoch saw a rivalry for supremacy between the Church and the state. The state enlisted science as an ally in its rivalry with the Church (that and gunpowder) (Sale 1991). During the so-called “golden age” of exploration, the Dutch, the British, the

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French, the Portuguese, and the Spanish, especially, fielded missionaries, mercenaries, and merchants to new-found territories – these represent the business/commerce, state/government, and religion/church forces in our schema. Churches, too, used gunpowder to further their aims. It is reported that, based on a Papal edict, Spanish conquistadores were entreated to offer the natives they encountered “salvation” through acceptance of the Catholic god. Those who did not convert, according to this edict, were less than human and, therefore, soulless and expendable. Often, they were exterminated (Sale 1991; Vidich and Lyman 2000). More recent social commentary on global trends in religion (Niezen 2004) notes how the major world religions (especially Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) have become less tolerant of others and more insular. They have, according to Niezen, “settled into relatively fixed boundaries between believer and infidel and a renunciation of the idea of an earthly paradise to be formed by uniting an entire humanity of co-religionists” (p. 8). This represents a trend analysis of the major institutional force of religion/church(es) in this day and age. Other trends seem to reflect a movement into educational provision by, first, the community, then the church(es), and/or the market. Religion and religious thought and values penetrate, for example, politics. Prothero (2007, p. 52), for instance, notes how “faith may or may not move mountains, but it is doubtless one of the prime movers in politics, both in the United States and (with the notable exception of Europe) abroad.” Education is part and parcel of religion/church(es). Religions gain adherents through biological reproduction (i.e., births to the adherents) and by conversion. Conversion, in many ways, takes place through education. Religious orders often sponsor schools for youth. These are usually, especially in the USA, not under state control (in other countries, for example, in Ireland, Denmark, and several other Scandinavian countries, schools run by formalized religious groups receive state financial support). In some of the poorest countries across the globe, the state does not provide universal education to its citizens. In such circumstances, often the only educational options available for the population are either private education for the wealthy or religious schooling for the poor (e.g., the madrashas3), though members of the landed classes may opt for religious education as well. In the USA, where there ostensibly exists a separation of church and state, numerous controversies have arisen with regard to, for example, the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools, versus the more religious view of so-called “creationism” or, currently, “intelligent design,” that correspond to a certain biblical interpretation that the Christian god created the heavens and earth, and all living â•›“In a general sense wherever the governments do not provide general education to a common citizen, private religious establishments have taken the lead to fill this gap and run the educational system of the country on their own, although in Ireland, all teachers, regardless of school type are paid on a common basis scale. In this context, a madrasah is referred to as an Islamic school for the Muslims, just as a parochial school for the Catholics or yeshiva for the orthodox Jews. Although these institutions are academically assigned to provide general education among children, they also have the obligation of teaching children about the fundamentals of their religion. In the case of the madrasahs, Islam” (p. 1). Wikipedia (2005), downloaded September 19, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrasa

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creatures in 6 days. A recent survey found that 64% of those Americans polled felt that schools should teach creationism in addition to evolution (New York Times, August 31, 2005), where 38% favored replacing the teaching of evolution with that of creationism. Another current controversy in the USA has to do with the issue of vouchers – distributing educational funds directly to the individual or his/her family to permit him/her to take those funds to the school of their choice. Some opponents of this measure object on the principle that these public funds will be used to support (private) religious schools or schools run by religious organizations/churches. As regards curriculum, at least in the USA, most schools run by religious organizations offer study in the major disciplines – math, science, language arts, etc. The pedagogy employed parallels that in public schools. However, teachers in these schools are generally paid wages that are below those paid to their counterparts in state schools, and the curriculum may be designed and published by a company specializing in religious curriculum. Also, religious schools in the USA are generally exempt from certain state policies, requirements, and stipulations (for example, as regards standardized testing and teacher certification).

4.3.3â•…Business/Commerce We take business/commerce as a major social force, to mean those organized activities intended to accumulate capital, whether through manufacture, sales, or service. As with religion, as discussed above, there are certainly instances of commerce – the exchange of goods, services, and capital – that are not under the aegis of formal, business organizations or institutions (e.g., exchanges on the so-called black market or through an informal barter system). Of the three major social institutional forces discussed here, business/commerce among humans arguably has the longest history. Historically, accumulation of capital, or excess goods and services, led to the development of civilization, as subsistence hunters and gathers developed agriculture. Accumulation of capital permitted the owner to invest the excess. In the hands of the state, this excess could be invested in offering goods and services to those less fortunate (the so-called “welfare state” or social safety net), could be invested in supporting the arts and other intellectual endeavors (e.g., state-sponsored research and scholarship), and, more often than not, was invested in militarization and territorial expansion (as with the Roman Empire).

4.3.4â•…Business/Commerce and Education As with the interrelations between other concepts and social forces, the relation between business and education is complex and dynamic. For example, during the Medieval epoch in Western history and perhaps earlier, businesses, especially those of artisans, developed a system of training workers – the apprentice system. Gardner (1991) held out the apprentice model of learning as a viable alternative for teaching/learning today,

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absent the relational subjugation. The appeal of the apprenticeship model of learning is that it involves the learner nearly totally – intellectually, emotionally, holistically. For example, there is no need for the master to make explicit the relevance of what the pair does. It is understood, and at a deep level. The learner’s motivation is a given. Apprenticeships, however, are time- and labor-intensive. This makes them costly. Other business education models have sprung up, paralleling changes in the wider society. Business skills are taught in secondary and tertiary educational institutions, from rudimentary skills such as mechanical drawing and basic accounting, as examples, to more theoretical and conceptual skills and abilities. Courses in business and business administration are part of the curriculum offerings of many public secondary schools. Colleges of business today enjoy a privileged status in many public and private higher education institutions. Businesses themselves, are, or can often be, trailblazers in piloting or incorporating newer adult and organization development practices.4 Businesses, though vulnerable to bureaucratic stasis in the main, are still unhindered by the policy constraints of public institutions (Belbin 1998). The individual’s role in/for business/commerce is multifaceted: he/she plays a role as a consumer, customer, or client for goods and services. The individual is also a producer and entrepreneur. The individual also plays a role as a distributor, as a salesman/woman and marketer. Finally, the individual may perform a creative function within the business community or organization he/she is part of, such as in the role of inventor or in a research and design capacity. Another example of the intricate interplay between business/commerce and education is found in the area of advertising – a type of public education. Businesses spend great sums of money on advertising, educating consumers with the intention of enticing them to buy the goods or services a company offers. This is the project of this particular type of education, which the frame we offer allows us to examine more closely. The educational goals of advertising range along a continuum from simple information presentation to behavioral modification (action). Purchasing a product is an example of one such action. “Public education” of the sort provided by business differs markedly from that offered by public schools, though there are parallels. Though, in the USA, advertising and advertising’s product claims are loosely monitored by the state, in no way could it be said that even the most forthright company’s claims constitute the so-called “truth in advertising.” The difference (and the comparability with public education, both as to similarities and differences) comes, for example, in what is said and what is left unsaid. Companies employ specialized firms to develop the message they want to introduce into the public discourse. The giant retailer Wal-Mart has bankrolled various public relations campaigns to counter the negative press it has gotten concerning, for example, the hiring of undocumented foreign

It is interesting to note, however, that a relatively small percentage of businesses account for the largest share of professional development expenditures for their employees, and those monies go disproportionately for the training and education of the highest paid, salaried executives, seldom for the wage or line workers.

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workers, the unequal treatment of women in hiring and promotion, and executive malfeasance (Barbaro 2007). Public relations are education for business. These instances, and hundreds more like them, point to the complex relations between a “major” and a “minor” social institutional force (business/commerce and education, in the present instance). In this case, business is using education to, in effect, propagandize, to plant an image or counter an image in the public’s mind. True, education, or, for our discussion, more specifically, schooling, has been used to propagandize (for example, the use of jingoistic texts by nationalistic regimes). But, in the ideal school and its curriculum, there is more concern with educating child citizens to the “truth” of a discipline (truth being a relative term), than propagandizing; though there are those who might argue that any proposition has an ideological or particular ontological underpinning, the truth is relative and, therefore, perspective-determined. In the USA, a large proportion of the economic activity is generated by consumer spending. Evidence of the dynamism and complex interrelations between business and education comes in the form of pressure on the public sector to inculcate the skills business and commerce need and/or desire in workers. Controversy ensues when policymakers and the public consider the question of just whose responsibility it is to educate citizens for future work roles. In the USA at least, this educational responsibility was codified as early as 1918 in the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, developed and publicized by the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, where “vocation” was one of the seven guiding principles, along with health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home membership, civic education, worthy use of leisure, and ethical character. Still, the line of demarcation between business/commerce and public education is often tested and contested. Several public interest groups have sprung up in the USA, especially to monitor and, when they feel necessary, to protest the incursion of Â�business/commercial interests into public schools and classrooms. Examples of such incursions by business into the so-called public education abound: Channel One™ offers schools free televisions if they agree to show the “news” produced by the company, with extensive advertising. The Edison project is a for-profit school management company. Coke™ and Pepsi™ both seek exclusive, million-dollar contracts with high schools to provide beverages and advertising in schools and school stadiums. The influence and power that business/commerce has on education was readily apparent, especially in the USA, with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 (National Commission on Excellence in Education 1983). The rationale for (again) reforming the US public schools was that of (re)gaining a competitive business advantage. A competitive business advantage has been a principal rationale of school reform initiatives ever since, no matter how the USA, in this instance, fares economically (McNeil 2000; Waite et€al. 2001). Schools are singled out for attention and, often, culpability; absent are larger questions concerning society as a whole, or other important issues affecting the polity. Though, as we have written, the interrelations are complex and dynamic, it can still be argued that the influence business has on education far outweighs any reciprocal influence education has on business, especially in policy matters (Waite et€al. 2001). The influence of business on education has been well documented (Callahan 1962; Waite et€ al. 2001).

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Particularly, in primary and secondary schools, the overall global trend is of managerialism, a relatively recent phenomenon captured by the term New Public Management (Dempster et€al. 2001; MacBeath et€al. 1996, 1998; Moos 2000). New public management entails: a reduction in government’s role in public service provision; the imposition of the strongest feasible framework of competition and accountability on public sector activity; explicit standards and measures of performance and clear definition of goals, targets or indicators of success, preferably in quantitative form; a greater emphasis on output controls – a stress on results, not processes; and a reduction in the self-regulating powers of the professions. (Dempster et€al. 2001, p. 2)

For us, the issue is not whether new public management is a reality – for we readily accept that it is; the issue is how pervasive, how deep is its colonization of the world of education, and, what further directions this might take, and its effects. We are convinced that many social functions and their organizations – education and schools, for example, or medicine and hospitals – are beset by what we term “creeping managerialism.” Creeping managerialism reflects the manner in which a managerial mentality has, over time, permeated our social institutions, resulting in domination by the managerial mindset over other possible ideologies or ways of operating (i.e., models of organizational operation). Creeping managerialism privileges decision-making that is based on quantitative data, as though such decisions were value-neutral. (For example, schools in the USA are encouraged to engage in “data-driven decision-making.”) Such a model and those who apply it are under its sway and might not recognize or acknowledge that it is simply one episteme among many. Other models and modes of living/managing social institutions are outside the realm of consciousness, they are “contained” (Popen 2002). Sinclair (1995) reminded us that managerial accountability is one of the five types – along with political accountability, public accountability, professional accountability, and personal accountability. And the second author (Moos 2005) claims that there is a need to add another accountability – ethical accountability, calling our attention to the basic obligation of schooling. So, the fact that managerial accountability is prevalent in education is unremarkable. What is remarkable is the degree to which managerialism has usurped the others. Managerialism, in this sense, has become hegemonic. Such intrusions (i.e., of business or management thinking and practice) penetrate the individual psychic level – both inter- and intrapersonal, where, rather than a culture war, it manifests in what Waite (2006) terms a “guild war.” Additionally, and as Dempster et€al. (2001) acknowledge, educational organizations are increasingly prone to the forces of marketization. Competition among schools is fast becoming the rule. This competition is exacerbated by publication of league tables or school test score data (Canaan 2002; Gillborn and Youdell 2000; Waite et€al. 2001). Provisions of the current Texas (USA) education code and the recently enacted federal legislation, “No Child Left Behind,” permit students from so-called “failing schools” to transfer to another school district, taking their federal funding with them. Schools have begun to compete for these students and the federal dollars that follow them. Education itself has continued a trend toward increased commodification, especially in higher education. Among other things, education has become more of a

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commodity – to be bought, sold, traded, and affected by all other market forces. As an example, the USA is pushing for higher education to be covered by the controversial General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS, treaties (CAUTACPPU 2002). The US goal, according to Douglas Baker, deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of Commerce, is “to create the conditions for international competition in education services with minimal government interference” (p. 3). According to some critics of this proposal, trade in education, of the sort proposed, increases the already strong influence of the private sector (as noted above) and removes such education from public accountability and absolves it of public responsibility. Hybrid combinations of the forces of maketization, new public management, creeping managerialism, and commercialization of education have severe ramifications for education worldwide. Government financial support for colleges and schools is being reduced. Political support for public schools, in the USA at least, is being undermined. Services are evaporating or becoming privatized. Budgetary constraints are forcing many schools to cut programs and services.

4.3.5â•…“Major”/“Minor” Social Forces All the major social institutional forces are in a dynamic interaction with that of the others (see Fig.€4.1). Collectively, all three influence local social affairs. Aside from these three, there are many of what we might term “minor” social institutional forces – those forces that, though influential, emanate from one of the major social forces, even if they may eventually infiltrate the other areas or become powerful forces in their own right. In our typology, these “minor” social institutional forces are subsumed within the major forces, at least in the first instance. Some of the outcomes – products or processes – that originate in the so-called minor forces assume such monumental influence as to have a “pushback effect” on the more macro forces. Examples of what we are terming “minor” social forces are culture and technology, though there are others. Areas that are difficult to include in a discussion of social forces, major and minor, affecting individuals and societies are those that are characterized by potentiality: those areas whose impact is more ephemeral and less tangible. For instance, the domain of ideation is difficult to conceptualize, let€alone include in a discussion such as this. Another aspect of the lifeworld that is relevant to our discussion, perhaps more of a way of analyzing the phenomena that influence us and our world(s), is that of capacities – realized and potential. Almost any of the areas we consider to be social institutional forces can be thought of as domains wherein there are limits and/or potentialities. Take the individual as a unit of analysis, and the individual’s relation to the community or communities of which he/ she is a part (see Fig.€ 4.1). Any individual has certain capacities and potentialities. Whether the capacities and potentialities are realized has to do with the nature of the individual and his/her relation to society or the community. It has to do with the type of community (or communities) the individual is in, and the time or epoch in which he/she lives. Certain physical attributes of individuals, for instance their ontogeny (Dannefer

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and Perlmutter 1990), are relatively fixed at birth; they follow a more or less fixed trajectory from birth to death. These can be thought of as species genotypes. A species’ phenotypes, those amenable to education intragenerationally, are more the focus of this essay. Many of these capacities or attributes of individuals are better characterized by their potentiality. Take the human emotions, for example. Humans have an unlimited potential for love or its opposite, hate. The difference between relatively fixed capacities and potentialities is demonstrated by consideration of the difference between the brain and the mind – one is biological, the other ephemeral. The brain’s capacity is relatively fixed (relatively, because arguably we have yet to realize its full capacity, and it is somewhat malleable), the mind’s nearly infinite. The area of human creativity is another that can be thought of as nearly endless, yet subject to limitations placed on it by time and place – by either societal constraint or liberation. Any of the social forces and the effects that they have on individuals and communities of individuals can be thought of in terms of the limitations they present or the potentialities they might foster. What we are concerned with are the unused capacities, the potentials, and conversely, the limits encountered by humans, as we further explain the major and minor social institutional forces and education, schooling, and educational leadership.

4.4â•…Culture Like the other social forces discussed above, culture is a dynamic force. Though conceptions of culture and its definition have evolved, still, and quite simply, culture can be thought of as that which is learned. (Simply, this is the difference between the genotype and the phenotype, as discussed earlier.) As such, culture and education are linked (Bruner 1997). The literature in the anthropology and education field, particularly, discriminates between education and schooling (Waite 1998). Of the two, schooling is the more formal, institutionalized process; education is more holistic. Though linked, the relation between education and culture is a contested one. Much of this dissensus stems from differing understandings of culture and from different epistemological stances. For example, those who believe in determinism (or even structural functionalism) suggest that culture determines what people learn, and how. The “reproductionists” (e.g., Bourdieu and Passerson 1977) suggest that education contributes to the reproduction of a society’s inequalities.5 Recently, a more dynamic, complex, and interactive view of the interrelation between the individual and culture has emerged (Varenne and McDermott 1999; Waite 1998), wherein the individual and the culture are mutually influential. This is captured in the literature of, say, sociology as the interplay between agency and structure (Fine 1992). Besides the different views of both the nature of culture (and of education) and those having to do with the interrelation of the two, we must â•›In deference to the authors cited, we present the weaker version of their argument. The stronger version would insist that education causes a society’s inequalities.

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acknowledge that there are within any of the major discursive fields mentioned (i.e., the “major” and the “minor” social institutional forces) multiple discourses or ideologies at play at any given time. That is, there is generally a historically dominant discourse (or culture, or business/commerce practice or ideology, etc.), while, and at the same time, there are numerous counterdiscourses or “minority” discourses at play within the same discursive field. We in no way are proposing an essentialist or reductionist view of any of the phenomena under discussion.

4.4.1â•… Technology Technology, as we understand the term, is simply the externalization through technical means of human abilities and creativity. Adherents and scholars with different epistemological stances view technology differently – either as, for example, instrumental and value-neutral or as having profound subjective and value-laden origins and effects (Diamond 1999; Feenberg 1999). Though we’ve listed technology as an example of a “minor” social force, there are those who have suggested that it is one of the major driving forces in civilization (Feenberg 1999). We have no doubt that even a relatively simple technology, as an example, can have profound effects on worldwide trends and infiltrate many other areas of social life. For example, a recent study has proposed that the historical development of such a simple device as the sewing needle had dramatic and far-reaching consequences (O’Brien 2004). In this case, the sewing needle permitted early people to make clothes that were form-fitting – an improvement over the previous practice of simply wrapping furs or animal skins around the body, even if held in place with some fastener like a belt or sash. Formfitting clothes, according to this theory, yielded warmer clothing, which in turn, allowed earlier peoples to hazard colder climates. This simple technology contributed to the migration of peoples across the Bering Strait and into the Western Hemisphere (i.e., the Americas). This relatively simple technology had profound effects. There are schools of thought that hold that technological innovation occurs in a rational and instrumental fashion (Feenberg 1999). A simple way of stating this is that innovators decide in a rational way what is needed and set out to design or invent such a technology. An opposing school of thought contends that technologies are developed, perhaps initially through or within (nonrational) cultural processes, but that culture has less of an impact (and is less instrumental) in the development of a technology than the other way around; that is, the advent of a new technology precedes its adoption and impact. New technologies are developed all the time. Some are discarded or ignored and some are adopted. Only then, in a nonrational way, do those adopted technologies impact the culture more widely. Examples of these processes are ready-to-hand and include such technologies as the internet and smart phones. The early stages of adoption of those technologies that eventually have a profound influence on society/culture and human interaction and association is uneventful, often unplanned. Though many technological innovations are developed, relatively few are

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picked up by the public. The mistake we make as a member of the general public is the same mistake that affects some scholarship concerning technological development and adoption. It is the same error that, historically, contributed to faulty reasoning in the biological and social sciences; that is, a misconception and misapplication of evolutionary principles. Throughout most of his professional career, the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould (ca. 1941–2002) campaigned against pseudo-science and the misapplications of, especially, Darwinian evolutionary theory (e.g., Gould 1996). Specifically, he targeted social evolutionary theory and creationism (Wikipedia 2005). For our purposes here, Gould’s argument applies like this: The fact that certain technologies (or cultural forms or even human characteristics) predominate is not a sign of divine intervention, moral (or other) superiority, or even destiny, but rather the outcome of a random, some might say haphazard, process of selection. The predominance, the “survival,” of certain forms has not been pre-ordained and is not purposeful and rational. We commit an error in reasoning when, looking back on the paths taken to arrive at the present state, we deduce that this present was somehow meant to be (i.e., the will of God, evidence of moral or other superiority). In a strict Darwinian sense, all the present is evidence of the selection of a form due to its adaptability (survival advantage), given past and present conditions. The conditions, as the premise of our present thesis attempts to point out, are not given, as in the sense of some objective “reality,” but are constructions, and often nonrational, sometimes unconscious. Take technology, as in the present example. There are numerous examples of social or market selection based on unconscious social processes, such as the choice between the VHS and Beta formats for videotape recording and playback, or the difference between eight-track and cassette audio recording. Some of the factors that favored one form over another include timing, marketing (i.e., persuasion [see above]), funding, and even luck. To further highlight some of the social forces at play, we return to a discussion of the technology of cell phones and their use. As this technological application has gained popularity, its use has upset social forms and mores. Cell phone use, as an example, has opened up what anthropologist Victor Turner (1967) termed a liminal space – a transition space between the “here-and-there,” the “this-and-that,” caught between two roles or cultural ways of being. What are the norms for cell phone use? During liminal transition, we experiment with norms, we make them up as we go. Some complain about cell phone use in theaters during live performances. The first author has witnessed cell phone use in men’s public lavatories (which, for men, means both hands are in use). Libraries have signs asking patrons to silence cell phones and put off making and accepting calls while in the library. This phenomenon of the intrusion of cell phone communication has spawned its own vocabulary. There are what are known as “Blackberry prayers,” where Blackberry™ users (Blackberry is a form of phone that includes email communication by WiFi) bow over their cell phones or PDAs (personal data assistants) while in a meeting, seemingly in prayer. In liminal space, norms of use are fluid and not well established, and transgressions are common. An Israeli company has developed a cell phone signal jammer – a device that cancels out or jams microwave transmissions to all cell phones within a certain,

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relatively small radius. These devices have been purchased and employed in several of the larger churches in Mexico; however, their use is illegal in the USA. The USA is a more “business-friendly” country, under its rules, laws, and regulations. In fact, the former chairman of the US Federal Communication Commission, Michael Powell, son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, created quite a stir by suggesting that his agency would encourage the commercial airlines to modify and eliminate the technical hurdles that prohibit cell phone use while in flight. Though adoption of certain innovations/changes is often haphazard, some cultures (the decision-making authorities of a society or group) attempt to control their group’s adoption and use of, for instance, technology. There is no body with such authority for the USA as a whole; it relies more on market forces to regulate, especially certain business/commerce/market technologies or forces. However, even within the USA, certain groups, such as the Mennonites, attempt to screen some social forces, such as technology, according to criteria established by church elders (Waite and Crockett 1997). These elders determine which technologies will be permitted for use by church members and how. For example, one group permitted computer use, but only for its business record keeping function (Waite and Crockett 1997). Again, from the US experience as an example of the interplay of the forces we examine, while the US government/state has recently moved to have a lighter hand in regulating the market, it has, paradoxically, introduced or encouraged development of certain technologies that are of questionable societal good and which fall within an ethical gray zone. For instance, nanotechnology has not been cleared, in its critics’ minds, as being environmentally safe. There are questions of the effect nanoparticles, nanomachines, and nanocompounds will have on the environment. The politics and policies regarding other environmentally sensitive substances reveal the US government’s methods and its current relation with business/commerce. Recently, it was revealed by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Inspector General that the staff of the Environmental Protection Agency “ignored scientific evidence and routine protocols when they set new limits for mercury pollution” (National Public Radio 2005, p. 1). Further, the news program related that “critics say the agency bowed to pressure from industry and the White House.” The results of a lower standard for mercury contaminants could be substantial for industry, especially those that burn coal to power their generators. Or, as another example of questionable ethics in state/business relations, take the US Army’s development of a weaponized robot, the SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems) (Ulin 2005). These remotecontrolled “3-foot-tall robotic ‘soldiers,’ outfitted with tank tracks, night vision and mounted automatic weapons capable of firing more than 300 rounds at a burst” (p. A11), are capable of hitting “a nickel-sized target at 328 yards. In one test, a SWORDS scored 70 out of 70 bull’s-eyes.” The concern for ethicists and others is that the further sanitization of war will dehumanize the Other, and, perhaps ourselves: “What does it say about us that this is how we use our creativity – to invent robots that offer more efficient ways to kill?” (p. A11). Yet, these killing machines were slated to be deployed in Iraq. If technology leads culture, where is it taking us? What is the relation among technology, culture, and education?

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4.4.2â•…Technology, Culture, and Education: One Aspect A snapshot of the culture of schooling, especially in the USA and certain other “Western” countries, reveals the/an effect or influence of technology. The curricula in the USA are particularly discipline-based (Tanner and Tanner 1995). Knowledge is organized in a silo or stovepipe manner (i.e., vertically). The knowledge reflected in the explicit curriculum is also organized hierarchically, with the discreet “facts” and smallest bits of disciplinary knowledge at the lower end, and the more abstract theoretical knowledge at the higher ends. In school knowledge (i.e., that privileged and explicitly taught), the disciplines are separated from one another. Other forms of curricula are relegated to an “Other” category and are part of minority discourses. Alternative forms of curricular organization – such as integrated curriculum, project-based curriculum, or student-centered curriculum – are sometimes part of the curricular discourse, but are not the prevalent form of curricular organization practiced in US schools, and in those of many other “Western” countries. In our schema, curriculum organization is a type of technology. Another form of technology that is heavily influential in schools today is that of testing, though testing is, in reality, a complex formulation of multiple technologies. For example, computerization makes large-scale testing possible. Business interests are evident in high-stakes testing as well. Sloan (2003) suggested that, in the USA, multinational textbook companies are engaged in both the development and marketing of high-stakes tests and the textbooks and curriculum to “fix” any problems uncovered by testing, something that could be perceived as, if not a conflict of interest, potentially self-serving. Whether the technology led the culture as concerns wide-scale testing, we cannot be sure in this case. What we can be sure of is that the current culture in and around schools places heavy emphasis on standards, testing, and “accountability.” By coincidence, today’s newspaper carried an editorial (Young 2005) by a syndicated columnist from Waco, Texas (USA), titled “Testing Instead of Learning.” Young cites a letter he received from a secondary mathematics teacher, which supports the assertions we have made above. The letter writer noted how high school students who failed exit-level math exams are pulled from the so-called extracurricular or “special area” classes (e.g., art, physical education, music) to “practice” for the upcoming TAKS exam; in addition: “They are to be excused from all work in their classes during this time” (p. A 9). Young went on to write that this teacher’s: concerns are really a critique of one-size-fits all education, of standardization. This math teacher’s words are an advisory that the whole of education is being lost to “accountability” for some children who really need to be inspired in any way by a broad-based exposure to the world of ideas, concepts, and life skills and potential careers, while learning reading and math. (p. A 9)

The editorial cites Angela Valenzuela and her contention that “the testing system doubles as both an assessment and monitoring system – monitoring the behavior of the adults.” Further, Valenzuela is quoted as saying, “the [accountability] rhetoric gives the impression that all children are finally being taught. The reality is that this

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often translates into dumbed-down, routinized, test-driven, ratings-focused pedagogy” (p. A 9). This aspect of modern culture results in what we call disciplinarity – a term we employ to capture both the discipline-based organization of knowledge and the surveillance and sanctioning of teachers’ and students’ adherence to and performance in the transmittal of and acquisition of competence in these narrowly defined knowledge domains. Disciplinarity reflects the Foucaultian (Foucault 1995) sense of discipline and punishment (Hargreaves 2004). Another way to view this phenomenon is through the lens provided by the sociologist Erving Goffman (1959), that of impression management (Waite and Allen 2003). In this perspective, school administrators and policymakers give the impression that children are learning, that schools are educating students. But absent in the dominant public discourse is the psychic cost paid by both the children and their teachers.

4.5â•…Application of the Schema One of the outcomes we intend for this project is that the schema we present may be picked up and used by practitioners and policymakers. We have attempted to make a more interactionist ontology accessible and available for anyone involved in planning educational programs, anyone situated anywhere within the domain of education. We have sought not to provide too much detail, or specify the exact amount of influence or “force” of any of the social institutional forces that may have an impact on a particular local scene, individual, or educational organization. This is a conscious move on our part, intended to permit the user to take the framework we provide and fill in the particulars for his/her situation. No doubt, there are forces we have neglected to consider that are highly relevant to one particular local situation or another. We claim only that this is a broad framework, open to interpretation and inflection and questioning, but it is a start. Though our framework incorporates an interactionist ontology, we have also consciously avoided imbuing it with any particular theoretical perspective (e.g., a feminist poststructural lens, or postmodern philosophical perspective) in order to permit the user to bring his or her own theoretical propositions to bear on the forces at play as a means of illuminating the contexts within which he/she operates from his or her orienting philosophy. We have attempted to make the framework nonprescriptive. We provide the “map”; the user supplies the details and performs the calculus to arrive at some insights that are applicable to his/her situation (or that of collectives) and that do not run counter to his/her core beliefs. Of course, it might be that application of the framework we present may serve as a springboard to consideration and discussion of those deeply held, core beliefs, as the beliefs held are an important aspect of any local scene or school culture. As it is, one can enter the model or schema from any point. For instance, someone can begin at the macro level and begin assigning or naming those macro forces that influence their lived social world and proceed to the local or micro level. Or, someone might choose to begin with an examination of the local forces at play and

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build “upward” toward the macro. In this sense, the framework we provide would assist those involved in constructing a strategic plan for their organization (the collective, organizational application). This framework is especially suited to the environmental scanning portion of a strategic plan. Or, an individual may work to theorize and illuminate the forces that impact him or her as an individual. Consideration of the interplay between the individual and the collective is important in this instance (Fig.€ 4.1), but the other forces and trends within them are equally worthy of consideration.

4.6â•…Conclusion The schema or framework for framing education for the future presented here is nonprescriptive also in the sense that we cannot tell the user what to do with the information, how to respond. Choices of modes of action or response are situationally dependent to such a degree that they must include consideration not only of the social forces, major and minor, that are in play, but also of the resources available, the beliefs and culture of the arena of action, and the strategies and tactics thought to be effective. It is nearly impossible to articulate these from afar, and transcendentally, for all time, and in all places. Therefore, we leave the details to those who are embedded within the local scenes. Also, though we have sketched what we believe to be the major and minor social institutional forces, we admit the possibility (the likelihood) that we have omitted consideration of some relevant forces (e.g., it may be that spiritual or ideational forces are important and not explicitly included in our schema) for certain local situations. We intend for our schema to be open enough, and merely suggestive of some possibilities, that it can readily be adapted or altered. We do not intend for this schema to be authoritative or conclusive. Rather, we see it as evolving and open. We see it as a starting point for illumination of those forces that constitute the structures, however dynamic, within which and through which human actors practice their individual agency. We intend for the schema to be more organic than mechanistic, and malleable rather than fixed.

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Bruner, J. (1997). The culture of education (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Callahan, R. A. (1962). Education and the cult of efficiency. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Canaan, J. E. (2002). Theorizing pedagogic practices in the contexts of marketization and of September 11, 2001, and its aftermath. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 33(3), 368–382. CAUT-ACPPU (2002). United States pushes to open world markets for education services. On line bulletin. Retrieved March 25, 2003, from http://www.caut.ca/english/bulletin/2002_june/ news/united.asp Dannefer, D., & Perlmutter, M. (1990). Development as a multidimensional process: Individual and social constituents. Human Development, 33, 108–137. Dempster, N., Freakley, M., & Parry, L. (2001). The ethical climate of public schooling under new public management. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 4(1), 1–12. Diamond, J. (1999). Guns, germs, and steel: the fates of human societies. New York: W. W. Norton. Feenberg, A. (1999). Questioning technology. London: Routledge. Fine, G. A. (1992). Agency, structure, and comparative contexts: toward a synthetic interactionism. Symbolic Interaction, 15, 87–107. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline & punish: the birth of the prison (2nd edn., A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Random House. Gardner, H. (1991). The unschooled mind: how children think and how schools should teach. New York: Basic Books. Gillborn, D., & Youdell, D. (2000). Rationing education: policy, practice, reform and equity. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday. Gould, S. J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. New York: W.W. Norton. Guthrie, S. (1993). Faces in the clouds: a new theory of religion. New York: Oxford University Press. Hargreaves, A. (2004). Distinction and disgust: the emotional politics of school failure. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 7(1), 27–41. Harris, G., & Roberts, J. (2007). A state’s files put doctors’ ties to drug makers on close view. New York Times, March 21, A1 & A18. Inglehart, R. (2003). World values. LSA Magazine, Fall, 32–34. Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. MacBeath, J., Moos, L., & Riley, K. (1996). Leadership in a changing world. In K. Leithwood et€al. (Eds.), International handbook of educational leadership and administration (pp. 223– 250). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer. MacBeath, J., Moos, L., & Riley, K. (1998). Time for a change. In J. MacBeath (Ed.), Effective school leadership: responding to change (pp. 20–31). London: Chapman & Hall. McNeil, L. M. (2000). Contradictions of school reform: the educational costs of standardized testing. New York: Routledge. Moos, L. (2000). Global and national perspectives on leadership. In K. A. Riley & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Leadership for change and school reform (pp. 84–104). London: Routledge/Falmer. Moos, L. (2005). How do schools bridge the gap between external demands for accountability and the need for internal trust? Journal of Educational Change, 6(4), 307–328. National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A nation at risk: the imperative for educational reform. Washington, DC: United States Department of Education. National Public Radio (2005). EPA approach on mercury pollution limits criticized. Retrieved February 6, 2005, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/ story.php?storyId=4486884 Nietzsche, F. (1968). The will to power (W. Kaufmann, Ed., W. Kaufmann & R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books. Niezen, R. (2004). A world beyond difference: cultural identity in the age of globalization. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

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O’Brien, D. (2004). One small stitch for man, one warm winter coat for prehistoric America. Austin American-Statesman, November 27, A26. Popen, S. (2002). Democratic pedagogy and the discourse of containment. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 33(3), 383–394. Prothero, S. (2007). True or false: the major religions are essentially alike. Newsweek, July 9, 52. Rothberg, D. (1999). Transpersonal issues at the millennium. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 31(1), 41–67. Sale, K. (1991). The conquest of paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian legacy. New York: Plume. Samuelson, R. J. (2005). Time to toss the textbook. Newsweek, June 27, 39. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: the art and science of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday. Simmel, G. (1968). The conflict in modern life and other essays (K. P. Etzkorn, Trans.). New York: Teachers College Press. Sinclair, A. (1995). The chameleon of accountability: forms and discourses. Accounting, Organization and Society, 20(2/3), 219–237. Sloan, K. (2003, November). Improving accountability systems: making a case for multiple criteria. Lecture given to the Phi Delta Kappa Texas State University – San Marcos Chapter, San Marcos, TX. Tanner, D., & Tanner, L. (1995). Curriculum development: theory into practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill. The New York Times (2005). Teaching of creationism endorsed in survey. August 31, 2005, retrieved September 19, 2005, from http://www.statesman.com/search/content/auto/epaper/ today/news_345195a87062fi17800c4.html Turner, V. (1967). The forest of symbols: aspects of Ndembu ritual. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Ulin, D. L. (2005). Disturbingly, robots are about to kill us. Austin American-Statesman, February 3, A 11. Varenne, H., & McDermott, R. (1999). Successful failure: the school America builds. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Vidich, A. J., & Lyman, S. M. (2000). Qualitative methods: their history in sociology and anthropology. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The handbook of methods in qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 37–84). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Waite, D. (1998). Anthropology, sociology and supervision. In G. R. Firth & E. Pajak (Eds.), Handbook of research in school supervision (pp. 287–309). New York: MacMillan. Waite, D. (2002). “The paradigm wars” in educational administration: an attempt at transcendence. International Studies in Educational Administration, 30(1), 66–81. Waite, D. (2006). Whither supervision? Revista Electrónica de Investigación Educativa, 8(2). Retrieved May 30, 2007, from http://redie.uabc.mx/vol8no2/contents-waite.html Waite, D., & Allen, D. (2003). Corruption and abuse of power in educational administration. The Urban Review, 35, 281–296. Waite, D., Boone, M., & McGhee, M. (2001). A critical sociocultural view of accountability. Journal of School Leadership, 11, 182–203. Waite, D., & Crockett, D. (1997). Whose education? Reform, culture and an Amish Mennonite community. Theory into Practice, 36(2), 117–122. Wallerstein, I. (2004). World-systems analysis: an introduction. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Wikipedia. (2005). Stephen Jay Gould. Retrieved January 30, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Stephen_Jay_Gould#As_known_ to_the_general_public Young, J. (2005). Testing instead of learning. Austin American-Statesman, February 8, A 9.

Chapter 5

Values, Roles, Visions, and Professional Development in the Twenty-first Century: Australian and Japanese Principals Voice Their Views David T. Gamage and Takeyuki Ueyama

5.1â•…Professional Development in the Twenty-first Century Each school and school system is different, but currently, the common theme around the globe is reforming the schools and systems. Educational policymakers and school leaders are eager to propose and implement various types of reforms to realize their visions for ideal schools in the twenty-first century. After passing through the stages of effective schools movement (Edmonds 1979; Smith and Purkey 1983) and schools improvement, most school systems are embracing different models of school-based management (SBM) for providing more autonomy and flexibility with empowerment of the stakeholders at school level for policy formulation. With the increased community and governmental interest in better student outcomes, the school leaders are required to be effective instructional leaders, communicators of clear visions, facilitators of monitoring of student progress, developers of positive school cultures, safe and orderly environments, and champions of high expectations, and providers of equal opportunities to learn. Structural reforms with SBM have removed the rigid bureaucratic structure that supported the fact that the school principal’s role as the systemic agent who was responsible for the total management of the school has undergone a drastic change. When the SBM is implemented with political devolution, the authority is legally transferred to the school council or board or school governors comprising relevant stakeholders and not to the principal. The principal becomes one amongst many members of the governing body and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the school, responsible and accountable not only to the systemic authorities but also to the D.T. Gamageâ•›() Faculty of Education & Arts, The University of Newcastle Callaghan, Australia 2308 e-mail: [email protected] T. Ueyama Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti of Brunei Darussalam, Gdong, BE 1410, Brunei Darussalam e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_5, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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school community through the governing body. In this context, the principal becomes the advisor and guide to the governing body on educational matters and on systemic guidelines within which the governing body needs to operate. These new roles and challenges require him or her to develop new skills and competencies, which are significantly different. Gamage (1993, 1996, 2001, 2009) has pointed out how the community participation in school governance has resulted in a new school culture of democratic decision-making guided by the school leadership. In addition, principals’ political values, basic human values, and moral values all affect their school-based decisions while impacting on their approaches on conflict resolution (Campbell-Evans 1991; Gamage and Pang 2003). In many ways, principals’ behaviors are guided by spirituality and deeply grounded personal and professional beliefs. However, very few studies, if any, have examined school principals’ basic beliefs and values regarding the purposes of education and goals of schooling and their perceptions on the directions that the schools should take. In 1990, Willis and Bartell studied outstanding secondary principals in the USA and Japan by examining their career paths, career goals, roles, responsibilities, attitudes relating to educational leadership, and other roles in developing an effective school. More recently, Daresh and Male (2000) investigated the perceptions of English head teachers and US principals about crossing the “border” into school leadership. Using interview data, they explored administrators’ preparation for their new roles and levels of professional support received during induction. The comparative study of school principals in Australia and Japan reported in this paper is also likely to help fill this void and inform the public and policymakers of the unique perspectives of their views on basic values, visions for their schools, their roles, and visions for the twenty-first century along with their perspectives on professional development in facing the new challenges. This study could also be a significant voice to the emerging debates on comparative studies of school principals across national borders.

5.2╅Methods and Procedures This project was a result of collaborative work by the two authors from Australia and Japan. The research instrument employed was a modified version of the survey of school principals, first conceptualized and designed by researchers at International Professional Development Academy (IPDA) in the USA (Su et€al. 2000). For the empirical survey, the Australian sample comprised 145 principals and deputy principals from 130 schools in the Hunter Region in New South Wales (NSW) in Australia. The Japanese sample comprised 260 principals and vice-principals from 130 schools from Sizuwoka Prefecture in Japan. The Australian survey had a response rate of 71%, whereas the Japanese survey had 45% responses. Within the Australian group, around two thirds (71%) of the principals were from the primary (K-6) schools and one third (29%) were from the secondary schools. In the Japanese sample, 50.4% were elementary school principals while 49.6% were either middle or high school principals. In our discussions, analyses, and interpretations,

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consideration is given to the significant differences in historical, political, and social backgrounds of the two countries.

5.3â•…Basic Beliefs Regarding Purposes of Education and Goals of Schooling In this study, we asked the Australian and Japanese school principals to respond to a series of questions regarding their basic educational beliefs and values, as these would constitute the foundation for developing their specific views and perspectives for education and schooling. The participants were presented with the following four major schools of thought: 1. The Conservative View: schools should produce educated young people who are ready to take their place in society to help maintain order and stability in the social, political, and economic fabric of society. 2. The Progressive View or the Child-Centered View: schools should concentrate on children and youth as individuals, helping them develop their interests and abilities to their full potential. 3. The Liberal View: schools should educate young people to be aware of human conditions, social purposes, and societal concerns, and to think creatively and constructively and be willing and able to participate in improving society for the better. 4. The Critical View: schools should educate young people to challenge unjust societal conditions and practices and join with others in reconstructing and transforming the existing social order into a more just and equitable society. In our survey of Australian and Japanese school principals, we asked the participants to rate the importance of these education purposes and goals of schooling on a fivepoint rating scale ranging from “not at all important” to “extremely important.” In addition, we asked them to choose one school of thought that they believed to be the most representative of what schools should be for. As data presented in Table€5.1 indicate, the Australian principals assigned the highest degree of importance to the “progressive view” with a mean value of 4.5, and second, and third places to “liberal view,” and “conservative view.” The Japanese principals too assigned the highest degree of importance to the “progressive view” and equal second place to the “conservative view,” and “liberal view.” Thus, both groups relegated “critical view” to the last position. These findings suggest many similarities in the opinions of Australian and Japanese principals in spite of the significant cultural differences. Table€5.1â•… Principals’ views on the purpose of education Purpose of education Australian principals N = 103 Conservative view 4.0 Progressive view 4.5 Liberal view 4.4 Critical view 3.8

Japanese principals N = 118 4.1 4.4 4.1 3.2

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In choosing the most representative school of thought, 63.5% Australians and 56.5% of the Japanese principals selected “progressive view,” suggesting that the Australian principals were more progressive than their Japanese counterparts. On the other hand, only 11% of the Japanese selected the “critical view,” as against 17% of the Australians – if and when the school principals hold more conservative opinions that can not only slow down but also prevent the introduction of progressive reforms. However, with appropriate professional development programs, the fears arising from such conservative views can be overcome and reinforce more positive feelings on changes to come. The Australian principals seem to be less conservative than their Japanese counterparts, probably because of the more democratic models of school governance implemented within most Australian school systems since the mid-1970s. As these models required them to work in partnership with teachers, parents, students, and local communities, they have moved toward more progressive views (Gamage 1990, 1992, 1996). It was only in 2000 that Japan introduced a democratic model of school management with school councils in an advisory capacity to the school principals. By August 2002, 95% of prefectural boards and 50% of local boards of education were able to establish the new system at their schools (Tatsuno 2003). With regard to schooling goals, the average rating scores presented in Table€5.2 show that both the Australian and Japanese principals rated “basic skills education” as the most important. It is also important to note that the Australian principals chose “intellectual development,” and “critical and independent thinking” to equal second place, whereas the Japanese placed “moral and ethical character,” and “interpersonal understanding/human relations” to equal second place. Australians rated “interpersonal understanding/human relations” as the fourth in sequential order, “Emotional and physical well-being” to the fifth, “Self-realization” to sixth, and “Moral and ethical character” as the seventh most important goals of schooling. The Japanese rated “intellectual development” and “Self-realization” to equal third place, followed by “Citizenship education,” “Multicultural and global understanding,” “Emotional Table€5.2â•… Comparison of the importance of schooling goals Goals based on the perceptions of the school leaders Basic skills education Intellectual development Career and vocational education Moral and ethical character Citizenship education Interpersonal understanding/Human relations Multicultural and global understanding Emotional and physical well-being Creativity and aesthetic expression Self-realization Critical and independent thinking Ability to perform entrusted tasks and entrepreneurship

Mean scores of Australians 4.7 4.6 3.6 4.2 4.0 4.5 3.8 4.4 4.0 4.3 4.6 3.3

Mean scores of Japanese 4.6 4.3 3.6 4.4 4.0 4.4 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.3 3.9 3.8

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and physical well-being,” and “Creativity and aesthetic expression” to equal fourth (or to sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth places). Australians rated “Citizenship education” and “Creativity and aesthetic expression” to eighth and ninth places. The Australians rated the “Ability to perform entrusted tasks and entrepreneurship” as the least important, whereas the Japanese principals rated “Career and vocational education” as the least important. Thus, it is clear that in spite of significant cultural differences, there were more similarities in their thinking on schooling goals than differences emphasizing more on academic and intellectual performances. The key national goals in Australia expect the school graduates to have the capacity for, and skills in, analysis and problem-solving and ability to communicate ideas and information, to plan and organize activities, and to collaborate with others. They are expected to attain high standards of knowledge, skills, and understanding through comprehensive and balanced studies encompassing the eight key learning areas agreed to by the Australian Education Council (AEC) (http://www. curriculum.edu.au/mceetya/nationalgoals/natgoals.htm on 02.04.03). At the same time, the Australian principals considered developing “moral and ethical character” as a less important schooling goal, by relegating it to the seventh place whereas in consideration of the current problems confronted by the school children, Japanese principals have rated it as the second most important. Lack of or inadequate emphasis on this aspect in Australian schools can be attributed to the existence of some degree of violence, drugs, teenager pregnancies, and discipline problems. However, a strong moral and ethical character education program could help minimize the rate and severity of these problems. The 1999 Annual Meeting of the Ministerial Council for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affaires (MCEETYA) held in Adelaide, among other things, stressed that the school graduates should have the capacity to exercise judgment and responsibility in matters of morality, ethics, and social justice. The national goals of schooling expect the youths to participate in programs of vocational education and training (VET) during the compulsory years and have provided access to VET programs as part of their senior secondary studies. Thus, in view of the fact that the Australian TAFE systems are providing VET programs, the school leaders have de-emphasized it in the context of schools by relegating it to the 11th place. Both the Australian and Japanese principals rated “multicultural and global understanding” as less important, perhaps because both groups came from areas where population was more homogeneous. In view of the fact that Japanese society is a more homogeneous one, need for multicultural studies was not considered that important despite the fact that the educational reforms have emphasized global understanding since the 1980s. Japan being the second biggest economy in the world and a key player in global matters, global understanding was considered very important. However, as Australia is considered a multicultural society, the students are expected to understand and acknowledge the value of cultural and linguistic diversity, and possess the knowledge, understanding, and the skills to contribute to, and benefit from, such diversity (http://www.curriculum.edu.au/mceetya/nationalgoals/natgoals.htm 02.04.2003). This level of emphasis on nondiscriminatory behavior has been enforced by legislative enactments.

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5.4â•…Principals’ Evaluations of Their Responsibilities When the principals were asked to rate the importance of a list of responsibilities, the Australians rated “provide leadership to all teachers and staff,” “interpersonal sensitivity,” and “motivating others,” as the first, second, and the third most important responsibilities. The Japanese principals rated “understanding educational goals and their philosophical foundations” as No. 1, and Australian Nos. 1 and 3 and “Analyze and clarify all issues and problems” with identical rating of 4.4 to equal second place. But Australian principals rated No. 2, “interpersonal sensitivity” to the sixth position. In the case of “motivating others,” there is a high degree of agreement. The Japanese considered “supervision of teaching and learning” as more important than the Australians. This level of lower rating by Australians is consistent with replacing the inspectorial system and its bureaucratic model with collegial models (Gamage 1990, 1996, 2009) (Table€5.3). But, when it came to the “effective distribution of workloads,” the Japanese gave it a much lower rating than the Australians, showing a higher level of commitment to work hard. There has been a high degree of agreement on “analyze and clarify all issues and problems” as the Japanese rated it as No. 3 and the Australians No. 4. Similarly, there has been 100% agreement on “effectively carrying out of tasks” as both groups have rated it with a mean score of 4.3 and placing it as the fifth most important responsibility. Again, both groups have considered “oral and nonverbal

Table€5.3â•… Comparisons of ratings on Principals’ responsibilities Principals’ responsibilities listed for rating Provide leadership to all teachers and staff Gather all useful information Analyze and clarify all issues and problems Good judgments on all job assignments Effectively carry out tasks Effectively distribute workloads Supervise teaching and learning Determine curriculum conforming to systemic guidelines Student guidance and development Supervise teachers and organize in-service training Measurement and evaluation of students and teachers Allocation of resources Motivating others Interpersonal sensitivity Oral and nonverbal expressions Written expression Understanding Ed. Goals and their philosophical foundations Legal and regulatory applications Policy and political influences on schools Public relations, especially with community and news media

Mean scores of Australians 4.8 3.5 4.3 4.0 4.3 4.2 3.8 3.6 4.1 3.8 3.9 3.9 4.5 4.7 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.0 3.8 4.1

Mean scores of Japanese 4.4 3.8 4.4 4.0 4.3 3.8 4.0 3.7 3.5 3.9 3.7 3.6 4.4 4.2 4.1 3.8 4.5 3.9 3.9 3.9

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expressions” as of high importance, with Japanese placing it in No. 7 and Australians in No. 8 positions. When it came to “determining curriculum conforming to systemic guidelines,” both parties have given lower ratings at 3.7 by the Japanese and 3.6 by the Australians, perhaps as something on which they have no control. It is interesting to note that the Australians have rated “gather all useful information,” whereas the Japanese rated “student guidance and development” as the least important responsibilities. Thus, with regard to responsibilities, there is a significant degree of agreement as well as a considerable degree of differences in respect of some of the responsibilities.

5.5â•…Views on Reforms and the Role of Principal in Reform In our surveys, we asked the school leaders to identify the critical issues of school reforms in their respective countries at the time of the survey. The Australian principals considered declining funding for public education and public versus private school funding as the most important critical issues, as the then Liberal and National Party Coalition Government was channeling billions of dollars to private sector schools at a time public schools were not adequately funded. Some of the other issues nominated by the Australians were teacher morale, integration of information technology into teaching and learning, middle and collegiate schools, integration of special needs children with the mainstream, class sizes, and student welfare. Currently, there is a skewed emphasis on academic achievements as indicated by test scores, at every school in NSW in comparison with the national averages as well as all students achieving appropriate levels of literacy and numeracy. With the implementation of a policy of dezoning and stiff competition from private schools, the emphasis on value added has gained currency in attracting students to the schools for their own survival (Gamage 1992, 1993, 2009). The competition from the private sector is such that a Newcastle private school opened in 1998 with 64 students has grown to be a middle school with around 1,000 students by 2006. As a response to the threats from private schools, the NSW state schools system has attempted to reinvent itself with new concepts and approaches such as “Performing Arts High Schools,” “Sports High Schools,” and “Multicampus Secondary Colleges such as ‘Callaghan College’” have been established in meeting the needs of those who want to pursue their interests and careers in such areas. Most Japanese principals considered “nurturing academic ability to the children to live in the society” as one of the most important issues in schooling. They also suggested “developing the ability to make independent judgments and action,” “reduction of class sizes,” “education free from pressure,” “harmonious cooperation between schools, homes, and the community,” and “rearrangement of curriculum” as some of the other critical issues facing the schools system. In response to the question “What are the major tasks of reform in your school?” Most school leaders considered “improvement of teaching” as the major task. The other tasks referred to by them were “enhancement of academic ability,” “more effective assessment methods,”

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“nurturing intelligence and character,” “adopting the curriculum to meet the needs of the students and the needs of the future society,” and “enhancing the ability to learn independently” were identified as other major tasks in their schools. In an analysis of the survey and interview data from the Australian study, it was clear that the school reform issues were more contextual than general. However, many school leaders wanted to place more emphasis on “teaching and learning,” leading to better student outcomes, which is in conformity with the concept of value added. The other school reform issues nominated by the Australian principals were the “professional development of teachers,” motivating teachers to achieve better student outcomes for their schools, integrating information technology in the teaching/learning process, student welfare, moving teachers out of their comfort zones, and changing school cultures. In considering the principal’s role in the school reform processes, the majority of Australian principals emphasized the importance of their role as the leader of the reform process, facilitator, motivator, team leader, change agent, visionary, and caring instructional leader. Majority of the Japanese principals responding to the role of the principal in reform activities in their schools emphasized the importance of leading reforms. Some wanted principals to be accountable to teachers. Analyzing the problems and showing the direction of the school, presenting accurate plans, revitalizing the school and teacher morale, and enriching in-service training within schools were some of the other roles asserted by them. Moreover, the Australians believed that they have key roles in guiding the reform process and securing adequate funding and community participation, challenging the conventional wisdom and being proactive in institutionalizing school reforms. Clearly, both Australian and Japanese principals have high expectations for themselves and for their schools, although they may undertake different tasks depending on their own contexts and national priorities.

5.6â•…Visions of Ideal Schools for the Twenty-first Century The concept of developing an organizational vision is a concept developed in the business world, especially after the Second World War. Since the late-1980s with the development and spread of the concept of school-based management, now it is becoming a fashion to develop school visions in a number of school systems in Australia, the UK, USA, Thailand, Indonesia, and many other school systems. Thus, as we are in a new millennium, it is important for educators, especially educational leaders, to form opinions of their visions of the ideal schools for the twenty-first century. A powerful vision can help a school to focus on its values and reach beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary levels of achievement. Many school systems such as those in Victoria and NSW in Australia are developing their own systemic visions in the form of blueprints for the next 10 years and beyond. But, not much research has been undertaken about what kind of schools our principals prefer to have. As Tirozzi (2001, p. 434) has reminded us recently, “the time has

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come to put the principal’s leadership brush to the canvas to paint a vision of what tomorrow’s schools can and will be.” According to the views expressed by the Australian principals, they projected diverse and compelling visions of an ideal school for the twenty-first century. Some of them believe that it should be “An institution that gives students the necessary skills (whether they be academic, physical or social) to interact successfully in an ever changing society,” “All members of the school community to achieve at their best,” “A school which caters to all students and staff needs: one which promotes individual progression, motivation and ownership,” “A flexible, responsive learning environment that utilizes technology to expand learning styles and opportunities.” One high school principal stated that his ideal school should have a flexible structure with computers and information technology as a major focus, staffed by highly skilled teachers to ensure that the students have those skills to do more. Another principal dreamt of a simple but a very inspiring school “one where each child and teacher at the end of the day, say ‘if only the day was longer’.” Japanese principals have a vision to have an elementary school where kids are active and having fun. Some others thought of a school that can provide parents and the community with education, which meet their needs, providing student enhancement of a firm self-awareness as Japanese, a school where children can learn and acquire sufficient ability, a school that embodies what parents and students expect, a school that supports children to learn independently were some of the other school visions that the Japanese school leaders visualized for the twenty-first century. Interestingly, both the Australian and Japanese educators are now striving for success for all students and improving their moral and ethical standards. The Australians place more emphasis on integrating information technology into the teaching and learning processes. Visions for the development of institutions in which the “children achieving learning outcomes, good social skills, technology skills ability to research and work individually and collaboratively,” while placing emphasis on the overall development of individual children. Australian principals also expect the schools of the twenty-first century to be the ones where the children and teachers want to be, having control over the priorities, staffed by principals and teachers who are highly skilled and better prepared. It seems that Australian principals are more open and progressive in thinking beyond the schools we have than their Japanese counterparts, as it is also reflected in their responses to questions regarding the basic beliefs and values about education and schooling.

5.7â•…Professional Development The Australian and Japanese principals in our sample had very different experiences in preservice training, both in length and in content. In the Australian sample, 66% of the principals did not have any preservice training before they became school principals. This outcome appears to be the result of not having any preservice requirements by the systemic authorities except being a good practicing teacher.

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Of those who did, 4% received only 3 months of training, 2% had half an year of training, 5% received 1 year of training, 9% had 2 years, and 14% 4 years of training. It is obvious that those who have indicated as having one or more years of training have interpreted their own university-level professional studies as preservice training as the system did neither provide nor require that type of training. The Australian and Japanese principals rated the five most important areas needed to be covered in preservice training as shown in Table€5.4. In the Japanese sample, only 47 principals responded to the question: “How long was the preservice training?” this seems to be a clear indication that as there is no systemic requirement, they have not received any preservice training. However, 33% (N39) of those who responded indicated that they received 1–3 months of preservice training, while 6.8% (N8) indicated that they had 3–6, 6–9, 9–12, 12+, and 2 years of preservice training. This sort of training is required for in-service with over 15 years of teaching. It is obvious that these respondents have interpreted it as preservice training for the survey. The fact that there is no systemic requirement for preservice training for principal-ship could have been why most Japanese principals have not shown a real interest in preservice training. Within the five most important topic areas that both Australian and Japanese principals have selected as the ones needed to be included, “contemporary educational leadership,” “effective communication and decision-making,” and “management of human resources” are the key areas for preservice training as shown in Table€ 5.4. The Australian principals considered “effective communication and decision-making” as the most important topic to be covered, whereas the Japanese principals considered “organizational theory and organizational behavior” as No. 1, while relegating the Australian No. 1 choice to No. 5 position. Australians rated “school and community relations” as No. 4, whereas the Japanese rated “educational administration and management” as No. 2 area to be covered. However, according to Callaghan (1962), the USA has a long history of universitylevel formal programs for principal preparation. According to the systemic requirements in almost all American states, the prospective principals must have at least 3 years of teaching experience, a university master’s degree in educational administration, with the completion of mandated programs of study leading to licenses/ certificates to serve as principals. In contrast, in Australia, Japan and many other countries have been using the traditional apprenticeship model where prospective school leaders have been prepared mostly by moving up the ranks from classroom teachers to the roles of master teachers, heads of departments, assistant and deputy/ Table€5.4â•… The most important areas needed to be covered in preservice training Australian principals Japanese principals 1. Effective communication and effective Organizational theory and organizational decision-making behavior 2. Management of human resources Educational administration and management 3. Contemporary educational leadership Contemporary educational leadership 4. School and community relations Management of human resources 5. Theory and practice of curriculum Effective communication and effective development decision-making

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vice principals, and finally to school principal-ship. In England, a new initiative for improving the management and leadership skills of head teachers and other senior professionals has been launched by the Government. The Report on Educating School Leaders based on an extensive survey of all relevant stakeholders in the USA and issued in March 2005, after concluding that the majority of programs range from inadequate to appalling has given high praise to the approaches by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) opened in Britain in 2000. The report emphasizes the importance of NCSL’s motto “every child in a well-led school, every leader a learner” as a very appropriate and effective one (Levine 2005, p. 54). Only 30 Japanese principals out of 118 opted to comment on “what recommendations would you like to make to improve preservice training programs?” As there is no systemic requirement for preservice training in Japan, even among them, only a few considered that it is important to have preservice training. The Australians emphasized the need for the provision of well-structured comprehensive preservice training programs for the practicing and prospective school leaders. These suggestions have strong implications for organizing preservice training programs both at the university and systemic levels. The systemic programs could be organized in collaboration with universities through the Training Directorates or the newly established Institutes of Teachers with the transfer of credit between the universities and systemic programs. With the adoption of merit selections and the implementation of SBM by almost all Australian school systems, many of the practicing and more specifically the prospective school leaders are undertaking university-level professional development programs. These programs are followed either by distance learning or on-campus modes similar to what happened in the USA and Britain. In 2001, the Australian Federal Government established a fund to award interest-free loans for those who undertake such programs, as these have been made full fee-paying since 1998.

5.8â•…Evaluation Findings from this comparative study indicate that principals can and should play key roles as the “initiators,” “facilitators,” “leaders,” and visionaries in school reforms. Without strong leadership, the chances for systemic improvement in teaching and learning are not that great. In a large measure, the real school reform efforts are determined and guided by principals’ beliefs, perspectives, and visions, rather than by the high-sounding rhetoric of policymakers and published research literature. Therefore, it is critical to understand what principals think and believe in regard to fundamental issues in education and schooling. They are the “visionary leaders” and “role models” for teachers, parents, and students. Data from our comparative study indicate that the majority of the Australian and Japanese principals are progressive and liberal in their educational views, although more Japanese principals than Australians support the conservative view. The Australian principals are less conservative than their Japanese counterparts because

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of the high pressures for change and modernization in all spheres of life and emphasis on community participation in school management since the mid-1970s. In considering schooling goals, the Australian principals rated the “basic skills education” as No. 1 and placed “intellectual development,” and “critical and independent thinking” in the equal second place. Similarly, the Japanese principals rated “basic skills education” as No. 1, but placed “Moral and ethical character” and “Interpersonal understanding/human relations” in equal second place. Both groups believed that the school goals of “Interpersonal understanding/human relations” and “Emotional and physical well-being” of the students as of high importance by placing high ratings on these goals.

5.9â•…Conclusion In discussing critical issues of school reform, the Australian and Japanese school principals presented similar views. The Australian principals want to play the leading roles in school reforms and nominated funding public versus private schools, integrating information technology and computing to the teaching/learning process and student outcomes as critical areas of reforms. The Japanese principals also emphasized the importance of leading school reforms, analyzing the problems and showing the direction and revitalization of the schools and teacher morale. In a comparison of the Australian and Japanese school leaders’ visions for ideal schools in the twenty-first century, we discovered that a central concern of both the Australian and Japanese principals was the success for all students and all teachers. Australian and Japanese school principals wanted their ideal schools to be attractive places of joy and happiness for adults and children, with adequate funding, diversity, creativity, modern technology, connections to the society, and full parental and community involvements. At the time that the countries have come closer to each other by lifting the barriers due to globalization and rapid advances in information, computers, and technologies (ICT), we agree with the view that all of us can learn from the “best practices of effective leaders,” wherever they are. The ideal school for the new millennium should consist of the best elements of schooling from different parts of the world by learning from each other and adapting them to one’s own contextual situations.

References Callaghan, R. E. (1962). Education and cult of efficiency. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Campbell-Evans, G. H. (1991). Nature and influence of values in principal decision making. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 37(2), 167–78. Daresh, J. & Male, T. (2000). Crossing the boarder into leadership: Experiences of newly appointed British head-teachers and American principles. Education Management and Administration, 28(1), 89–101.

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Edmonds, R. (1979). Effective schools for the urban poor. Educational Leadership, 37(1), 15–24. Gamage, D. T. (1990). Changing role of leadership of Australian high school principals in a changing environment. Perspectives in Education, 4(2), 95–108. Gamage, D. T. (1992). School centred educational reforms of the 1990s: an Australian case study. Educational Management and Administration, 27(1), 1–10. Gamage, D. T. (1993). Community participation in school governance: an emerging culture in Australian education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 41(2), 134–149. Gamage, D. T. (1996). The impact of school-based management and new challenges to school leaders. Perspectives in Education, 12(2), 63–74. Gamage, D. T. (2001). School-based governance: an Australian experience 1974–2000. Studies in International Relations, 22(1), 63–91. Gamage, D. T. (2009). Leading and managing the 21st century schools for improved student performance. North Ryde: McGraw Hill. Gamage, D. T., & Pang, N. S. K. (2003). Leadership and management in education: developing essential skills and competencies. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. Levine, A. (2005). Educating school leaders. New York: The Education School Project. Australian Education Council. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/ mceetya/nationalgoals/natgoals.htm, pp. 149–150. Australian Education Council. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.det.nsw.edu.au/ start_direction/startdir02_04/tufehtm, pp. 178–179. Smith, M. S., & Purkey, S. C. (1983). Effective schools: a review. The Elementary School Journal, 83(4), 427–452. Su, Z., Adams, J., & Mininberg, E. (2000). Profiles and preparation of urban school principals: a comparative study in the U.S. and China. Education and Urban Society, 32(4), 455–480. Tatsuno, Y. (2003). Building a school trusted and leadership of a school principal. Gekkan-Koukou Kyoiku (The Monthly Journal of High School Education), 36(5), 20–26. Tirozzi, G. N. (2001). The Artistry of Leadership. Phil Delta Kappan (February), 82(6), 434–39.

Chapter 6

When Indigenous and Modern Education Collide in the Global Culture Alberto Arenas, Iliana Reyes, and Leisy Wyman

6.1â•…Indigenous and Modern Education and Societies There are an estimated 300 million indigenous people worldwide, comprising roughly 5% of the world’s population (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre 2004). Despite this significant presence, national schooling systems have ignored, minimized, or ridiculed their histories pre- and post-Western contact, as well as their cultural contributions toward social and environmental sustainability. Only since the 1960s have ministries of education around the world, regional entities, and community-based groups set up education programs that seek to rescue and protect the values, practices, languages, and knowledge systems of indigenous groups, including their relationship to local ecosystems, social relationships within each group, subsistence-based production, such as agricultural, pastoral, and hunting and gathering techniques, and language, art, games, and other cultural aspects (e.g., Barnach-Calbó Martínez 1997; Hernández 2003; May 1999; May and Aikman 2003; Neil 2000). These educational efforts have sought to recover indigenous peoples’ own history and identity to help them resist the pressure to assimilate into the surrounding dominant societies. Despite important advances, there are deeply entrenched tensions between the aspirations, goals, and practices of indigenous education and those of mainstream Western education. Often enough, the educational programs are initiated because indigenous peoples themselves and non-indigenous allies seek to reform educational efforts by infusing formal schooling efforts with the unique alternative indigenous knowledge systems, pedagogies, and languages. At the same time, over time, these same educators commonly must negotiate numerous pressures, ranging from inflexible national systems of education, bureaucratic red tape, institutional inertia, lack of financial resources, the need to develop and create educational materials,

A. Arenasâ•›(*), I. Reyes, and L. Wyman College of Education, R. 721, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0069, USA e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_6, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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and the necessity of training and socializing educators to creatively incorporate indigenous knowledge systems, pedagogies, languages, and community members into schooling efforts. These pressures present immense ongoing challenges for those who seek to indigenize schools and school systems. If educators bend too far toward Western models of education, they risk reproducing the same fossilized and insensitive systems that they are trying to circumvent (Abu-Saad 2006; Arratia 1997; McCarty 2002; Sarangapani 2003). At the same time, through ongoing struggles to orient local efforts toward indigenous models of education, educators can ground students in their communities and geographical spaces while fostering academic achievement, providing preferable alternatives to homogenized Western schooling efforts. In this chapter, we have established a parallelism between both forms of education, showing how for each of the main goals of indigenous education, there is an opposite hegemonic counterpart in mainstream schooling. By doing so, we have synthesized a large body of literature from various disciplines – namely, anthropology, sociology, education, linguistics, political science, and environmental studies – to explicitly show how the ideals of indigenous education can clash head-on against the goals and practical realities of the systems of public instruction. As the readers will see, we have created archetypes of indigenous and modern education, effectively setting up an artificial juxtaposition of these models. In reality, individual indigenous programs vary considerably, and seldom tend to encompass all the qualities detailed here, just as no single modern system of education exhibits all the defects outlined within. Nonetheless, setting up our arguments via archetypical models illuminates the most important challenges currently faced by programs serving indigenous children. Without a clear understanding of these points of conflict, it will continue to be extremely difficult for indigenous educational programs to flourish. More generally, and in light of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we hope that this chapter will serve as a conceptual framework for guiding and inspiring supporters of indigenous education to renew their efforts as they struggle with some of the issues outlined here.

6.2â•…Goals and Practices of Indigenous Education An increasing number of schools worldwide serving indigenous populations are involved in the restructuring of the purpose, content, and form of education (e.g., Abu-Saad and Champagne 2006; Barnhardt and Kawagley 2005; Hornberger 1997; May 1999). Under ideal circumstances, indigenous education strives to teach indigenous children about their culture and history in an appreciative manner, offer a significant part of their schooling outdoors and in authentic settings, support a wellbalanced education that addresses children’s intellectual, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions, bring together children and adults (including elders), teach competence in vernacular, nonhegemonic languages, and foster the

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importance of non commodified practices that teach children how to live well in their bioregion. These characteristics are presented in more detail in the following section.

6.2.1â•…Indigenous Education Exposes Children to Their Histories and the Traditions of Their Communities Indigenous education can help to ensure the survival of the cultural wealth of indigenous communities. This wealth is essentially the social capital of the poor, their main asset to satisfy the basic community needs (such as food, shelter, communal and spiritual growth) and to have control over their own lives. Efforts to reclaim the cultural wealth of marginalized communities are found in Wigginton’s “cultural journalism” (1985), Moll and colleagues’ “funds of knowledge” (1992), Kretzmann and McKnight’s “community assets” (1993), Arenas’s (2001) and Sobel’s (2004) “pedagogy of place,” and Barnhardt and Kawagley’s “culturally responsive pedagogy” (2005). These scholars have reported on a small sample of the many schools worldwide that center learning on the life of the community, with an emphasis on oral traditions, face-to-face and intergenerational communication, and value systems that view the individual as a part of a larger human and nonhuman community. For instance, New Zealand schools promote kapa haka (Maori performance arts) as part of the Maori studies curriculum (Harrison and Papa 2005, p. 67). Kapa haka is practiced by students of all ages, from preschool to the last year of secondary schooling, and is considered an integral part of the holistic conditioning of mind, body, and spirit. Through regional and national competitions, youth demonstrate their knowledge and artistic talent by performing their tribe’s historical chants in public, and are judged by the most respected and knowledgeable leaders in Maori culture. As kapa haka is an integral part of the school activities throughout the year (and not just a sporadic event), youth acquire a sense of confidence and pride in Maori culture that could not be achieved otherwise. While the perpetuation of noncommodified knowledge is important for all indigenous children, those living in urban areas need special attention. In 2008, for the first time in history, more than 50% of the world’s population lived in towns and cities (Dugger 2007), and by 2025, an estimated two thirds of the world’s population will be living in urban areas (World Resources Institute 1998), with indigenous families found in increasing numbers in urban settlements (Rakodi 1997; Sieder 2002). In urban areas, children from indigenous backgrounds have much less exposure to the knowledge and practices of their ancestors related to ethnobotany, religion, manual skills, oral histories, performance arts, basic survival in nature, and their vernacular language. To prevent the very real possibility of cultural loss, urban schools need to place much greater emphasis on reclaiming these material and immaterial assets. At the same time, there needs to be a strong recognition of the hybrid nature of many understandings and practices engaged by indigenous youth. An interesting example has come out of El Alto, Bolivia’s indigenous capital and home to about 800,000 Aymaras.

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A whole new musical movement has emerged among the Aymara youth, which combines US-born hip hop (including the trappings of baseball caps, baggy pants, and hand signs) with politically charged lyrics in Aymara and Spanish (Forero 2005). Andean flutes and drums mesh with a hip hop rhythm. This syncretism is a part of the daily reality of indigenous youth of urban and rural areas around the world. Recognizing the importance of these cultural manifestations and their rightful place in the curriculum is helpful for indigenous students in both urban and more remote and seemingly traditional communities. For example, in one charter school primarily serving Tohono O’odham students in an urban school in southwestern USA, in an annual event, dozens of student groups present skits or puppet plays that feature a modern twist on traditional Tohono O’odham stories alongside master storytellers from the community before a crowd of hundreds (Reeves 2006, p. 199). As another example, in the rural Yup’ik Eskimo school district where Wyman conducts her research, Native Youth Olympics (NYO), a series of Native sports events, are sponsored during the school year alongside the non-Native sports of basketball and track. As part of NYO, individuals compete in a series of Native games, such as one- and two-legged high kicks and jumps, and a seal hop where students lie flat, hold themselves up using only their knuckles and toes, and hop across a gym floor. Elders use a different version of the events traditionally to maintain strength, balance, and flexibility during the long winter months. In the standardized school-sponsored version of the events, students compete in tournaments for individual medals and team trophies, and their cumulative scores are used to put together an all-star district team for state competition in Anchorage, and adults can compete for titles in the international World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) (see Wyman 2004). Events such as the Tohono O’odham storytelling nights from the first example and NYO in the second serve as catalysts for educators to build curriculum and avenues for performance around the syncretism found in indigenous students’ lives, and allow opportunities for educators and students to embrace indigenous knowledge in its many manifestations.

6.2.2â•…Indigenous Education Stresses Holistic Learning, with an Emphasis on Children’s Attachment to Nature It has become imperative to address what Pyle (1993, p. 140) called “the extinction of experience.” Schools should seek a balance between participating in indoor and outdoor settings, spending time in human-built and natural habitats, and fostering intellectual talents alongside manual training, physical activities, and artistic endeavors. In opposition to the lopsided intellectual development of modern, Western education, indigenous education needs to strive for holistic forms of education, more akin to those found in many pre-modern societies that fostered children’s emotional, intellectual, artistic, physical, social, and spiritual development (Reagan 2000). The original Santiniketan, a school founded by the Indian

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poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, near Calcutta in 1901, harbored many of the characteristics described here. In terms of outdoor activities, Santiniketan: Facilitated learning about the divine and the natural…The natural surroundings of Santiniketan were vast and remarkable: Open air, solemn rivers, expansive plains of prickly shrubs, red gravel and pebbles, date-palm and sal trees, amalaki and mango groves, the earth stretching its brown arms, the air enveloping everyone with its warmth. Children were free to move about this incredible scenery as they liked: To climb trees, swim in rivers, run, dance…they wore no shoes, socks, or slippers, for Tagore believed that they should neither be deprived of their freedom, nor should they be deprived of the learning contexts that nature provided them – to intimately know the earth by touch. (Jain 2001, p. 31)

Children learned about science in the context of the natural world, practiced the arts almost daily (music, drawing, and drama), engaged in vigorous physical activity (sweeping, washing dishes, fetching water, cooking, weaving, and gardening), and participated in communal activities with local community members. Like Santiniketan, numerous indigenous schools worldwide to a greater or lesser extent have introduced a healthy balance of activities that promote vernacular knowledge and skills. At the same time, recent scholarship in indigenous education has deepened our understanding of how terms, such as holistic learning and vernacular skills themselves belie how, “indigenous epistemologies are complex philosophical instruments subject to analysis, interpretation, and metaphoric unpacking” (Lomawaima and McCarty 2006, p. 24). While the details of indigenous knowledge systems vary from group to group, each system incorporates elements of formal and informal learning, providing a structured understanding of multileveled sets of relationships “requir[ing] a lifetime of study to master at their deepest levels” (2006, p. 24). Currently, scholars are documenting how indigenous youth have been and, in some cases, are still socialized to understand their place in the world and their relationship to other humans and spaces through rich language practices ranging from stories, naming, chants, catechism, and lectures, as well as a range of activities, such as observation, imitation, practice, and the actual physical learning of skills in apprentice-style learning situations (Lomawaima and McCarty 2006; Ongtootguk 2000). As these scholars have recognized, indigenous knowledge systems are dynamic, and have changed over time as indigenous peoples have experienced both local manifestations of environmental and social changes, as well as the extreme pressures and historical experiences of colonization. Recently, scholars have begun to assert how studying the complex and interrelated strands of indigenous education, as well as the adaptation of indigenous knowledge systems over time, can provide key understandings for how to “reconnect education to a sense of place and its attendant cultural practices” (Barnhardt and Kawagley 2005, p. 10).

6.2.3â•…Indigenous Education Connects Children with Caring Adults, Including Elders There is an increasing recognition of the importance of breaking down the barriers that separate school from community. One key aspect of this task is to reclaim the

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premodern practice of involving the entire community in the children’s education. Reagan (2000, p. 206) wrote about non-Western educational traditions as follows: Not only have adults and older children in the community tended to play important educational roles, but with relatively few exceptions there has been little focus on identifying educational specialists in non-Western societies. Education and childrearing have commonly been seen as a social responsibility shared by all of the members of the community.

Reducing the barriers between school and community requires bringing the community to the school and taking the school to the community. In the first instance, community members can enhance school life through an active presence in curriculum enrichment, teacher assistance, extracurricular activities, school board membership, and so on. Hammond (2003) described how a group of parents and community members from the Mienh tribe (from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam), who immigrated to California years earlier and had children in the public schools, constructed a house with teachers on school grounds. The house, built to hold cultural activities, included typical design and construction features from Asia and the USA, becoming a true Mienh-American hybrid. The construction crew contained Mienh elders who had building experience, but could no longer do heavy physical work, younger Mienh parents, US teachers, a local US architect, and the US, Mienh, and Hmong students who served as cultural brokers. The culturally hybrid house that they built – neither completely Mienh nor completely different from the US, but something new altogether – became a symbol of peace and harmony among the ethnic communities in the school. The second direction of indigenous education is from the school to the community, with an emphasis on transgenerational communication. Schools must find ways of linking children to older community members who have retained knowledge of being connected to a place through sustainable practices. For example, in a school in Colombia, secondary students became cultural reporters, going into the community and interviewing mothers and grandmothers regarding their knowledge on medicinal ethnobotany (Arenas 2001). After compiling extensive lists, which included the common (and eventually scientific) names of plants, physical descriptions, medicinal uses, and forms of preparation, the students created an ethnobotanical garden on the school grounds. Students and teachers began to use the ethnobotanical knowledge on a regular basis to alleviate common ailments, instead of relying on pharmaceutical products. In societies where a person’s worth is measured in terms of economic productivity and where older people are displaced precisely because their capacity in this area is limited, ethnoeducation can greatly serve to offset this situation. In the studies focusing on the Mienh-American house or the Colombian ethnobotanical garden, owing to the ethnoeducation projects, community members, in general, and elders, in particular, were able to share their skill and wisdom.

6.2.4â•…Indigenous Education Helps to Perpetuate and Revitalize Minority Languages Vernacular minority languages are passed from generation to generation through oral communication, something that schools have immense difficulty in replicating.

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As Fishman (1996, para. 20) wrote, “Schools are normally programmed and not inter-generational, and mother-tongues are inter-generational and not programmed. They have almost completely opposite constellations of forces.” The great paradox of modern schools is that the same instrument (education) used to eliminate minority languages must be used to perpetuate and rescue them. To guarantee the perpetuation of minority languages, a significant amount of instruction must occur in the minority tongue from pre-K through 12th grade. Successful models to accomplish this are found in well-developed bilingual and multilingual programs, whose purpose is to develop both the minority and the majority language to native or nearnative proficiency (Hinton and Hale 2001). Such is the case with Hawaiian, which, in the last 3 decades, has undergone arguably the most successful language revitalization effort of an indigenous language in the USA (McCarty 2003). Community pressure in the late 1970s and 1980s led to the creation of Hawaiian immersion preschools, followed by Hawaiian immersion elementary and secondary schools as “schools-within-schools.” Nowadays, a child can receive an entire education in Hawaiian from preschool to graduate levels. Another interesting case of language revitalization is presented by East Timor. During the Indonesian occupation, Bahasa Indonesian was the main language of communication in schools, with Portuguese being banned, and Tétum being the most widely spoken indigenous language, with 60–80% of the population being native speakers and used only on a limited basis at the elementary school level toward the end of the occupation (Arenas 1998). Once East Timor became independent in 2002, Portuguese and Tétum became official languages and have gradually been introduced in the schooling system, a move that will probably eventually phase out Bahasa Indonesia from schools. With a push for the full development of Tétum in society, in general, and in schools, in particular, an effort that includes the standardization of its grammar and spelling, the widespread publication of texts in Tétum, and the use of Tétum (alongside Portuguese) as the main language at the primary level and over time, including it at all educational levels (Borgerhoff 2006; Hull 2000), the chances are high that Tétum will be preserved and reinvigorated by future generations. It must be stressed that schools by themselves cannot reverse language loss. As several scholars have emphasized, schools are but one of the key change agents in language revitalization (Fishman 1996, 2001; Hornberger 1997; Skutnabb-Kangas 2000). As Fishman wrote (2001, p. 14), If the threatened language is not first acquired as an ethnic mother tongue at home, before children arrive to school, and if it is not used out of school, after school and even after schooling as a whole is over, then the school has a much more difficult task on its hands.

Particularly, to reach Stage 6 of what Fishman termed as “Reversing Language Shift” (2001), in which the threatened vernacular language is spoken informally between and within three generations of a family and spoken informally by children and adults in the neighborhood, a host of institutions need to be present to ensure the revitalization and perpetuation of the language. Some of these other institutions include mass media at the local, regional, and national levels, governmental services, nonformal education for adults, youth groups, and cultural groups in general. Indigenous language revitalization movements also require constant negotiation of tensions inherent in opposing the underlying assumptions of indigenous and

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Western languages and language education, broadly conceived. Within these efforts, indigenous language educators and language planners must make ongoing decisions about details ranging from how to incorporate oral narratives into materials and curriculum, whether and how to use literacy to promote primarily oral languages, how to create new words to express modern concepts and material objects, and how to use new technologies in ways that support face-to-face language learning and use (Hinton and Hale 2001). Even when classroom materials and instruction are in an indigenous language, educators must resist the impulse to teach indigenous languages within familiar “frames” and patterns of language instruction of dominant languages, to move beyond piecemeal efforts at language revitalization (Wong 1999; Meek and Messing 2007). These decisions involve multiple levels of negotiation from the broad levels of language policy to the microlevels of how to represent single sounds in writing, as well as careful attendance to informal patterns of classroom interaction (Hinton 2003; Holm et€al. 2003). For these negotiations to be successful, the outcomes, products, and pedagogies must ultimately be (1) recognizable as linked to ancestral precedents and (2) supportive, rather than disruptive, of intergenerational and everyday uses of indigenous languages in community life.

6.2.5â•…Indigenous Education Exposes Mainstream Children to Indigenous Histories and Traditions To be successful, indigenous education must be accompanied by formal education that exposes mainstream children to the histories and cultures of indigenous and minority groups. A peaceful coexistence and a just society cannot be accomplished if mainstream children do not learn about ethnic minority cultures and the importance of respecting and affirming them. While the main victims of an educational system that silences the cultures and voices of minority groups are minority children themselves, all students, both minority and nonminority alike, become miseducated insofar as they only receive a partial and biased education (Santa Ana 2004). Mainstream children who see only their own selves portrayed in the curriculum believe that they are the center and everyone else is peripheral and secondary (Banks and McGee Banks 2004; Nieto 1992). Intercultural forms of education are essential for ensuring that children learn from each other’s communities and hold them in high esteem. In the Mienh-American example presented earlier, European American, Asian American, Latino, and African American students all enriched their education through sharing intercultural knowledge and power, and through learning to solve conflicts by creative and peaceful means (Hammond 2003). When mainstream children are robbed of the opportunity to learn about indigenous knowledge systems, they are prevented from envisioning the human capability to adapt to unique ecosystems over time. They also miss the opportunity to learn from the resilience and perseverance of indigenous groups who have survived histories of colonization. This exposure to nonhegemonic histories and cultures dislodges the

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comfort of the privileged. For instance, it is much easier for mainstream children to assume that their ancestors found land that was abandoned, or that indigenous groups simply were conquered and no longer exist, than to wrestle with histories of oppression, both past and present, related to issues such as competing land claims of peoples with ancestral connections to the geographic spaces where their schools and mainstream communities are located. Educators can expect roadblocks to discussion as mainstream students come “face to face with their own assumptions about notions of cultural assimilation, individualism and capitalistic society” (Ongtooguk and Dybdahl 2008). At the same time, awareness of these histories provides children important exposure to the facts, rather than false and stereotypical understanding of indigenous realities. Such awareness may motivate mainstream children on reaching adulthood, to defend the right of other cultures to be respected and affirmed. One effective strategy for indigenous education is to create language programs, where mainstream children with a high-status mother tongue are instructed using the minority language. There are plenty of examples of this with the European languages – as in the case of Spanish immersion for English speakers in the USA or French immersion for Anglophone speakers in Canada – however, it is much less common with indigenous languages. One notable exception is Paraguay, where 95% of the population is to some degree bilingual in Spanish and Guaraní (Gordon 2005). In 1992, when Guaraní and Spanish became dual official languages, legislation was passed mandating the use of Guaraní in schools with the goal of full bilingualism. In a 2000 survey of secondary students in Asunción, not only did the vast majority of the students express pride and respect for Guaraní, but when asked, “With whom do you speak the most in Guaraní?” 28% answered that they speak with their parents, 20% with their grandparents, and 15% with their friends (Choi 2003). These are significant positive findings. Hamel (2003, p. 125), in fact, considers Guaraní as a “former” indigenous language, given its massive presence in all strata and the privileged position that it enjoys as part of national identity – in this sense, it occupies a similar position as Tétum in East Timor in terms of serving as a social marker of national unity. This is not to say that both the languages have the same status; Paraguay is still a society where Spanish has more prestige than Guaraní. Even so, efforts by schools are significant enough to help all children, indigenous and non- indigenous alike, become proficient (or at least semi-proficient) in Guaraní culture and language, revalorizing the place of Guaraní in Paraguayan society.

6.3â•…Goals and Practices of Modern Education in the Global Culture The aforementioned goals and practices are in direct conflict with those of modern public schooling, which serves, first and foremost, as an instrument to integrate the population into the rationalistic and totalizing project of the nation state (Berry 1990; George and Jain 2000; Prakash and Esteva 1998). Through the transmission

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of a national language, an intentional pedagogy that privileges fragmented and book-codified knowledge, and a continuity of practices involving discipline, obedience, and respect for impersonal authority, the school seeks to train the child to become an effective worker-citizen (Gellner 1983; Spring 1980). To the aims of the nineteenth century of fostering nationalism, patriotism, and good citizenship, public schools in the twentieth century have added the goal of providing equality of opportunity in a hierarchical occupational structure. In this context, practices such as thanking the forces of nature during the harvest, following the cycles of the sun, moon, and wind, honoring the land for the food it provides, and using nonrational approaches to science, belong to a much larger group of noncommodified knowledge that resists standardization, assessment, and credentialism, which are the three key aspects of modern schools (Bowers and Apffel-Marglin 2005; Sieder 2002). Even when educators display the noblest of intentions, as evidenced by the examples of schools serving indigenous populations in the previous section, there is enormous pressure for these schools to lose momentum and strength over time. A setting that exemplifies the difficulties faced by indigenous education is the Rough Rock Navajo School, founded in 1966 in Arizona, which is the first Native American community controlled school in the USA and one of the most influential Native American schools in the country (McCarty 2002). Despite its many accomplishments – including serving as a catalyst for Indian-American education leaders and inspiring the growth of the Native American bilingual education movement – a host of reasons have cropped up in recent years, which have greatly mitigated its positive impact, specifically its language and cultural studies program. The problems include chronic funding problems, governmental pressures to adhere to national curricular and accountability standards, change in personnel that have brought in administrators and teachers who deemphasized Navajo cultural revitalization, and parental insistence on academic success but often at the expense of Navajo language and culture. Thus, there have been gradual but incessant attempts at institutional cooptation by State, market, and social forces. While Rough Rock still struggles to be faithful to its original vision, many other indigenous schools have faced varying degrees of success in the struggle to resist institutional cooptation over time. To understand why this occurs, it is vital to explore the goals and practices of modern schooling and the way these are at cross-purposes with those of indigenous education. The goals and practices of modern schooling can be summarized as follows:

6.3.1â•…Modern Schools Emphasize Cultural Homogenization The concurrent rise of nationalism, representative governments, and industrialization necessitated the rise of mass schooling in the Western world in the nineteenth century (Gellner 1983; Spring 1980). Johann Fichte’s 1808 Addresses to the German People, which advocated for a single German Gemeinschaft, helped to popularize the concept of unified educational systems that would foster a national

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consciousness based on the culture of the centers of political, social, and economic power. This consciousness was developed in part by the provision of a common history, literature, set of symbols (e.g., flag, map, anthem), and a national language (Anderson 1983). The European concept of national systems of instruction was then exported and imposed around the world, often with the complacency and support of local elites. As a result, as Anderson pointed out (1983), individuals who received formal schooling became modern subjects who viewed themselves as belonging to an imaginary community called a “nation-state.” Prakash and Esteva (1998, p. 16) argued that inevitably local and even regional cultures were systematically excluded from the halls of academia: The classroom, however celebratory and respectful of cultural diversity, can only be a deliberately Western site; transmitting only the culture/s of the West…The pluriverse [as opposed to uni-verse] of cultural diversity cannot be nourished or regenerated through the project of education [because] education is of modern western origin.

When schools around the world display a high degree of isophormism, local and regional differences tend to be erased through these larger hegemonic practices (see Benavot et€ al. 1991 for worldwide curricular isophormism). As Gellner wrote in Nations and Nationalism (1983, p. 27), the educational system of societies worldwide “is unquestionably the most universally standardized that has ever existed.” The Huaorani people of the Ecuadorian Amazon offer a good example. Rival (2002) wrote that the arrival of the modern school and modernity in general created a whole new way of life for the Huaorani. Among the physical changes brought about by modernity were the deforestation of vast areas around the village school to mark its separation from the forest, the sedentarization and higher population density in the village as a result of the school’s location and yearly schedule (the Huaorani are nomadic and live in sparsely populated areas), and the conversion of the temporary longhouse, the traditional housing unit comprising 10–35 individuals, to new modern constructions that followed the example of the school with its concrete floors, plank walls, corrugated iron roofs, and sense of permanence. Ultimately, the school assisted in the gradual transformation from the Huaorani’s unique social relations and spatiotemporal organizations to a homogenized modern village. The problem of how schools tend to converge toward one single, global village was emphasized by Chief, a Blackfoot Indian from the USA, when he wrote, “At the present time, our educational systems are almost identical to the mainstream, and therefore we are merely being taught to fit into the dominant society. We don’t have a choice, we must deconstruct our colonized thinking” (2000, p. 27).

6.3.2â•…Modern Schools Mostly Foster Indoor, Decontextualized, and Intellectual Learning On an average, children spend about 1000 h a year at school, surrounded by four walls for the vast majority of this time. They study the world second hand, through lectures, books, and electronic audiovisual materials, and their knowledge is

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divorced from the earth, plants, and animals that surround the school (Berry 1990; Smith 1992; Sobel 2004). Children seldom go outdoors except for the uncommon fieldtrip and recess – and even recess is being severely curtailed or in the process of being phased out in countries like Germany, Japan, Russia, and the USA (Goodale 1998). Thus, children end up learning the insidious message that the actual experience of the phenomenon is unnecessary and intellectual discernment is the main respectable avenue for knowing. Similarly, the knowledge transmitted in school is impersonal and abstract, with little or no relationship to the students’ lives (Prakash and Esteva 1998; Sobel 2004). Knowledge valued by the local community, associated with nonindustrial economic practices or based on nonrational approaches, receives little credence. In Rival’s (2002) study, Huaorani children who attended modern schools had less knowledge about the rain forest than nonschooled children. Schoolchildren spent considerably less time in the forest, fewer knew how to climb trees, none knew how to prepare curare poison, and none knew how to make a clay pot, which were all familiar activities to nonschooled Huaorani children and basic to their culture. Rival concluded that as Huaorani children learned the modern cognitive skills of reading, writing, and numeracy, they became alienated from the context of the forest and longhouse. Modern schools, in fact, de-skilled indigenous children from the knowledge and practices of their ancestors. When traditional knowledge and skills are introduced into the school, they risk becoming disembedded from their original context. Once a time-honored belief and activity is packaged for transportation to and consumption in the classroom, it is severed from the land that gave it life and nurtured it. Grimaldo Rengifo Vasquez, one of the founders of the Andean Project for Peasant Technologies (PRATEC), explored how Quechuas and Aymaras understood the connections between deities, nature, and humans, and how this complex set of interactions often did not find a respectful place in schools (2005 pp. 38–39). During the festival honoring the first fruits of the land during Carnival season, Aymaras call the potato tubers Ispallas, “potato deities.” Aymaras consider that under certain circumstances, the fruits of nature have supernatural powers, and hence, the tuber is a potato and an Ispalla simultaneously. Furthermore, the women who participate in these festivities become deities of the potato, because the sacredness in each person comes to the surface as an Ispalla. If a group of educators, with the best of intentions, packages this extremely intricate cosmovision for an ethnoeducation course, it loses its richness and sacredness in the barrenness of the global classroom. Situations of this type have even invoked some researchers to suggest that there is an inherent incompatibility between indigenous knowledge systems and modern system of schooling (e.g., Sarangapani 2003).

6.3.3â•…Modern Schools Separate Children from Caring Adults in the Community A key claim made in Willard Waller’s classic The Sociology of Teaching (1932) was that schools systematically limited the emotional and intellectual development

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of the teachers. He found that to maintain a professional persona, teachers had to distance themselves from students and community members, which impeded their normal psychosocial development. This also damaged the healthy development of students and presented a major stumbling block to humanistic reform in schools. About 80 years after Waller published his educational text, the difficulties faced by teachers to share authentic expressions of the self have changed little (e.g., Cooper 2004). An overemphasis on curricular standards, prescribed technique, student assessment, and legalistic definitions of education has contributed to teachers shutting off their true selves and their acceptance of the students’ culture when in the classroom. Classrooms have become bland and emotionless settings, where the main relationship between teachers and students is cordial but distant, and whose allegiance is stronger to the institution than to the child. This is not the fault of the teachers, many of whom are extremely caring and committed, but of the modern, bureaucratized practices that dampen the intimate relationship that should exist between teachers and students (Pajak and Blasé 1984). Even teacher-preparation programs specifically created to assist indigenous and other marginalized communities have great difficulty in overcoming entrenched barriers. Hegemonic practices emanating from the State and from dominant social and economic spheres frustrate the open acceptance from the part of the teachers of true interculturalism. As Arratia (1997) showed in her study on teacher preparation in Aymara communities of northern Chile, even after undergoing sensitivity and cultural awareness training, teachers (many of whom were Aymara themselves) assumed the role of civilizing agents and reproducers of the social hierarchies found in the larger society. In their work on indigenous knowledge systems in Alaska (USA), Barnhardt and Kawagley (2005) highlighted the importance of cross-generational communication by noting how elders help renew and carry forward knowledge on the basic interconnections between natural and human relationships. They emphasized how elders play a vital role in holding together a sense of cultural identity and spiritual centeredness that tends to be diluted and ignored by the more extreme forces of modernization. Even when schools as a whole do not embrace indigenous knowledge, indigenous students can benefit from the efforts to incorporate knowledge keepers into school settings. In the Yup’ik village in Alaska, Wyman found that adults working outside the school resisted the commodification of the relationship between youth and elders. Adults encouraged youth to work for elders “without pay” and emphasized how, in return, according to Yuuyaraq (the way to be a good human), a system of beliefs and practices specific to the Yup’ik way of life, elders would share their extensive knowledge of subsistence and the local ecosystem to assist youth in their carrying out of local day-to-day practices. Older youth described their relationships to elders in general as a key component of their valuation of the local community, and as a factor in their decision to stay in the community as young adults to raise their children. The local public school, on the other hand, proved to be one of the least stable village institutions to incorporate elders’ knowledge, owing to the rapid turnover of primarily non-Native outside educators and administrators who made up the majority of the local teaching force. Regardless, even as the school on the

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whole struggled with instability when elders were brought into the school, consecutive groups of youth responded positively to their inclusion in formal schooling efforts. At one point in time, when an esteemed elder was employed as a counselor in the school, multiple youth commented how the regular incorporation of his presence and teachings positively impacted their overall learning. As one youth reported, “He talked to us about that [a school shooting that had taken place in the region], and before he started, everybody, most students were like, anaruteq or mischievous. [Then he] started talking to us and changed the whole school. He started talking to us and kids started acting better.” At the same time, individuals who can serve as a cultural bridge between teachers and students seldom find a space in schools. Teachers, especially at the primary level, do invite parents and other caregivers to assist as volunteers in the classroom, but often their main role is to help students acquire Western, modern knowledge. In the USA, adults must obtain a post-secondary degree or pass a proficiency exam to become teaching assistants in public schools; consequently, those whose knowledge of noncommodified traditions is the richest tend to be excluded. Tohono O’odham and Yaqui grandparents in Arizona (USA) are often rejected for lack of proper credentials, and schools end up relying on CD-ROMS and other technologies to teach native language and culture (Duarte 2002). At the other end of the spectrum, indigenous education programs are sometimes able to resist the notion of outside certification and bring knowledgeable local elders and adults into school spaces based on the recognition of their talents as fluent speakers of an indigenous language. Yet, even in these instances, community members without outside certification may be unfairly compensated for their efforts based on school pay scales, or may find that their co-workers and administrators assume that they have minimal need for professional development opportunities, because they are fluent in the local languages and are from the community, as reported by the community members to the researchers in one language planning effort involving representatives from 20 Athabaskan villages in Alaska (Dementi-Leonard and Perry 1999). In light of these challenges, indigenous educators and their non- indigenous allies have experimented with various models to teach teachers how to incorporate elders and elders’ knowledge into schools by traversing the boundaries of indigenous ways of knowing and formal school processes. In the Athabaskan effort mentioned earlier, community members, indigenous educators, and university-based collaborators created spaces for overcoming the “taken for granted” attitudes and assumptions found in the State-run school spaces through regular project meetings held in the community, rather than school settings. In this process, they not only envisioned, but implemented multiple projects within which indigenous teachers could gain certification while learning from knowledgeable elders. These efforts included a master-apprenticeship program that paired teachers with elders to learn advanced levels of their own languages, and a summer institute and a career ladder program designed to make teacher certification more accessible to Athabaskan community members in urban as well as rural schools (Dementi-Leonard and Perry 1999). Within another promising approach in Alaska, longstanding teacher study groups provided sustained opportunities for indigenous and non-indigenous educators

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to work together to creatively integrate indigenous education and formal schooling, while countering power asymmetries in specific school contexts found in rural Yup’ik villages (Lipka et€al. 1998). As evidenced from these examples, Athabaskan, Aymara, Tohono O’odham, Yaqui, and Yup’ik elders, as elders and other caring adults from indigenous groups worldwide, serve as vital holders of transgenerational renewal of knowledge that over time becomes something akin to wisdom. This wisdom, however, seldom fits into the narrow designation of professionalization as defined by the State. Building on the strengths and knowledge of indigenous elders and caring community members in formal school spaces takes ongoing negotiation of the assumptions about power, knowledge relations, teaching, and teacher training found in universities as well as local schools.

6.3.4â•…Modern Schools Undermine Linguistic Diversity There are an estimated 6,900 extant oral languages (Gordon 2005), the vast majority of which are indigenous and minority. Despite this linguistic plurality, more than half of the world’s states are officially monolingual and fewer than 500 languages are used and taught in schooling systems worldwide. It has been precisely through the agents of the so-called “consciousness industry” – namely, schools and the mass media – that hegemonic, nationalistic languages have been imposed on very dissimilar populations inhabiting the same nation state, to the detriment of the less prestigious vernacular languages. A clear example of linguistic subjugation occurred at the end of the Middle Ages when Antonio de Nebrija published the first Castilian grammar in 1492 – constituting the first standardization of a modern European tongue. A key reason for this grammatical homogenization was the intent of the Castilian crown to use language as a main tool for spreading a single, nationalist sentiment while suppressing competing vernaculars (Illich 1981). Since Nebrija’s time, the emergence of the consciousness industry and economic globalization have led to such a critical language loss that if present-day evolutions continue, over 90% of these languages will be dead or dying by the year 2100 (Skutnabb-Kangas 2000). To achieve national homogenous linguistic identities, schools employ both overt and covert practices (McCarty 2003; Skutnabb-Kangas 2000): Overt practices include using physical punishment and humiliation if the minority tongue is spoken (e.g., many Native American and Native Alaskan groups experienced direct punishment for speaking their indigenous languages in schools; Català and Euskada were excluded from schools during the Franco dictatorship in Spain), dispersing minority children in special boarding schools far from their homes (e.g., numerous Native American and Native Alaskan groups, Kurds in Turkey, Sámi in Norway and Sweden), and using the vernacular tongue only during a transitional period to help students learn the hegemonic language. Lambert (1975) termed the latter strategy, the most common overt practice in contemporary schools, as “subtractive bilingual

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education.” Covert practices occur through structural means, such as when a sizable group of minority children do not speak the dominant language but no bilingual teachers are provided to assist them, and through ideological means, such as when the minority language is viewed not as a resource but as a handicap (Ruiz 1984). As some scholars argue, “The most significant challenges for… language revitalization efforts… involves transforming the long-term effects of policies and practices that continue to condition language attitudes and choices in favor of [dominant languages] at the expense of mother tongues” (Lomawaima and McCarty 2006, p. 138). In some places, such subtractive ideologies have led to very restrictive language policies that severely constrain the options for bilingual educational programs in the US states such as Arizona, with relatively large numbers of indigenous and immigrant students. In other states such as Alaska, where bilingual education programs are still overtly supported, such subtractive ideologies covertly undermine indigenous language educational efforts, because school funding, personnel, and control over public schools serving indigenous students have become tied to the performance of students on dominant language tests in a new era of accountability. One telling example is a school district in Alaska, nationally recognized for 30 years of efforts to provide culturally and linguistically relevant programming for Native Alaskan students. Yet, at the time of this writing, it appears that some communities, after historically maintaining their indigenous language through many of the forms of overt linguistic oppression listed earlier, are now wavering in their commitment to bilingual education and are choosing to speak English in the hopes of helping their children achieve on a high stakes graduation exam conducted in English, threatening to undermine Alaskan linguistic vitality and diversity (Williams and Rearden 2006). As languages disappear, so does biological diversity. As Luisa Maffi argued in On Biocultural Diversity (2001), there is a close connection between literacy (in the hegemonic language), industrialization, and urbanization. As these increase, there is a concomitant reduction in cultural and biological diversity. Once a language dies out, not only is there a loss in the way of communication, but it also signals the demise of a way of relating to the world. As Paul Nabhan wrote, once a language is gone, the “traditional ecological knowledge about relationships between plants and animals is lost. Indigenous and minority communities are reservoirs of considerable knowledge about rare, threatened, and endemic species” that vanishes once the members of these groups cease to speak the language (2001, p. 151). This lost knowledge represents a missed opportunity to promote the protection and sustainable use of endangered species and fragile ecosystems, as well as cultural traditions that unites the communities. In a report on African languages, it was found that in Mozambique, oral histories and the making of traditional crafts are fading away because the vernacular languages that give life to these traditions are not found in schools. Mozambique has 23 native languages, but the only official one is Portuguese. Paulo Chihale, director of a project that trains Mozambican youth in traditional crafts, said, “Our culture has a rich oral tradition, stories told from one generation to another. But it is an oral literature our kids will never learn. Our culture is dying [because] our sons no longer speak the language of their fathers” and schools do little to protect this linguistic wealth (see Leonard 2005).

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However, even when indigenous languages do find a rightful place in schools, they may unwillingly displace less prestigious indigenous languages. While Tétum appears to have a hospitable future in terms of its schooling presence, the same cannot be said for the 15 or so other indigenous languages in East Timor, because at this point, there are no plans to include them in any systematic basis in public schools. Clearly, no society has enough resources to ensure the introduction of all indigenous languages in the schools’ curriculum, but the greater political clout of some indigenous languages over others – as measured by the number of speakers and access to political and economic spheres of influence – ultimately determines their greater prominence in schools. The institutionalization of Tétum may in fact have the unwanted effect of destabilizing the presence of other indigenous languages (and even nonstandard variants of Tétum), as has been suggested to have occurred in Tanzania with the institutionalization of Swahili (Blommaert 2005a, b). When Swahili was implemented in Tanzania in its primary schools since the 1960s as a liberatory and revolutionary strategy, it had the effect of relegating the other 100-plus indigenous languages to a subordinate position. One author even remarked that “Swahili, rather than a world language such as English, may be the main direct threat to the existence of minority languages” in Tanzania (Blommaert 2005a, p. 499). The Tanzanian example underscores the above-mentioned point that indigenous language education efforts are inherently situated. When schools serve children from multiple indigenous groups, clearly the goals and methods of indigenous language education must be considered in light of all students in the school.

6.3.5â•…Modern Schools Promote the Commodification of Education As the number of years of compulsory schooling has increased over the decades and “successful” preparation for adulthood is partly determined by the amount and type of schooling one gets, students have become “consumers” of education (Illich 1977). Pecuniary rewards and social status are largely determined by the academic degrees that one possesses, thus transforming education and knowledge into commodities that are bought and sold in the market. This has led to a swelling of academic degrees for jobs that previously did not require them, something chastised at least since the 1960s when the concept of the credential society was coined (Collins 1979). Authors from this line of thinking claimed that while a small proportion of new employment (an estimated 15%) did require specialized skills that could be obtained through further schooling – and thus justify the acquisition of an advanced degree – the vast majority required the same skills that were needed decades ago (e.g., Dore 1976; Zajda 2008). Today, the amount of knowledge and skill required by secretaries, teachers, lawyers, assembly-line workers, sales people, bus drivers, and administrators have not changed much, and whatever new skills are required – especially related to operating computers – can be learned on the job during the first few months of employment (Oppenheimer 2003).

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Schooling has become such a powerful force in society that it currently partially defines people’s personal and professional worth. As Gellner wrote, “The employability, dignity, security, and self-respect of individuals…now hinges on their education” (1983, p. 36, italics in the original). The overrating of formal paper qualifications has led to the disregard and disdain for the informal, intimate transmission of skills. Accredited centers of learning have virtually become the only spaces where transmission of knowledge is deemed legitimate in the eyes of the employers. An understanding of the commodification of education allows us to acknowledge that as a society we could retain the same standard of living with much less formal education. It also allows us to grasp why truth and justice have become secondary to crass commercialization and consumerism. As O’Farrell (1999, p. 14) said, The question asked by the state, by students, by schools and universities is no longer “is it true” but “is this knowledge useful?” In an environment where money is all, this question also becomes “how much money can be made out of this knowledge?” and further “will this knowledge make the process of making money more efficient?” In short, knowledge is no longer assessed in terms of its truth or falsity or its promotion of justice, but in terms of its efficiency at making money.

This attitude has resulted in the devaluing of local knowledge that has little worth in terms of enhancing an employer’s or a nation’s economic productivity. As governments gear curriculum standards to meet the goals of national economies, oral traditions and knowledge that do not have a built-in value that can be measured in the economic market have become irrelevant. As Illich (1977, p. 82) wrote about the prevailing attitude, most people have come to believe that “only through schooling can an individual prepare for adulthood in society, [and consequently] what is not taught in school is of little value, what is learned outside of school is not worth knowing.”

6.4â•…Evaluation In light of the previous discussion on the characteristics of modern, Western education, does this mean that the efforts by practitioners of indigenous education are futile? Does the juggernaut of Western schooling nullify the work of indigenous education? We do not believe so. Supporters and practitioners of indigenous education are correct in defending this pedagogy for three main reasons. First, indigenous education is important now more than ever because the prestige and pecuniary benefits associated with modernity are such that, without a minimal counteracting force, the virtual annihilation of native languages and customs worldwide will continue unabated. In terms of language revitalization, while schools are not the only site for language reclamation, they nonetheless constitute a key place where this may occur. Second, as a result of the migration of large segments of indigenous groups to urban areas in search of a higher standard of living, many of these new urbanite families are forced to live in squalor and destitution owing to unfair economic conditions. In urban areas, neither do children tend to have the support

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networks that they might have enjoyed in their ancestral homelands nor do they receive fundamental ancestral knowledge that kept the community together. Schools have the potential to pick up where the community has left off. And third, the reality in most urban areas is that poor families might realize a modicum of economic well-being only by accruing academic credentials that open doors to modern employment. While there is no guarantee that these diplomas will secure employment, without formal education they have even less hope of leaving the ranks of the underclass. The challenge is to guarantee that children learn the language and symbols of power while still retaining – and, in many cases, recuperating – their vernacular cultural wealth. In sum, we do believe that indigenous educators and their non-indigenous allies can improve schooling for indigenous children through a renewed push for a more systemic centering around indigenous epistemologies as a way to counter homogenizing forces that undermine indigenous education efforts (McCarty et€al. 2005). At the same time, supporters and practitioners of indigenous education must address several issues in the process: First, they must go far beyond superficially adding isolated pieces of cultural praxis onto the existing structure of schools. If educators want students to progress beyond a tourist-level appreciation of cultural difference, we need to reconceptualize the form and content of public schooling, including the introduction of indigenous languages as a main vehicle of communication. Such a rethinking offers important opportunities for improving the educational achievement of indigenous students (Lomawaima and McCarty 2006). As pointed out by a leading Maori educator, Linda Smith, and as we have shown here, “indigenous frameworks for thinking about schooling [also] present new and different ways to think through the purpose, practices, and outcomes of schooling systems” (2005, p. 94). The increasing numbers of scholars recognize that these opportunities have the potential to benefit not only indigenous students but all students and all those who seek to understand how education might foster a more just society (Barnhardt and Kawagley 2005; Lomawaima and McCarty 2006; Tharp 2006). Second, proponents of indigenous education need to be cautious to avoid essentializing indigenous cultures and believing that they remain static over time. This is problematic because minority cultures (like all cultures) are fluid and experience change, both in urban, multicultural settings, as well as in rural, ethnically homogenous ones. New hybrid cultural forms tend to emerge, which have even brought some observers to suggest that “indigenous” and “modern” need not be oppositional terms (McCarty 2002, p. 191). These syncretic manifestations need to be acknowledged by educators and should find a legitimate space in the schools’ curriculum. A related danger with essentializing indigenous groups is to focus on ethnicity as the only identification marker. This runs the risk of masking a variety of realities (including other forms of oppression) that occur within all cultural groups. While ethnicity may be the primary identification marker for many of its members, for some oppressed social groups, other markers may be just as salient—e.g., as in the case of gays and lesbians, people with physical disabilities, or women. When the Zapatistas went to the Mexican Congress in 2001, a short Maya woman

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dressed in white with embroidered flowers and a ski mask covering her head, stood at the podium and told the crowd: “Here I am. I am a woman and I am an Indian, and through my voice speaks the National Liberation Zapatista Army” (Marcos 2006, p. 69). Comandanta (sic) Esther, one of the Zapatistas’ most important leaders, was letting the world know by placing woman before Indian that her reality was a complex one that should not be simplified through the prism of ethnicity alone. Her speech embodied the idea that indigenous cultures are neither monolithic nor static and that they want the right to decide what and when to preserve and what and when to transform their cultures. Leading scholars of indigenous education have shown how essentialized views of indigenous cultures commonly lead to assumptions about indigenous children as one-dimensional learners. Even when these assumptions are based on positive stereotypes of Native learners as holistic, ecological, or visual, such assumptions can lead teachers to lower expectations in the classroom, leading to the further educational marginalization of indigenous students (Deyhle and Swisher 1997; Lomawaima and McCarty 2006; Ongtooguk 2000). While we have presented common tenets of indigenous education, we have also demonstrated how indigenous knowledge is situated, multilayered, and must be fostered within young people’s relationships to specific histories, geographical spaces, and dynamic communities. Practitioners of indigenous education need to be mindful of the multiple and dynamic realities of indigenous students, the depth of indigenous knowledge systems, as well as the tribal histories, contemporary circumstances of students’ communities, and institutional dynamics of power, to integrate indigenous ways of knowing sensitively and powerfully into the schools’ curriculum. And third, in following the lessons from the deschooling movement, it must be recognized that indigenous education faces continuous struggles as it attempts to mitigate the commodity fetish that education has become. By synthesizing existing literature and our own experiences as researchers, here, we have underscored the complexity of indigenous education by articulating contradictory assumptions that currently produce common tension points, pressures, and areas of struggle for indigenous education efforts. For instance, in a work examining over a century of Native American education, Lomawaima and McCarty documented how, throughout the history of indigenous education in the USA, there have existed two very different, yet coexistent realities: [First, the] reality of a revolution in Indigenous education, of opportunity seized by Native people in the name of self-determination [and second, the reality] of an entrenched federal bureaucracy that… has protected its own powers and stifled Native self-determination at every turn. When Indigenous realities have crossed the line between allowable, safe difference and radical, threatening difference, federal control has been reasserted in explicit, diffuse, and unmistakably constricting ways. (Lomawaima and McCarty 2006, pp. 168–169).

In sum, governments tend to support the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in formal schooling efforts to the extent that they remain nonthreatening to assumptions

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upholding the governing body itself, and to a key goal of contemporary educational reform, namely, to support late industrial capitalism. In this context, the goal of education has been, to a large degree, the earning of a certificate to amass individual mobility, material wealth, and high status, along with grossly inflated levels of production and consumption (Holt 1976; Illich 1977). A realistic appraisal of the possibilities for change should include the acknowledgment that without concomitant changes in other sectors of the society, particularly, the economic one, the undervaluing of noncommodified knowledge and practices will persist, with profound cultural losses for all of us. Yet, along with other leaders in the field of indigenous education, we believe that these challenges call for a continuing effort to deepen, rather than abandon or back away from, engagement with indigenous epistemologies and ways of knowing in formal educational efforts. As shown by Lomawaima and McCarty (2006), historically in the USA, even when efforts to incorporate indigenous ways of knowing into formal educational efforts have been severely constrained and controlled by the kinds of hegemonic forces described within, some of these efforts have been “remarkable harbingers of new possibilities, new visions for Indian education” for their time (Lomawaima and McCarty 2006, p. 108). For instance, in the 1930–1950s, in the USA, non-Native employees and academic experts often controlled the production of indigenous bilingual materials production in ways that “blatantly intended to acculturate readers” by “gently guiding [indigenous students] away from the values of their own society and toward the Protestant work ethic” (2006, p. 92). Even within such constraints, as Lomawaima and McCarty showed, individual indigenous educators, such as the Hopi translators who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the above-mentioned effort, were sometimes able to find avenues for infusing materials with terms that provided windows into unique ways of knowing. While these efforts later rightly came to be seen as severely flawed from a perspective of indigenous education, within the history of indigenous education in the USA, the same efforts “laid a foundation that later generations built on, directly or indirectly, as Native people increasingly took hold” (2006, p. 108) of the local processes and mechanisms of Indian education. As such, even such flawed steps represented “important steps in the journey toward increasing self-determination at the levels of educational policymaking and control” (ibid).

6.5â•…Conclusion The main aim of this chapter has been to serve as a heuristic device that spells out the specific challenges faced by schools serving indigenous populations as they confront modern hegemonic educational practices. As national systems of education exist to consolidate the nation state, construct the modern citizen, and strengthen capitalist labor formation, they end up colliding with an indigenous education that seeks first and foremost to recuperate noncommodified vernacular

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knowledge critical for sustainable living. Even when the mandates from the central or regional government are flexible, allowing schools ample space to create their own programs, the pressures for resorting to the more conventional pedagogies and knowledge transmission are still too great. At this point, a caveat is in order. We do not believe that the experience of schooling for indigenous children will inevitably lead to a series of educational problems typically associated with subordinated minority children (e.g., low grades, low self-esteem, high levels of dropout). Children from indigenous communities can certainly succeed in school and eventually may even occupy positions of high status in society. As shown by Sonia Nieto (1992), John Ogbu (2003), James Banks and Cherry McGee Banks (2004), and others, schooling affects different minority communities and different individuals within each community in varied ways. The likelihood that a child will do well will depend on a host of factors related to the larger context of schooling, including the degree of the cultural mismatch between home life and school life, students’ and families’ oppositional relationships to schools, racism and discrimination, financial inequities suffered by poor schools, and particular interactions between the teacher and child. Our argument, however, is not related to the possibility that children may accrue the necessary cultural capital to do well in school and eventually amass the alleged benefits of modern society (e.g., individual mobility, material wealth, high status). It is also not our intent to devalue the ongoing efforts of educators and indigenous community members. Rather, we have pointed out the need to maintain a broad perspective on the goals of education itself and the value of questioning Western educational assumptions so that indigenous children might maintain connections to knowledge and traditions that historically have kept their communities together and attached to the land in harmonious ways. We have also shown how and when this broad perspective is lost; both indigenous and mainstream children lose important opportunities for deepening their connections and understanding the specific places, traditions, and communities. Though schools can play a role in reversing the cultural loss, educators must be mindful of the imperative to continuously re-invent indigenous education to ensure that it honors the basic cultural tenets of the ethnic groups that it serves, recognizes the hybrid nature of many indigenous practices, and uses learning as a spring board to foster social and environmental well-being.

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Chapter 7

Global Agendas in Special Education: A Critique Margaret Winzer and Kas Mazurek

7.1â•…Global Agendas in Special Education In the most general terms, special education is a system and practice designed to accommodate students who are different from the average in some or many areas of functioning. The students served have traits and characteristics that demand unique and individual programming. Traditionally, special education services have been presented apart from the general stream in settings, such as special schools, special classrooms, and resource rooms. Today, the appropriateness of educating students with special needs in segregated settings, as well as the classification and placement of some students in this system for the majority of their educational experiences, is under attack in many countries. In opposition to a separate and dual system of education for students with special needs, the idea of inclusive schooling has piqued the interest of educators, legislators, and parents. Indeed, as a growing number of stakeholders around the world begin to accept and enact the premises of inclusive education, it has become a “global agenda” (see Pijl et€al. 1997). In its philosophical guise, inclusive schooling for students with special needs is grounded in quite specific conceptions of social justice, ethics, and rights. These are an outgrowth of a liberal-democratic social philosophy focusing on individual civil rights, mobilizing the discourse of equity, and guided by axiomatic moral imperatives. Operationalized, inclusive schooling demands modification of the traditional schooling paradigm to ensure curricula and instruction suit all children, while bringing new instructional and management challenges together with expanded responsibilities to general classroom teachers. While growing numbers of nations pro forma embrace the philosophy of inclusive education, surprisingly little scholarly attention is being paid to de facto realities of

M. Winzer (*) University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada e-mail: [email protected] K. Mazurek University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drine, Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 3M4 Canada e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_7, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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implementation in various national and cultural settings. Investigation of the latter yields the realization that nations are not at all reluctant to tailor the philosophy and processes of inclusion to their unique political, cultural, economic, and educational realities. The inevitable result is widely varied policies, legislation, administrative arrangements and practices, and ways in which teachers and parents conceptualize and implement the inclusive education reform agenda (e.g., Winzer et€al. 2003). The paucity of knowledge about how national and cultural contexts impact the implementation of inclusive schooling is grounded in the fact that comparative studies in special education is only now emerging as an active domain of study. As research agendas solidify, the complex conceptual, methodological, and pragmatic problems that stand in the way of rigorous and systematic research in this area become more apparent. The extant literature shows increasing numbers of single nation case studies, but these tend to examine only the surface structure. That is, the rules, policies, and differences in domains of concepts and practice in inclusive special education are noted, but studies often fail to engage with deeper variables of culture, history, national identity, perceptions of disability, and family and community processes. Nor have the effects of globalization and the new possibilities of democratic influences on fundamental educational practices and issues as they affect persons with disabilities been explored. And, as many persons with disabilities cannot speak authoritatively about their own lived worlds, the experiences of disablement have not been captured. This chapter examines special education and the inclusion of children and youth with disabilities into general classrooms from a global perspective. It analyzes the political and cultural dimensions of educational policymaking, and examines cultural, ideological, and economic relationships of schooling, society, and disability. Although the authors are critical of the narrowly ideological calls for inclusive schooling proposed by international agencies, our criticisms must not be interpreted as an implicit advocation for separate and dual systems of special education as the only or necessarily best alternative. Rather, we allow that, as a social and educational principle, inclusion can be advocated unequivocally. In this chapter, we do not argue either for or against the principles of inclusion. However, we do argue that both the theory and practice of inclusive education, in general, and inclusive education for students with special needs, in particular, is alien to many national, cultural, economic, and political contexts. Accordingly, attempts to introduce them are, and will continue to be, beset by problems that may be overwhelming and, perhaps, insurmountable.

7.2â•…Inclusive Schooling for Students with Special Needs In the broadest sense, the ideological basis for the inclusion of persons with disabilities into all facets of educational and community life reflects recent large-scale political and social changes in attitudes toward disenfranchised and oppressed groups. With social justice and equal rights to the forefront, rallying cries to identify, challenge, and remove all barriers to participation emerged in the late-1960s under the banners of civil rights, normalization, and the “handicapism” movements. By the late 1970s, the calls by persons with disabilities and their advocates for increased

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participation had significantly gained strength and credibility from the general school reform movement, which had engulfed many western nations. Of the many strands of school reform, the one most pertinent to disabled groups was the movement to include more diverse student populations. As applied broadly to all schools and student populations, educational inclusion is an encompassing notion of social justice manifested as an expression of concern for safeguarding the rights of all students. Individuals are not to be restricted or excluded because of their unalterable traits. Rather, an inclusive school is one that is flexible and organized to meet the unique needs of all students. Within an inclusive environment, “everyone belongs, is accepted, and is supported while having individual education needs met” (Barnes and Lehr 1993, p. 820). While the inclusive movement began with its focus entirely on general education practices and outcomes, by the 1980s, the idea of inclusion in special education (also referred to as inclusive schooling, inclusive education and, occasionally, progressive inclusion) had fully emerged. It built on philosophies and conceptions borrowed from the general education system, joined this to general dissatisfaction with special education as it was then practiced, and added emerging changes in attitudes and perceptions about persons with disabilities and their educational and civil rights. A series of statements from international bodies helped to facilitate a climate of worldwide commitment to the education of individuals with disabilities, and placed political pressure on agencies to recognize special needs as a human rights issue. For example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations 1989) establishes standards for the realization of children’s civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Adopted by the United Nations in November 1989, the Convention recognizes that all children are citizens-in-becoming and therefore have fundamental rights that must be available to them, that is, provision, protection, and participation rights. The Convention also speaks to additional supports required by children with disabilities above and beyond those promised to nondisabled children. Article 23 of the Convention states: Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended … shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and spiritual development.

The United Nations followed with the 1993 Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. Next, in 1994, the so-called Salamanca Meeting on special needs attracted 300 participants representing 92 governments and 25 international organizations. The fruit of their labors was a manifest titled Statement of Principles, Policy, and Practice in Special Needs Education. Accompanying the Salamanca Statement was another document, The Framework for Action. It added a further flourish and developed the argument by

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providing guidelines for action. The Framework for Action stressed the value of education in the general school system for all student populations, and prompted the abandonment of special schools and special classes in favor of more inclusive practices (see Smith-Davis 2002; UNESCO 1994). Salamanca proclaimed that “those with special educational needs must have access to regular schools which should accommodate them within a child-centered pedagogy capable of meeting their needs” while “assignment of children to special schools – or special classes or sections within a school on a permanent basis – should be the exception” (see Smith-Davis 2002; UNESCO 1994). The UN Convention of 1989, together with the 1993 Rules and the 1994 Salamanca Statement, have received significant support from the world community and, as a means of stimulating educational change, have been extremely powerful. Within a general, widespread, demand to establish individual rights as a centerpiece in policymaking, they placed inclusive education for students with special needs firmly on the social change agenda. So much so that Thomas (1997) was led to observe that, “The desegregationalist and antidiscriminatory political environment is now international and it seems impossible that its direction will be reversed” (p. 106). Yet, despite Thomas’ uplifting and optimistic claims, in many countries inclusive schooling remains an elusive dream. Even with the impetus provided by powerful international organizations, the tireless presentation of the political language of inclusive schooling, a globalization movement that ensures that localized initiatives are placed within an international framework, and the current emphasis on baseline worldwide individual rights to education, inclusive schooling for children and youth with disabilities is systematically distorted, modified, ignored, and/or rejected at the national level. Cultural specificity may be glossed over by international mandates, but reform efforts, even those ostensibly global or international, proceed stubbornly in ways that are heavily nation bound. In the case of inclusive schooling, a tension often exists between international policy perspectives and local social and educational values, practices, and political/economic constraints. To elucidate the tensions plaguing the international inclusive special education movement, two broad contexts will be examined. One context is the degree to which the principles of inclusive education are reified in specific education policies and faithfully implemented by professional educators. The issues therein are of a practical and professional nature. The second context is more foundational. It is the suggestion that there is a fundamental incompatibility between the ideology of inclusion and some national and cultural values.

7.3â•…Inclusive Schooling: Difficulties in Translating Principles into Policies into Practices Globally, millions of individuals are disabled; of these people, 80% live in developing countries. Prevalence figures are scattered but it appears that more than 200 million children worldwide have special educational needs, and the numbers are

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increasing by an estimated 2% annually. Today, many nations have accepted the democratic dialog of inclusion as promoted by the United Nations and other international groups, and have drafted legislation and policies to facilitate equal educational access and opportunity for students with special needs. However, while liberal ideologies at the international level may influence policymaking at the national level, their influence on policy implementation may be minimal and educational reform initiatives may be only tacit. The gap between rhetoric and reality, between promise and practice, is often enormous. To examine the dissonance, the typology developed by Mazurek and Winzer (1994) in their comparative studies of special education may prove helpful. Founded on different nations’ approaches to and progress toward educational integration, the typology categorized inclusive education into four broad groupings – limited; emerging; segregated but approaching inclusion; and fully committed to inclusion. One needs to keep in mind that detailing such a typology is fraught with the impression that distinct positions exist. Rather, the overlaps between positions are much more prevalent than the separation of perspectives, with change being the constant in the enterprise. In countries where integration is limited, political and economic instability, together with bureaucratic inefficiency, equates with poor or absent services for people with disabilities. Overwhelming barriers to progress include momentous political transformations, civil war, profound ruptures in family and social relationships resulting from war, refugees, crushing external debt payments, the flight of capital, exponential population growth, poor sanitation, malnutrition, and inadequate healthcare (see Csapo 1993). To this list of constraining and severely limited social and economic resources can be added precarious public education systems where the primary necessity lies in resolving the overwhelming need for universal elementary education. When integration is of a limited nature, intervention targets are prioritized for persons with special needs; it is the overt and traditional disabilities that are served first, most often under the auspices of religious groups or other nongovernmental organizations. This is inevitable in situations where scarce resources must be allocated to meet€almost unlimited social needs. After the normative categories of deaf, blind, and severe intellectual disabilities, others tend to fall by the wayside (Csapo 1993). Inclusive education is talked about, possibly celebrated, but little action ensues. For the vast majority of children with special needs, who must rely on the state, officially rhetoric is often present, action is not. As examples only, Pakistan in 1992 estimated that 4.6 million children and young people would need special education. Yet, in 2001, Fontana and Lari reported that “The education of children with special needs in Pakistan is an area which is grossly neglected and in need of urgent attention” (2001, p. 21). In neighboring India, with one of the world’s lowest per-capita incomes, few provisions have been made for children with disabilities: it was not until 1992 that India enacted its first piece of legislation related to special education. In 1995, the government of India enacted the Persons with Disabilities Act to grant full rights to those disabled. This was followed by a 1999 Act for persons with significant

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disabilities. However, rhetoric outweighs operation: there seems to be little consensus on how individual states will find the funding for implementation (Raven 2001). Abosi (2000) points out that “Most African governments have accepted integration as the best form of education for people with disabilities without considering the implications” (p. 49). For example, in Botswana a 1993 report advised equalizing opportunities and pronounced inclusion as policy, but concrete plans have not been put into force (Abosi 2000). Similarly, the People’s Republic of China is a nation coping with high youth and adult illiteracy rates and high dropout rates of children aged 6–14. In spite of these challenges, China’s investment in its education system, as a percentage of GNP, is far below both the world average and the average of developing countries (see Law 2000). In spite of this, the Compulsory Education Law of 1986 required schools to accept students with special needs. The school entrance ratio of students with disabilities rose from 6% to 60% between 1987 and 1996, and a large majority of these were in general classrooms (see Deng et€al. 2001). Thus, what at first glance seems like an impressive accomplishment and incredible advance for inclusive special education in that nation must be questioned. One wonders, in light of severe economic restraints, high illiteracy, and continuing inability to provide even universal compulsory schooling for its children, about the degree to which appropriate services can be provided for children with special needs in China’s general classrooms. Other nations, while enjoying dramatically more fortuitous economic circumstances, which allow them to meet the needs of their special needs student populations, nevertheless choose to do so within the framework of limited integration. Thailand, for example, retains a complex of special schools in spite of the National Education Act of 1999, which mandates that every school provide opportunities for all children with disabilities to be included in general school programs. The law is not backed by government funding and faces resistance from some administrators and teachers (Fulk et€ al. 2002). In Singapore, service delivery is managed by voluntary welfare organizations. Although a 1988 report advised inclusive schooling (Lim and Nam 2000), special education services are generally provided outside the mainstream and there is no legislation regarding the provision of special education and related services within general school environments. However, mild disabilities are usually in the general system (Lim and Nam 2000). In Mexico, while equity of access is a major component of special education, inclusion is not fully embraced for all students with disabilities (Shepherd et€al. 2002). Turning to Europe, many nations can legitimately boast of a long and honorable history in the area of special education, yet see special classes and special schools as desirable and defensible. Currently, special schools remain across Europe and nations are only cautiously discussing new paradigms. In Germany, as an example, more than 97% of all students with disabilities are in separate special schools (Cloerkes 1998). Despite the educational reforms that embrace differentiation and democratization, Russia still operates primarily at the level of separation (Pervova 1999). Similarly, Japan has three types of special schools for those blind, deaf, and otherwise disabled such as students with physical disabilities or mental retardation.

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A small number of students with special needs are in segregated classrooms (Sugai and Takuma 1990). As for nations that are rapidly approaching inclusive schooling for students with disabilities, some still find that policies proposed by governments and school legislation are disposed of in different ways within the parameters of individual schools and classrooms. A political will is manifest, but the integration of all students who are exceptional into general milieus remains professionally and socially controversial, and relatively precarious. Israel, for example, boasts of a well-funded and professional special education system that is witnessing inclusive schooling for students with special needs as both policy and practice (Gumpel and Awartani 2003). Nevertheless, a recent Israeli study on teacher attitudes concluded that “Teachers simply did not regard the child with special needs as part of their professional responsibility” (Reiter et€al. 1998, p. 45). Finally, a number of western industrialized nations have specified full commitment to inclusive practices and the rate of inclusion has increased consistently and substantially in the past decade. On the surface, it may appear that such nations have fully succeeded in implementing inclusive special education. Yet, on examination, it is evident that their schools are more prepared to implement the form of inclusion and less prepared to deal with the substance of it. In result, inclusive schooling is viewed as a discretionary responsibility rather than a core value of the system. Canada, for example, has seen a major paradigm shift toward inclusive special education in the past decade. But, many researchers and observers focus on the lack of a carefully conceptualized blueprint and note that the policy of inclusion is not entirely uncontested. Implementation varies widely from province to province and even among neighboring school boards. So far, reform efforts have been piecemeal and fragmented, and clearly less effective than anticipated (Lupart 1998). In fact, Lupart (1999) observes that “The school structures and school support systems of most schools in Canada are hopelessly ill equipped to achieve the educational goal of fostering continuous progress and appropriate educational services for all students” (p. 220). In many provinces, the right to placement is mediated by practicality, the degree to which a placement is feasible or workable. In the USA, the number of students with disabilities educated in general education classrooms have risen steadily, although the degree to which students with disabilities are included varies greatly across states and districts (Carlson 1998). Federal US law is clear and prescriptive, promoting increasingly stronger connections among students’ educational experiences, the content of the general curriculum, and assessments of student performance (Rouse et€ al. 2000). But Michael Giangreco (2001) notes that, even after 25 years and a prescriptive law in the USA, there are many interpretations evidenced by “the steady stream of administrative complaints, mediation, due process hearings, and litigation regarding special education issues where opposing lawyers and dueling ‘experts’ argue over their interpretations of the law” (p. 341). In England, Clark and colleagues (1999a, b) have been engaged in a long-term study of inclusion at multiple schools. In spite of their continued optimism about inclusion and the potential of schools to meet the needs of all students, they make

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the claim that special education continues to be a “mechanism for perpetuating discriminations, disadvantage, and even oppression” (1999a, p. 38). Teacher tensions are prominent. For example, in another study of British primary teachers (Vlochou and Barton 1994), the researchers found teacher frustrations with widespread changes in demands made on them and with increased responsibilities for students with disabilities. The above evidence leads to the conclusion that, under both the worst and best of circumstances, inclusion of children with special needs in many nations is sometimes mere rhetoric devoid of substance. On other occasions, it is partial implementation. In all cases, it is characterized by great variations in approach and implementation. In what follows, we argue that cultural obstacles and social attitudes may make it unlikely that many nations can hope to go beyond the decidedly limited successes we have noted.

7.4â•…Inclusive Schooling: The Problem of Culture Clash As used in this study, culture is broadly defined as “ways of perceiving, evaluating, and behaving”. It is little surprising that the significant power of culture is fundamental in shaping attitudes toward disability. Each culture has its own interpretations and explanations, based on its unique forms of knowledge, belief systems, values, language, and religions, as to why some children are born with disabilities; appropriate ways of defining what constitutes a disability; how people with disabilities are to be treated; parental coping mechanisms and the manner of responding to a child’s impairment; and the roles expected of community and society. Cultural responses to disability have been documented. For example, Linton (1998) describes how some African tribes define disability and how disabled persons are accorded inferior status or more draconian responses. As another instance, about 90 million Indians have disabilities. The traditional societal pattern has been rejection and prejudice or, sometimes, charity (see Raven 2001). The family is largely responsible for a member with a disability (Vakil et€al. 2002); many parents believe that children with disabilities are a gift – or a punishment – from God. Similarly, some Thai parents believe that a child with a disability means that they are being punished for wrongs committed in a previous life. One interesting exception is that some Chinese-Thai families hold that having a child with Down syndrome may bring them good luck (Fulk et€al. 2002). Many families in Mexico hold the traditional view of a person’s disability as God’s judgment on the family (Cieloha 1986). From Australia, Gray (1995) reported that 25% of the parents of children with autism mentioned religious, magical, or psychological reasons as the cause of their child’s disability. Cultural constraints on the expression of disorder may be seen in some countries. Asian cultures frequently show a high level of parental control, which aims at disciplining children and making them obedient to adults. For example, Cheong (1996) reports on studies from the Philippines and Thailand showing that direct

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aggression is frowned upon and rarely manifested. Disability and poor behavior may bring shame to the entire family or may be seen as a punishment for the sins of ancestors or parents. For other parents, a disability is viewed as a type of illness and deemed sufficient reason for nonenrollment in school. Parents of these children are not thinking in terms of educational intervention and may, indeed, find any interference in the family domain to be unwarranted, or they may even see it as a defiance of divine will (see Cheong 1996; Winzer 2009). Equally potent in the cultural mix are the profound differences seen in education systems, in the experiences of schools and students, in conceptions of the mission of schools, and even in ideas about the meaning and value of learning. The social milieu in which a nation’s schools operate impacts significantly upon the quality of the schools, the type and nature of instruction, the content of the curriculum, and the achievement of students. Educators differ in the cultural parameters of self-realization, in their understanding of what constitutes worthwhile knowledge, in their recognition of what it is to be disadvantaged in education, how it originates, and of what the possibilities are for intervention. In light of this, one fundamental question must be asked. That is, what consequences are there when an ideology of inclusive education rooted in a specific liberal democratic notion of equality and social justice is proposed for societies and education systems that hold different, even antithetical, views?

7.5â•…Evaluation Held (1991) defined globalization as “the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (p. 9). The significance of globalization in the daily lives of the globe’s diverse citizens is profound. “In a general sense, globalization involves a combination of broad cultural, economic, political, and technological forces that are changing the ground rules for human interaction on a worldwide scale” (Kachur and Harrison 2000, p. xvi). In the discrete field of special education, international mandates outline a world view of education for students with special needs to the extent that placing inclusive schooling on national agendas has been elevated to a dominant ideology in recent decades. Such international mandates are couched in an absolutist language of rights and moral imperatives (see Dyson 1999). Under the strict rules of the equality agenda, full inclusion is valorized as the norm or the baseline for all nations; the sole route to addressing social and educational issues. To operationalize inclusion, the reasoning goes, the community, courts of law, the government, indeed all of society must be made to change to accommodate and accept individuals with disabilities. Schools are to complement this process by reinventing themselves as supportive and collegial communities that employ instructional approaches that are cooperative, inclusive, and collaborative. In general, the present phase of globalization can be viewed as Eurocentric in its origins, neoliberal in its orientation, and based on an integration and

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Â� assimilation of differences within a presumed “world culture.” A powerful Â�ethnocentrism permeates calls for educational reform, as though the West holds a monopoly on special education services and is to be emulated for exemplary practices and enlightened vision. Indeed, the current discourses on inclusive schooling, and many of special education’s basic concepts, have developed in individualistic cultures such as the USA. Western models, mandates, and putative educational knowledge are being exported wholesale. The universality of application is moot. The above leads to four fundamental concerns. First is that social and cultural contexts that are highly different from the Western roots of inclusion render direct translations treacherous. Inclusion involves struggles around one particular vision of social justice and equity based on one ideology of universal human rights. However, the particular social justice vision embedded in the ideology of inclusion is not a unitary or universally shared concept (see Christenson and Dorn 1997). The development of an emancipatory paradigm in which divisive inequalities, discriminations, and exclusionary practices are erased can be fully affected only within a particular cultural view, which is supported by complementary political and professional contexts. Otherwise, there is cultural/ideological clash. When basic assumptions are very different, the result is often polarized variations in educational philosophy. Attributions regarding the causation of disabling conditions, their developmental consequences, the potential of students with special needs for learning and contributing to society, and so on, influence the pace and efficacy of educational reform expressed by inclusive schooling. Unfortunately, in both traditional and modern societies, the social landscapes of people with disabilities has been pathologized and marginalized, surrounded by labels and oppressive terminology, and resulting prejudices have led to discrimination and exclusion. Accordingly, advocates for inclusion also must examine participation in society as well as the provision of schooling and care. While the ideology of inclusion calls for and legitimates equality, reality is characterized by starkly unequal social distribution. Scholarly examinations therefore must look to the social participation of rates of persons with disabilities in various milieus, the differing missions of school systems, and the uneven willingness and readiness of schools and teachers to embrace inclusive philosophies and practices. In sum, inclusive schooling alone cannot transform noninclusive societies. Advocates may speak for the need to transform the collective identity of persons with disabilities from one of stigma to one of value, but such a transformation is a mind set, not easily translated into reality merely through topdown fiats, legislation, or mandates from international bodies. Commonly held ideas about disability, shaped by centuries of myth, tradition, custom and social values, cannot be quickly washed away by the argument, however cogent, that those ideas are pernicious to the disabled. Forging new images will not occur rapidly, and the status of persons with disabilities will not change until negative ideologies and beliefs about disablement are dismantled and replaced with positive new values and beliefs.

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Second, there are inherent contradictions within the phenomenon of globalization itself. For example, on the one hand, the ideology of inclusive schooling, firmly rooted in notions of social justice and humanism, is spreading across the globe and demanding national and cultural realignment in accordance with its Weltanschauung. Yet, at the same time, individuals recognize that formal education plays a key role in fostering or hindering entry and success into the labor market. Within many school systems, the race for credentials is seen as a legitimization for employment, protection, and security. Thus education is viewed “as an investment that, by increasing an individual’s human capital, knowledge, or expertise, will pay off in the future in the form of increased earnings” (Hurn 1993, p. 48). By extension “what is true for individuals is also true for whole societies. A societal decision to invest more in education and thus to increase the stock of human capital can be seen as rational because it increases overall productivity and, in the long run at least, economic growth” (Hurn 1993, pp. 48–49). Therefore, governments are not ambivalent about espousing an unabashedly instrumental economic purpose for schooling; for many, the primary driving force of education is to improve the economic potential of the country to ensure competitiveness in a global economy. The reality is that national and regional governments tend to view schooling in terms of human capital theory. In such a climate, disability is not an innocuous boundary; rather it is a liability in social and economic participation. People with disabilities are not viewed as serious building blocks in the construction of economically viable societies. As nonproducers, or underproducers, they may be seen to drain resources or deflect attention from other needs and it is likely that arguments based in economic utility will marginalize special learners as they are placed in the territory of nonproductive citizens. An encounter with schools themselves indicates that economic and social conditions both define and drive educational arrangements and possibilities. Many systems endorse the accountability dynamic of education and market forms, which equate with efficiency and accountability. On the other hand, the social transformation ideals, which are inherent in inclusion promote school structures and pedagogies that are egalitarian, affirming, and play a key role in eliminating social injustices. Inclusive schooling is intended to liberate oppressed and subordinated groups and to empower students to determine the trajectory of their own lives. However, although inclusion may aspire to become the master paradigm capable of leading all others, the twin dogmas of efficiency and effectiveness clash with and may subsequently counter the egalitarian ideals nestled within the inclusive movement. Third, at the operational level, inclusive schooling translates into great pressure to impose changes on schools and teachers. An inclusive agenda demands, to a greater or lesser degree, that countries forfeit some or all of their pedagogical cultures. All teachers are expected to transform their professional knowledge and their pedagogy in order to be more instructionally diverse with a broader repertoire of effective teaching practices. But teachers must not be assumed to be so malleable, and we must recognize that the possibility and pace of change are

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dependent on their wills and ideological dispositions. Many classroom teachers are minimally equipped to provide for the needs of those not responding to group instruction. North American evidence, for example, documents the inability or unwillingness of regular classroom educators to incorporate inclusive strategies into general education (Fuchs and Fuchs 1995). And, as Slee (1999) points out, “National frameworks for teacher training are not framed to produce the critically reflective practitioners or cultural workers who ought to teach in inclusive schools” (p. 204). Fourth and finally is the irony that even as the calls for inclusion intensify at the global level, the desirability and efficacy of inclusive schooling in the West, as currently practiced, is being questioned, challenged, deconstructed, and reinterpreted. Promoting inclusive education to a global audience is occurring at a time when scripts are being rewritten. The disappointing experiences of inclusion in western nations persuade many that a genuinely liberating philosophy cannot facilely translate into effective operation within contemporary schools. Western nations find that definitive answers on many aspects of the enterprise remain elusive. While doubts about inclusion will be removed in direct proportion to demonstrations of effectiveness, research has not yet identified the combination of theories, approaches, and activities that result in powerful outcomes for students and their teachers, nor have Western educators yet confronted the problematic task of implementing exemplary programs.

7.6â•…Conclusion Democratizing educational opportunities and delivering a curriculum to all children in the most optimal learning environment is becoming a universal thrust, and one of the pillars of tomorrow’s schools. In many countries, inclusive schooling has been elevated to a dominant ideology that frames and pursues agendas. Absolutist statements and free-standing moralizing characterize much of the inclusive rhetoric. Moreover, advocates of indiscriminate educational reform as cogently manifested by inclusive schooling often show scant regard for the realization of its prophesies about outcomes and benefits. The philosophical concepts driving inclusive schooling for students with special needs can be accepted without question as embodying noble ideals of social justice and civil rights. But the operation will prove a dubious advance of the concepts of equity if advocates cannot strike a balance between an ideological and theoretical concept, and practical reality. Inclusive mandates must recognize that many organizational systems speak the rhetoric of empowerment, yet lack the political and pedagogical will and the resources to translate the rhetoric of inclusive special education into reality. They must account for different conceptions of disability, rights, and social justice that lead to different policies globally; cultural hierarchies in which persons with disabilities have traditionally occupied the bottom rungs; as well as the cultural

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parameters of school systems, teaching professions, and the perceived missions of schools. If inclusive education is to become a reality in global pedagogies, the implicit and explicit conventions of highly diverse societies must be recognized, and solutions must be contextually driven and reflect realistic policy and pedagogic strategies. Education and policy reforms cannot be independent of time, place, and culture. They must engage with the deep structural defining realities of a society and always consider the “host environment” in which a need exists and a practice is being considered (Zims and Ponti 1990). Individual policies must be designed in form and function to mesh with the host culture’s history, economic and social structure, and other unique national and regional characteristics – within the context of globalization, and global pedagogies.

References Abosi, O. C. (2000). Trends and issues in special education in Botswana. Journal of Special Education, 34, 48–53. Barnes, E., & Lehr, R. (1993). Including everyone: a model preschool program for typical and special needs children. In J. Roopnarine & J. E. Johnson (Eds.), Approaches to early childhood education (pp. 81–96). New York: Merrill. Carlson, D. (1998). The manufactured crisis: myths, fraud and attack on America’s public schools. New York: Longman. Cheong, A. (1996). The psychology of child and adolescent development in Southeast Asian countries. World of Psychology, 2, 41–69. Christenson, C. A., & Dorn, S. (1997). Competing nations of social justice and contradictions in special education reform. Journal of Special Education, 31, 181–198. Cieloha, C. D. (1986). Special Education in the Context of National Development: The Case of Mexico. ERIC Doc. No. Ed. 271 916. Clark, C., Dyson, A., Millward, A., & Robson, S. (1999a). Inclusive education and schools as organizations. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 3, 37–61. Clark, C., Dyson, A., Millward, A., & Robson, S. (1999b). Theories of inclusion, theories of schools: deconstructing and reconstructing the ‘inclusive school’. British Educational Research Journal, 25, 57–177. Cloerkes, G. (1998). Soziologe der Bihenderten. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University. Csapo, M. (1993). Special education in crisis. International Journal of Special Education, 8, 201–208. Deng, M., Poon-McBrayer, K. F., & Farnsworth, E. (2001). The development of special education in China. Remedial and Special Education, 22, 288–298. Dyson, A. (1999). Inclusion and inclusions: theories and discourses in inclusive education. In H. Daniels & P. Garner (Eds.), World yearbook of education, 1999: inclusive education (pp. 36–53). London: Kogan Page. Fontana, D., & Lari, Z. (2001). The curriculum in special needs education in Pakistani schools. International Journal of Special Education, 16, 21–41. Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (1995). What’s ‘special’ about special education. Phi Delta Kappan, 76, 522–530. Fulk, B. M., Swerdlik, P. A., & Kosuewan, K. (2002). Special education in Thailand. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34, 73. Giangreco, M. (2001). Interactions among program, placement and services in educational planning for students with disabilities. Mental Retardation, 39, 341–350. Gray, D. (1995). Lay conceptions of autism: parents’ explanatory models. Medical Anthropology, 16, 99–118.

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Gumpel, T. P., & Awartani, S. (2003). A comparison of special education in Israel and Palestine: surface and deep structures. Journal of Special Education, 37, 33–48. Held, D. (1991). Political theory today. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Hurn, C. J. (1993). The limits and possibilities of schooling (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Kachur, J. L., & Harrison, T. W. (2000). Public education, globalization, and democracy: whither Alberta? In T. W. Harrison & J. L. Kachur (Eds.), Contested classrooms: education, globalization, and democracy (pp. xiii–xxxv). Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta Press. Law, W.-W. (2000). Schooling and social change: the people’s republic of China. In K. Mazurek, M. Winzer, & C. Majorek (Eds.), Education in a global society: a comparative perspective. Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon. Lim, L., & Nam, S. S. (2000). Special education in Singapore. Journal of Special Education, 34, 104–109. Linton, S. (Ed.). (1998). Divided society. Claiming disability, knowledge and identity (pp. 34–70). New York: New York University Press. Lupart, J. L. (1998). Setting right the delusion of inclusion: implications for Canadian schools. Canadian Journal of Education, 23, 251–264. Lupart, J. L. (1999). Inching toward inclusion: the excellence/equity dilemma in our schools. In J. Lenoir, W. Hunter, D. Hodgkinson, P. D. Broucker, & A. Dolber (Eds.), A Pan-Canadian education research agenda (pp. 215–231). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Society for Research in Education. Mazurek, K., & Winzer, M. (1994). Comparative studies in special education. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Pervova, I. (1999). The system of special education in Russia. The Journal of International Needs Education, 21, 23–29. Pijl, S. J., Meijer, C. J., & Hegarty, S. (Eds.). (1997). Inclusive education: a global agenda. London: Routledge. Raven, S. A. (2001). India: training teachers for children with mental retardation. International Journal of Special Education, 16, 54–66. Reiter, S., Schanin, M., & Tirosh, E. (1998). Israeli elementary school students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward mainstreaming children with disabilities. Special Services in the Schools, 13, 33–46. Rouse, M., Shriver, J., & Danielson, L. (2000). National assessment and special education in the United States and England and Wales. In M. McLaughlin & M. Rouse (Eds.), Special education and school reform in the United States and Britain (pp. 66–97). London/New York: Routledge. Shepherd, T. L., Contreros, D., & Brown, R. (2002). Special education in Mexico: one community’s response. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34, 8–11. Slee, R. (1999). Policies and practices: inclusive education. In H. Daniels & P. Garner (Eds.), World yearbook of education, 1999: inclusive education (pp. 194–206). London: Kogan Page. Smith-Davis, J. (2002, September). World initiatives in inclusive education. Teaching Exceptional Children, 64, 77. Sugai, K., & Takuma, J. (1990). The current state of computer assisted instruction for the handicapped children in Japan. International Journal of Special Education, 5, 132–144. Thomas, G. (1997). Inclusive schools for an inclusive society. British Journal of Special Education, 24, 103–107. UNESCO. (1994). Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. New York: UNESCO. United Nations (1989). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, G. A. Res 44/25, Annex 44, U. N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U. N. Doc A/44/49. Vakil, S., Welton, E., & Khanna, R. (2002). Special education in India: the success of a model program. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34, 46–50. Vlochou, A., & Barton, L. (1994). Inclusive education: teachers and the changing culture of schooling. British Journal of Special Education, 21, 105–107. Winzer, M. A. (2009). International comparisons in E/BD: cultural issues. In P. Garner, F. Yuen, P. Clough, & T. Pardeck (Eds.), Handbook of emotional and behavioral difficulties in education. London: Sage.

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Winzer, M., Altieri, E., Jacobs, T., & Mellor, E. (2003). Reform in special education: case studies from Australia, Canada, and the United States. Journal of the Russian Academy for the Humanization of Education, 1, 91–118. Zims, J. E., & Ponti, C. R. (1990). Best practices in school-based consultation. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (pp. 673–694). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.

Section II

Global Pedagogy: Case Studies

Chapter 8

Global Transformation of a Nordic Learning Society: The Case of Finland Ari Antikainen

8.1â•…Introduction The idea of a learning society is a contested idea and concept reflecting different interests, different social and educational histories, and different visions of the future (Young 1998, p. 141). This chapter discusses about a learning society in the Nordic context, and studies the case of Finland. From a comparative perspective, the sociopolitical dimension of a learning society is essential in the Nordic context. Equity, participation, and welfare state are known as the major attributes of the Nordic model. However, the economic and cultural dimensions, and especially the relationship between these three dimensions are interestingas well. According to international comparisons of education, the outcomes of the Finnish education system are very good. In the OECD Program for International Student Assessments (PISA), Finnish 15-year-old-students performed excellently, when compared with their peers from 32 countries, in reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy (OECD 2001 and OECD 2002). They showed the highest performance in reading literacy. In mathematical literacy, they were ranked among the best quarter, and in scientific literacy, they scored after Korean and Japanese students at the same level as students from United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. According to the OECD Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), the level of functional literacy of Finnish 16- to 59-year-old adults is among the highest in 20 countries for prose literacy, document literacy, and quantitative literacy (OECD and Statistics Canada 2000). These international comparisons, especially PISA, are often dealt with in the media as if they were the “Olympic games” of education. A more valid way to view the results of these comparisons would be to study the determinants of outputs and further the effects of different national education policies (Psacharopoulos 1995, p. 280). Thus, PISA and IALS results can provide an opportunity to obtain key information about different ways of solving problems in education and to evaluate A. Antikainenâ•›(*) University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu Campus, Department of Sociology, POB 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_8, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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the effects of these solutions. What underlies this Finnish success in international comparisons of education? Finland is a Nordic country who has many parallels and some differences with her Nordic neighbors. In the present globalizing world, it is not justified to speak of a Nordic model anymore, but without doubt, there are Nordic patterns in our educational cultures and educational systems. Torsten Husén (1974, 1986) already created the vision of a learning society in 1970s. He discusses it with four criteria: (i) people have an opportunity for lifelong learning, (ii) formal education extends to the whole age group, (iii) informal learning is in a central position and selfstudies encouraged, and (iv) other institutions support education, which in turn depends on them. It is obvious that these criteria have not yet been fully realized, but they form a framework for the study of educational change in recent decades (Antikainen et€al. 1996; Antikainen 2005b).

8.2╅Comprehensive School System The present Finnish education system consists of pre-primary education, 9-year comprehensive school, post-comprehensive general and vocational education, higher education, and adult education. In the discussion on the PISA results, the significance of the principle of equity and the place of a comprehensive school system has been stressed. A Nordic group of PISA researchers present this as follows: The Nordic strategy for building up high quality and equality in education has been based on constructing a publicly funded comprehensive school system without selecting, tracking or streaming students during their basic education until the age of 16. Part of the strategy is to spread the school network so that pupils have a school near their homes whenever possible or if this is not feasible, e.g. in rural areas, to provide free transportation to more widely dispersed schools. Inclusion of special education and instructional efforts to minimise low achievement are also typical to Nordic educational systems. (Lie et€al. 2003, p. 8)

After the establishment of the present Finnish comprehensive school system in the 1970s and 1980s, the administration of comprehensive schools and the entire education system was very centralized. It was the way to implement the comprehensive reform despite the opposition of right-wing parties and the association of secondary school teachers. In the late 1980s, a significant change occurred; an incremental planning paradigm gained ground and decentralization was implemented. Schools became more responsible for their own management and were supposed to make their own curricula according to the guidelines given by the national board of education. Teachers could choose the pedagogy that they apply. Thus, there was a great emphasis on the professionalism of teachers. These measures generated resources for a new development (Antikainen 2005a). In the 1990s, there has been a trend toward school-based profiles, stronger parental choice, “customer” orientation, and in particular, a systematic school evaluation system.

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The consequences of these more or less neoliberal changes are under debate. They have been more modest than in many other countries, yet Simola, Rinne, and Kivirauma (2002) argue that they represent a historical shift in education governance in Finland and other Nordic welfare states. However, it is also grounded to argue that the Finnish case of comprehensive education demonstrates that it is possible to introduce greater flexibility and local autonomy without threatening the wider goals of minimizing inequalities. This issue is still under debate. In any case, in the PISA research, the differences between Finnish schools proved among the smallest in the OECD countries and the gap between high and low performers was relative narrow (Välijärvi et€al. 2002, pp. 24–39). In the constellation of various interrelated factors, students’ own attitudes and activities, especially engagement in reading and interest in reading, appear to form the most significant factors by regression analyses for explaining the variation in reading literacy (ibid. 15). The next strongest factors were communication between parents and children and family background. For mathematical literacy, self-concept in mathematics was strongly associated with performance (ibid. 22). This was the case for all the participating countries. Interestingly, Finnish students tended to be more confident of their mathematical abilities than their reading skills. Self-concept in reading explained more of the variation in reading literacy performance for Finnish students than it did, on an average, across all participating countries (ibid. 20). Active users of computers were also active readers. Heavy computer users scored lower in their reading literacy that their moderate counterparts, whereas those who did not use computers at all scored as the poorest readers of all (ibid. 20). The performances of Finnish girls were higher than that of boys, and in reading literacy, the gender gap was widest for Finland among all the OECD countries. In general, the aims of high quality and high equality seemed, however, to have been reached very well in Finland.

8.3â•…Lifelong Learning In official education policy documents, lifelong education by UNESCO was referred to for the first time in the late 1960s (Ministry of Education 1969). In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a lively debate on the views of UNESCO, OECD, and EC, which was incorporated into the concepts of lifelong education, recurrent education, and continuing education. In practice, formal education and its vertical integration from comprehensive school to post-comprehensive general and vocational education and further to higher education and adult education were stressed. In line with this goal, polytechnics were established alongside universities in the 1990s, and a more comprehensive preschool system is under construction and adult education has rapidly expanded and been reorganized. A new emergence of lifelong learning occurred in the context of information technology revolution, fast changes in Europe, and the membership of the European Union in the 1990s. Humanistic aims were replaced by the discourse of human capital and skill formation.

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The growth of adult education in the 1980s and 1990s was growth in vocational and in-service education (Tuomisto 1998, pp. 253–256). Instead of international community, nation-state and its survival was presented as a major function of lifelong learning (Ministry of Education 1997). The original, humanistic concept of lifelong learning survived in adult educators’ discourse and community. Since the 1990s, informal education/learning and horizontal integration between education and work has also been emphasized (Ministry of Education 1997; 2002). During the last 2 decades, participation in adult education and training in Finland has more than doubled. In the 1990s, the participation rate of 18–64 years old population has increased from 45% to 54% (and to 57% in the group of 16–65 years old). According to Tuijnman and Hellström (2001), no one-dimensional Nordic model of adult education exists. Yet, there are distinguishable Nordic patterns including a high participation rate, a high share of public funding and public suppliers, and a high share of personal interest (liberal) in adult education. Thus, what does exist is a Nordic “standard” that can be seen in participation rates, orientation and volume, and in the role of the public sector. On the basis of numerous studies, it is known that there are also disparities, and not only similarities, between the Nordic countries. These disparities emerge especially from the differences in the culture and organization of each country’s working life and its civil society. From the point of view of lifelong learning, it is highly interesting that the comparatively high educational participation of people aged 55 years and more seems to be associated with the high social capital (indicated by memberships and activities in voluntary associations) in Sweden and with the selectivity of working life (indicated by employment and work contracts) in Finland. The Finnish state budget for 2003 alone contained an allocation for starting a new national program “NOSTE” aiming at raising the educational level of those 30- to 59-year-olds who have not completed a full secondary education. Initiated by the Parliamentary Adult Education Committee (Ministry of Education 2002) and the labor market organizations, the program was intended to last for 5 years until the end of 2007. The number of students was approximately 10,000 per year. The background of the program comes from the experiences of the economic recession and unemployment in the early 1990s, and the relatively great differences in participation in adult education by socioeconomic status, educational level, and age that have been confirmed in the IALS-studies (OECD and Statistics Canada 2000) and in the country evaluation by OECD. According to the decree, the objective of the program is “to improve the employment and career-development of those adults who have at most the primary level education, to alleviate the shortage of work force caused by the retirement of the 1940s baby boomers and to have an effect on the general degree of employment.” The Nordic welfare state regime and its labor market model influence the program, and its precursor can be found in the Swedish Adult Education Initiative SAEI (kunskapslyftet). It is too early to evaluate this state intervention into participation in adult education, capable of challenging the classbased pattern of participation.

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8.4â•…Social Transformation and Welfare State The Finnish welfare state has a long history, but the decisive phase was the swift structural transformation that Finnish society underwent between 1960 and 1975. An agrarian society became an industrial, capitalist welfare state. This welfare system was funded by economic growth. The transformation occurred later, but much faster than in other Nordic countries. For instance, in Sweden, it took approximately 100 years. The welfare state represents a social pact between labor and capital. Minimum level of social welfare, including education, health, social security, employment, and housing were guaranteed. These services were defined as a right of citizenship. Education was seen as a kind of ideological edge of the welfare state. Thus, since the 1960s, the ideal of a comprehensive education system has been the major rationale underlying Finnish education policy. The 1980s brought a period of calming structural change and economic boom in Finland. It was followed in the early 1990s by a deep economic recession, in relative terms deeper than that in the 1930s. The successful information society, especially the success of electronics and Nokia’s mobile telephone industry, makes the continued financing of the welfare state possible, although with some cuts and reorganizations. In the context of globalization, the welfare state has transformed in the direction of a “competitive state” (Streeck 1998, pp. 180–186; Kettunen 2004, pp. 290–291). This concept implies that the state still plays a vital role, and simultaneously, globalization has resulted in a profound change in the methods that the state employs. In education policy, the establishment of polytechnics was already grounded by a national information society strategy of the government. Based on theories of postindustrial society or informational society, Manuel Castells (1996, pp. 13–18) argues that an informational mode of development with its distinctive social structure is historically succeeding the mode of industrial development. According to Castells’ view, societies are organized around human processes structured by historically determined relationships of production, experience, and power. Human symbolic communication in time and space creates cultures and collective identities. Castells (1996) states: Symbolic communication between humans, and the relationship between humans and nature, on the basis of production (with its complement, consumption), experience, and power, crystallize over history in specific territories, thus generating cultures and collective codes.

From the point of view of social organization, informational societies are network societies: Networks constitute the new social morphology of our societies, and the diffusion of networking logic substantially modifies the operation and outcomes in processes of production, experience, power, and culture. (Ibid. 469)

This is also the case in education. Schools, colleges, and universities are establishing partnerships with each other and with actors such as companies, employers and unions, citizens’ associations, and so on, both locally and globally. Education is more dependent on the development of working life and civil society, and in turn, education has an impact on the organization of work and civil society by providing

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“legitimising accounts of knowledge and skills required from citizens and of foundations of social systems” (Meyer 1977, p. 72). In a network society, the power and influence of traditional political institutions are weakened, while media has a central position. Thus, the emerging culture could be called as a media culture. As a counterforce to the media culture and to the entire global informational market logic, stands people’s search for local cultural identity. In this search or identity crisis, people rely on old identity markers, such as nationality and religion. Gender too is a central marker, as well as social movements like feminism and the ecological movement, business connections mediated by the new network, and new opportunities arising from new forms of mysticism. In any case, the global Net and the local Self are the central social forces of the informational society. Manuel Castells’ theories have been well received in Finland. A powerful Finnish foundation, SITRA, invited Castells, together with a young philosopher by the name of Pekka Himanen, to study Finland as an information society. In their work, Castell and Himanen (2002) argue that in Finland, a unique mixture of technological-economic innovation, welfare state policies, and national identity has developed. They compare this Finnish model with Silicon Valley and Singapore in terms of some technological, economic, welfare, and openness indicators. Finland comes out ahead of this comparison, or should we say that the Nokia Mobile Valley does. Castells’ and Himanen’s study is interesting. It provides evidence that in the information society, a welfare state is also possible and even “a decisive contributing factor to the growth of the new economy on a stable basis” (ibid. 181). However, there are also weaknesses and challenges emerging from new social structures, such as the rise of new inequalities and the contradiction between a strong national identity and integration in a multicultural world producing ethnic prejudices and racism.

8.5â•…National Identity as a History of Survival Castells and Himanen (2002, p. 181) state that cultural identity and a strong feeling of nationalism are central elements of the Finnish information society. They legitimize the government’s function in global economic competition, if not in the struggle of survival. They also analyze through what kind of experiences this identity is produced. First, they consider the challenge of nature in the form of cold winter. They argue that cold has killed more Finns than war. An extreme example is the Hunger Years of 1867–1868 when cold weather delayed the sowing of the crop and then an early frost destroyed the harvest. Consequently, 120,000 people, 6.5% of the whole population, died. They did not, however, refer to the shortage of food in 1918 and the next decades. In any case, war has also killed a lot of Finns. The civil war in 1918, the winter war, and the continuation war against the Soviet Union in 1939–1940 and 1941–1944 were very bloody ones. Castells and Himanen also list other constituents of identity such as a positive attitude to technology, networks of direct and informal communication, and work

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ethic that is changing from a Protestant ethic towards the hacker ethic. By the hacker ethic, Himanen (2001) means a hobby-like, passionate, and creative relationship to work. The basic nature of Finnish identity is, however, developed from the experience of a long history of survival, and by Castells’ and Himanen’s credo, the information society as a project is not just producing a new Finnish identity, but is the Finnish identity. By the growing hacker ethic, an ultimate subversion of traditional Finnish identity can be realized: “life may become a source of enjoyment rather than a battle for survival.” In our survey study, we did not, however, find any empirical evidence of the hacker ethic (Moore et€al. 2003). If I try to analyze this production and formation of Finnish identity as a story or narrative, I cannot avoid some critical questions in my mind. I put them in an exaggerated form: How many and what kind of victims or losers the survival from and coping to this experience will require? Is the Finnish information society more a state strategy than a national citizens’ project? Is it realistic to believe that the promise of life as a source of enjoyment will be realized or are there new threats in the horizon?

8.6â•…Meaning of Education and Learning by Generation, Class, Gender, and Ethnic Group What kind of stories are the individual identity production and formation narratives? What are the place and meaning of education in these stories? Our research group has been studying the meaning of education and learning in people’s lives. We have applied the life-history method in our study. The data were collected by means of narrative biographical interviews and thematic interviews. In the initial interviews, people told their life-stories, and the thematic interviews were based on primary analyzes of the initial interviews (Antikainen et€al. 1995). Education was examined as a cultural activity. For each person, the meaning of education depended on how it helps or hinders them in constructing their life-course and lifestyle. The key concepts in this analysis have been “life course,” “identity,” and “significant learning experiences.” The interviews have been read and the interpretations made on the basis of these three conceptual perspectives. The researchers reading the data from the life-course perspective focused on differences in experiences between age cohorts, and found three educational/social generations in Finland (Huotelin and Kauppila 1995; Antikainen and Kauppila 2002). The shared core experiences of each generation, a kind of social identity, had been formed in youth and in the context of the major social transformations of that time. We were only able to systematically interpret two life trajectories here: life and education. The oldest generation consists of people born in 1935 or earlier. We call this generation “the war generation with scant education.” Their life stories tell of hard work and struggle to provide a living for their families. These people have faced several situations of distress in their lives, and their experiences during the war, and during the postwar rebuilding, are powerfully present in their life stories.

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Their prospects for education were minimal, and in the old binary school system, people were classified according to their education. We interpret their core experiences, a kind of identity, in the following way: life was a struggle, and education was an ideal. The source of educational idealism was nationalism and patriotism. At that time, nationalism was not only a “civic religion,” but also a reaction to underdevelopment in Finland. People of this older generation, and those of the next, middle generation, based their lives on a surprisingly small amount of education or educational experience. What they learned stayed and developed within them. The next generation, the middle generation, consists of those born between 1936 and 1955. At the time of our study, they were thus 45–65 years old. We refer to them as “a generation of structural change with growing educational opportunities.” Work is a central point in their life stories too, but is often connected with education, and it can open up a progressive career path. The historical context of this generation is the swift structural change called “the Great Migration” in 1960–1975, which forced many people to move from the countryside to urban areas in Southern Finland or Sweden. Finland became a part of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) in 1961. Educational opportunities were opening, but the school system was still a binary or parallel school, even though it had been restructured. The first to take advantage of the educational opportunities were the children of upper- and middle-class families. According to our interpretation, a characteristic of the middle generation’s experience is that “work is the central meaning of life, and education functions as a means of professional career advancement.” The youngest generation in our study consists of those born in 1956 and after – now in their mid-forties or younger. We call this group “the welfare generation with many educational choices.” Symbolic experiential environments, such as media and entertainment, have a central importance in the life stories of this generation. According to our interpretation, there are two characteristic features of this generation: hobbies as a meaning for life, and the feeling that their own identity is a problem. Educational opportunities have increased and become a tangled knot of choices. General education in particular is seen as a commodity and may even be taken for granted. In comparison with the older generation, changes in the meaning of education for the younger generation are considerable.Whereas education was an ideal for the oldest generation, it is now a commodity, one that is taken for granted. Society has become more rationalized and consumer-oriented, and these changes mean erosion of the cultural enchantment of education. The ideal is taken for granted and considered boring, but the youngest generation still feels that it is appropriate to gain some education, especially for its instrumental value. It should be noted that our first interviews were carried out in 1992–1993, when the experiences of the deep economic recession of the early 1990s were not yet defined, and Finland has not joined the European Union. Thus, the whole group of under 46-year-olds was placed in the same generation cohort in our analysis of their core experiences. Since that time, the understanding of the importance of being highly skilled has strengthened. Employment follows one’s educational level. Hypothetically, we can describe the emerging meaning of education with the phrase “education as a compulsion to become high-skilled.” It is close to “the ambitious

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generation,” a typification used in an American study (Schneider and Stevenson 1999). Education is, again, becoming a more powerful social selector. Hypothetically, this youngest generation could consist of three generational groups or fractions: –â•fi Those young people who are/are becoming skilled and ambitious young people –â•fi Those young people who are using education “for making a social or personal dream come true” –â•fi Those young people for whom “school is a haven” or a hiding place and it prevents becoming labeled as unemployed and losers –â•fi Those young people who are in the process of “exclusion.” In fact, we still do not know the shared experience of the youngest cohort: will it be a generation of depression, generation of Internet, generation of globalization, or generation of diversification. An alternative future is also possible: instead of a social generation, just a cohort and social movements within the cohort. We would like to argue that the generational change in the meaning of education could be understood through the classical social theories, especially as formal rationalization by Max Weber (1922). This interpretation is supported by the fact that in doing our phenomenological-oriented empirical analysis, we did not have any intention of applying classical social theories. As researchers, we were surprised to find that there are many common, shared experiences within each cohort. Our analysis was based on Mannheim’s (1952) concept of “generational location,” which we call “experiential generation.” We did not study generations as actual or “mobilized generations” as they are also called, nor did we systematically examine generation units or fractions. Nevertheless, we made observations concerning differences and distinct groups within each generation. Houtsonen (1996), when studying the self-descriptions of young people, found a group that was using education for making a social or a personal dream come true. Many of these people belonged to feminist or ecological activist groups. They were choosing contents from institutional education to match their values and lifestyles as in the old popular adult education tradition. We assume that critics and opponents of globalization belong to this group as well. Differences based on social class were clear. For people from lower classes, life was more often a struggle than for those from upper classes. Orientation towards “theoretical” or “practical” studies was often determined by social class or one’s parents’ educational status. In our observations, we found many expected on differences in terms of gender. Some female life-stories were full of caring, and some male life-stories approached official CVs. When studying young students from working-class backgrounds, Kauppila and Käyhkö (2005) concluded that the boys’ educational orientation was more instrumental than the girls’. We also made some observations regarding the differences in terms of ethnic group. The Finnish school system does not properly interact with Romany culture. Up until the 1970s at least, Sami people have had very bitter school experiences, but Sami activists in our sample group at least have used their success in the Finnish education system as a resource in their struggle for their own rights. Education for refugees and immigrants has not been sufficiently developed and institutionalized.

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8.7â•…Significant Learning Experiences Houtsonen (1996) has studied the cultural construction of educational identity. His research clarifies the ways in which people use their education in their life course for constructing their identity. According to his study, the educational choices of most interviewees happened almost automatically according to the frame of reference that they had internalized in the cultural environment and experiences that they have lived. Exceptions to this cultural manuscript were easiest to note with adults. An inner challenge, such as the desire to have a more meaningful job, or an external necessity, for example, losing a partner or getting ill, sometimes created a new awareness and made the individual think things over. As a result, they changed their plans for life and education. In situations like this, people become more aware of the cultural resources that are available to them, such as information, skills, images, or equipment that they can use for solving problems or developing different ways of acting. Learning processes occur when people meet a problematic situation in life, which they try to solve with new resources, and these resources become a part of their identity. I have described this process as a “significant learning experience” (Antikainen 1998; Merriam and Clark 1991). In an individual learning biography, these experiences form the turning points of the life-story: Significant learning experiences are those which appeared to guide the interviewee’s lifecourse or to have changed or strengthened his or her identity.

Subjectivization or even empowerment was associated with many significant learning experiences. For young people, hobbies were often places for this subjectivization. This remark is analogical to Himanen’s (2001) hacker ethic. In addition, in analyzing narratives, he found some special socio-structural contexts in which education seemed to have empowering impact. They varied widely as one can see from the following list: –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi

Surviving widowhood for female widows Strengthening Sami (Lappish) ethnic identity for Sami activists Migration from the countryside to cities for men with health problems Realization of social and personal dreams for representatives of various social movements.

We are ready to interpret most of the lists of significant learning experiences as stories of survival and coping. They depict the knowledge and skills that have been used to cope in life. According to Matti Kortteinen (1992), there are three phases in the Finnish coping or struggling story: (1) “it is tough,” (2) “one tries to cope,” and (3) “one has coped and is proud of it.” In each significant learning experience, personal and social relations that support learning were easy to find. Learning can be studied in terms of personal relations even in a technological society. Applying the language of symbolic interactionism, we called these relations significant others of learning. There can be local and distant significant others of learning. Local

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ones are always concrete human beings; distant ones are often symbolic images. The relations between the learner and local significant others were more of communities, (Gemeinschaft) rather than associations (Gesellschaft). Of course, each organization has both sides, but in these cases of learning experience, association or formal organization gives way to a sense of community. Based on these findings, it is logical to ask how the functional resources of such communities – e.g., family, school, workplace, and association – have changed in the recent decades. The answer is clear: at least from 1990son, there has been a trend of decreasing resources. As communities also have a vital role in the information society, this trend means differences in learning opportunities and a weakening of these opportunities for deprived groups. It should be noticed, however, that the object of this remark here is traditional institutions and identities that Castells (1997) refers to as “legitimizing.” But also in studies of such successful IT development and training cases such as the creation of Linux system or the Upper Karelia Learning Project, it has been demonstrated that the hero has not only been an individual person or persons, but a community-like group of peer activists (Himanen 2001; Oksa and Turunen 2000). I am able to draw four basic conclusions regarding our analysis of the meaning of education and learning. Firstof all, it appears that, as at the level of national identity, there is also a narrative of survival and coping at the level of individual identity. On both the levels, the narrative is not only about heroes, but also about victims and losers; the latter not being able to tell their stories. Secondly, education is a rather strong producer of identity. Schools, however, are not self-sufficient in this production; other environments have to take part in the process. Thirdly, from generation to generation, the meaning of education has changed. Education has become increasingly instrumental without values of its own. Fourthly, individuals can change the scripts of their lives still at an adult age, and to use education and learning for this purpose. Other people’s and the communities’ support is, however, needed to realize this change.

8.8â•…Evaluation My basic argument is that Nordic patterns of welfare state and education, together with a peculiar Finnish cultural identity underlie the Finnish success in international comparisons of education. This system of relations could be called a Finnish learning society. Culturally, it is based on ethos of survival, struggling, and solidarity. Politically, its major elements are nationalism, pragmatism, and social democracy. It can be characterized by lifelong learning, or originally, the tradition of popular adult education, comprehensive education, and interaction between the institution of education and other social institutions. However, there are also in-woven paradoxes in the Finnish learning society. Among them, the six paradoxes or contradictions are as given below.

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8.8.1â•…Class and Gender The workings of comprehensive school align themselves more with the middle class than the working class (Räty and Snellman 1998). In addition, educational choices seem to relate to gendered conceptions of ability (Räty et€ al. 2004). In Finland, the educational level of women is higher than that of men, but the income level of women is lower, mainly due to gendered segregation in the labor market. Although there is no educational underclass in Finland, men, in general, have lower levels of education.

8.8.2â•…Region People are drawn to densely populated areas, and thus, the questions of arranging education both in cities and sparsely populated areas consist of specific problematic issues. Use of educational technology has been proposed as a solution, but so far, actual virtual learning opportunities are underdeveloped and have rather centralized than decentralized the population.

8.8.3â•…Multiculturalism At the level of discourses, there are idealistic views of multiculturalism and pluralism, which, however, do not relate to actual problem situations in the field of education (Matinheikki-Kokko and Pitkänen 2002).

8.8.4â•…Use of Technology Information technology is based rather on the terms of the markets than on the terms of its use or users (Suoranta and Lehtimäki 2004). Technology separates producers of information technology from its consumers.

8.8.5â•…Individualism Alongside changes in education, the individual and individual choices have become pronounced. In the case of the individual lacking resources, there is a possibility for a negative process and outcome, which results in the lack of control and exclusion (Antikainen 1998).

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8.8.6â•…Participation in Lifelong Learning Participation in adult education is at a high level in Finland, but the differences in participation vary greatly according to age and class. Part of the population has received education according to an old industrial model of education, which can limit their possibilities in a knowledge society.

8.9â•…Conclusion From a general point of view, the future alternatives of this learning society depend on the emerging Nordic model of information society that is based on economic and technological network, diversifying national identity, and restructuring welfare state. One of the key issues is the impact of Europeanization and globalization on a national learning culture.

References Antikainen, A. (1998). Between structure and subjectivity: Life-histories and lifelong learning. International Review of Education, 44, 215–234. Antikainen, A. (2005a). The rise and change of comprehensive planning in 1960–1990. In A. Antikainen (Ed.), Transforming a learning society. Bern: Peter Lang. Antikainen, A. (2005b). Transforming a learning society. The case of Finland. Bern: Peter Lang. Antikainen, A., Houtsonen, J., Huotelin, H., & Kauppila, J. (1995). In search of the meaning of education: the case of Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 39, 295–309. Antikainen, A., Houtsonen, J., Huotelin, H., & Kauppila, J. (1996). Living in a learning society: Life histories, identities and education. London: Falmer. Antikainen, A., & Kauppila, J. (2002). Educational generations and the futures of adult education: a Nordic experience. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 21(3), 209–219. Castells, M. (1996). The rise of network society. Oxford: Blackwell. Castells, M. (1997). The power of identity. Oxford: Blackwell. Castell, M., & Himanen, P. (2002). The information society and the welfare state: the finnish model. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Himanen, P. (2001). The hacker ethic and the spirit of information age. New York: Random House. Houtsonen, J. (1996) Koulutusidentiteetin kulttuurisen rakentumisen ainekset: identiteetin tyypittelyt ja elamakerralliset teemat. (Elements for the cultural construction of educational identity: classification of identities and themes of life-stories). In A. Antikainen & H. Huotelin (Eds.), Oppiminen ja elamanhistoria. Aikuiskasvatuksen 37. Vuosikirja. (Learning and life-history. The 37 yearbook of adult education.) Helsinki: Kansanvalistusseura (KVS-foundation). Huotelin, H., & Kauppila, J. (1995). Towards generational experiences of education: education in the life-course of Finns. Young, 3(4), 21–35. Husén, T. (1974). Learning society. London: Methuen. Husén, T. (1986). Learning society revised. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Kauppila, P., & Käyhko, M. (2005). a life history approach to social reproduction – Educational choices among young working class students. In A. Antikainen (Ed.), Transforming a Learning Society. Bern: Peter Lang.

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Kettunen, P. (2004). The Nordic model and consensual competitiveness in Finland. In A.-M. Castén et€al. (Eds.), Between sociology and history. Essays on microhistory, collective action, and nation-building. Helsinki: SKS. Kortteinen, M. (1992). Kunnian kentta: suomalainen palkkatyo kulttuurisena muotona (The field of honour: wage labour as a cultural form in Finland). Helsinki: Hanki Ja Jää. Lie, S., Linnakylä, P., & Roe, A. (2003). Northern lights on PISA: unity and diversity in the Nordic countries in PISA 2000. Oslo: Department of Teacher Education and School Development. University of Oslo. Mannheim, K. (1952). The problem of generations. In K. Mannheim (Ed.), Essays on sociology of knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan. Matinheikki-Kokko, K., & Pitkänen, P. (2002). Immigrant policy and education of immigrants in Finland. In P. Pitkänen, D. Kalekin-Fishman, & K. Verma (Eds.), Education and immigration: settlement policies and current challenges (pp. 48–73). London: Routledge Falmer. Merriam, S. B., & Clark, C. (1991). Lifelines: patterns of work, love, and learning in adulthood. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. Meyer, J. W. (1977). The effects of education as an institution. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 55–77. Ministry of Education (1969). Koulutusrakennekomitean mietintö. (The report of the committee of education structures). Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Ministry of Education. (1997). The joy of learning. The report of the committee of lifelong learning. Helsinki: Ministry of Education. Ministry of Education. (2002). Parlamentaarisen aikuiskoulutustyöryhmän mietintö (The report of the parliamentary adult education committee). Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Moore, E., Tikka, T., & Antikainen, A. (2003). The importance of work and education in an information society. In A. Bron, & M. Schemmann (Eds.), Knowledge society, information society and adult education. Bochum Studies in International Adult Education vol. 4. MünsterHamburg-London-New York: LIT Verlag &Transactions. OECD (2001). Knowledge and skills for life – first results from PISA 2000. Paris: OECD. (www. pisa.oecd.org/) OECD. (2002). Reading for change. Performance and engagement across countries. Paris: OECD. OECD & statistics Canada. (2000). Literacy in the information age. Paris: OECD. Oksa, J., & Turunen, J. (2000). The local community net: evaluation study of the learning Upper Karelia project. Joensuu: University of Joensuu, Karelian Institute. Psacharopoulos, G. (1995). Evaluation of education and training. International Review of Education, 41(3–4), 259–284. Räty, H., Kasanen, K., Kiiskinen, J., & Nykky, M. (2004). Learning intelligence – children’s choices of the best pupils in the mother tongue and mathematics. Social Behavior and Personality, 33, 303–312. Räty, H., & Snellman, L. (1998). Social representations of educability. Social Psychology of Education, 1, 359–373. Schneider, B., & Stevenson, D. (1999). The ambitious generation: America’s teenagers, motivated but directionless. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Simola, H., Rinne, R., & Kivirauma, J. (2002). Abdication of the education state or shifting responsibilities? The appearance of a new system of reason in constructing educational governance and social exclusion/inclusion in Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 43(3), 247–264. Streeck, W. (1998). Industrielle Beziehungen in einer internationalisierten Wirtschaft. In U. Beck (Ed.), Politik den Globalisierung. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Suoranta, J., & Lehtimäki, H. (2004). Children in the information society. The case of Finland. New York: Peter Lang. Tuijnman, A., & Hellström, Z. (Eds.). (2001). Curious minds: Nordic adult education compared. Copenhagen: Nordic Council.

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Tuomisto, J. (1998). Market-oriented adult education policy – A Finnish perspective. In P. Alheit & E. Kammler (Eds.), Lifelong learning and its impact on social and regional development. Bremen: Donat Verlag. Välijärvi, J., Linnakylä, P., Kupari, P., Reinikainen, P., & Arffman, I. (2002). The Finnish success in PISA – and some reasons behind it. University of Jyväskylä: Institute for Educational Research. Weber, M. (1922). Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr. Young, M. F. D. (1998). The curriculum of the future. London: Falmer.

Chapter 9

Education for Sustainability and the Role of Future-Focus Pedagogy Caroline Smith

9.1â•…Pedagogy for Sustainability It is now beyond doubt that the global outlook for the next decades and beyond is profoundly environmentally unsustainable. The links between limits to growth, hyper-consumption levels enabled by fossil fuel use, climate change, biodiversity loss, water shortages and overall ecosystem destruction, as well as the peaking of global oil reserves, have been thoroughly documented and are now widely accepted (see for example the UK Treasury’s Stern Review [2006] and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] report [2007]). Along with increasing wealth disparities between the rich and the poor, both between and within countries, population growth, limits to food production and massive militarisation, these interrelated mega-issues are the major global shaping forces of the twenty-first century. As such, they have the potential to threaten the very future of life on earth itself (Abbott et€al. 2006). There is now a clear understanding that social justice, peace-building, security and sustainable development are inseparable, and hence, education in, for and about sustainability has the potential to contribute significantly to pathways to peace. Since World War II, humans have been increasingly constructed and defined as consumers and resources in an economy rather than as citizens in a society. Success continues to depend on external material acquisitions, symbols and appearances, messages that are encoded in the very fabric of society where the daily discourse, even in the face of fears of climate change, is one of a relentless pressure to consume. Indeed, the links between ecosystem damage and consumption are rarely made, let€ alone understood by many, although Al Gore’s (2006) film An Inconvenient Truth has opened up that understanding further. The deep understanding of the workings of Earth’s ecosystems are at best marginalised and at worse ignored, barely and reluctantly addressed within the dominant discourses of economic growth, which permeate social life in the twenty-first century. As Princen et€al. (2002) pointed out, commodification permeates all. C. Smithâ•›(*) Australian Catholic University, Locked Bag 4115, Fitzroy 3065, Australia e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_9, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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We might argue that in 2010 and beyond, the world is at last coming to its senses, as the critical state of Earth’s ecosystems begins to be acknowledged and recognised within mainstream culture and there is some evidence of this (e.g., Worldwatch 2008; Zajda 2008). A number of factors have contributed to this. Everyday experiences for many people throughout the world now include rapid increases in fuel and food prices as well as extreme weather conditions, be it cold, heat, fires, hurricanes, floods, drought, all of which have been predicted as indicators of anthropogenic climate change. Gore’s film was exquisitely timed and found a broad and receptive audience. The Stern (2006) and IPCC (2007) reports have left no doubt as to the scale of climate change and its impacts.

9.2â•…Education for Sustainability: Paradoxes and Tensions Given the global situation, it is clear that sustainability is a, if not the, key issue for education in the early twenty-first century and beyond, a position acknowledged in major international and Australian documents. The terms ‘education for sustainability’ (EfS) and ‘education for sustainable development’ (ESD) have largely replaced the older term ‘environmental education’ (EE), as the concept of sustainability, while complex, contested and difficult to define, recognises the interconnectedness of economics, culture, society and ecology. The main International driver for EfS/ESD is the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD) (2005–2014). The goals of the Decade are to: integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. This educational effort will encourage changes in behaviour that will create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability, and a just society for present and future generations.

In Australia, the (former) government’s policy on environmental education was outlined in Environmental Education for a Sustainable Future: National Action Plan, which advocates education for changed values and behaviour (Woods 2006). These and other policies suggest that education is playing a critical and leading role in what Berry (2000) has called the ‘Great Work’ – the transformation of society towards a sustainable future. Sterling (2001), Smith (2007) and Orr (1999) agree to this, arguing that the top priority for education must be to increase the public understanding of the need for transition to a sustainable social system and explore the means to achieve it. But in spite of the critical global situation, this remains far from the case. The reality for many students continues to be the experience of a paradoxical and profound, but largely unconscious, dissonance between what they learn about these issues, for example, through excellent programmes, such as the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI), and their wider lived experience of education. In other words, there is a crisis of praxis. Schools will always claim that their aim is to develop and prepare young people for ‘the future,’ but whose future and what it may look like is rarely made explicit. Instead, school systems create inherent but largely unexamined tensions and

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contradictions between the deep purpose of schooling and the need to understand and engage in EfS. While individual educators will always work with their students to critique and understand the deeper structures of society, the overarching deep purpose of schooling has remained the same for decades, that is, for social and cultural reproduction, where the taken-for-granted concepts, values and myths of Western culture are largely transmitted uncritically. A key myth for the past several hundred years for the Westerners and increasingly others is that they are the controllers and conquerors of nature in order to satisfy a material desire for wealth and success (Hamilton and Denniss 2005). In schools, this translates into the subliminal message: if you do well, you can get a good job, buy into consumer culture and be regarded as successful. The very notions of progress and success are intimately tied to material gain, providing a cocoon of comfort that for many results in severe disconnection from the natural world. Exhortations to reduce consumption and adopt a sustainable lifestyle sit uneasily with this deep purpose, which has, in recent years, been given added impetus as the ascendency of neo-liberal ideology, which Slaughter (2004a) describes as a ‘managerialist, market-oriented, growth addicted approach’ (p. 2) to education, which has had undue influence over aspects of the curriculum. The emphasis on language literacy and numeracy, and to a lesser degree science, has privileged these curriculum areas as essential in order to produce compliant and ‘flexible’ workers for a globalised technoscientific world. In Australia and elsewhere, a disproportionate amount of time is spent on these, particularly in the early years of schooling. Together, the profound lack of coherence, tensions and disconnections unintended though they may be, together with a skewed curriculum, are highly dysfunctional as young people engage in EfS within a wider educational milieu that further reflects the socioeconomic reproduction of consumerism (Smith 2007). How then is sustainability education that seeks to educate for wise use of the earth’s resources received against the barrage of messages to consume? For example, as Orr (1999) so cogently puts it, the Western education system, which has replaced indigenous forms of education throughout the world, prepares students almost exclusively for an urban existence and dependence on fossil fuels and global trade. Children are taught from an early age how to compete with each other, rather than how to work towards and live in a sustainable society.

9.3â•…Characteristics of Education for Sustainability There is a general agreement about the characteristics of an effective EfS (e.g., see Ferreira et€al. 2006; Sterling 2001). These characteristics are that EfS: • Is concerned with how humans interact with their total environment and with addressing sustainability issues holistically through the curriculum • Provides a curriculum focus and pedagogical strategies, reflective of EfS principles. These include a transdisciplinary approach, a holistic and integral concept of sustainability, critical and reflective processes and transformational pedagogies

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• Employs ‘synthesis’ as a methodological approach, which assumes that studying interdependence and the nature of complex systems and interactions leads to the emergence of new properties • Investigates the environment at different environmental scales. This means investigations of different local, regional, national and global environmental problems and exploration of their links • Recognises that engagement in environmental improvement extends beyond the cognitive to an individual sense of responsibility generated by a personal environmental ethic. Thus, central to the success of EfS is the promotion of an environmental ethic, which has sustainable living at its core. However, with the notable exception of Hicks (1994, 2002), Bowen (2008) and Robottom (2008), few sustainability educators have explored and included an explicit futures dimension. For example, sustainability educators rarely refer to the dimension of time. In Western society, planning horizons based on rapidly changing economics and politics tend to be close, making them often wildly out of synch with the ecological and climatological rhythms of Earth that involve decades, centuries and millennia, allowing decisions to be made that have profound repercussions for the future. Climate change is the clearest example of this, but there have been many others in history (see Diamond 2005). Miller (2004) cites the example of massive scale deforestation in Britain for charcoal for iron smelting, which ultimately meant that there were not enough tall trees to maintain the navy; they had to be imported from Scandinavia. Recognition of discrepancies between timescales is fundamental to a consideration of a sustainable future. Perhaps, the most powerful argument for the inclusion of an explicit future perspective in EfS is the recognition of the impact of young people’s own thinking and images of the future. These are rarely explored in education, but have the potential to provide a fertile basis for exploring and imagining a sustainable future.

9.4â•…Young People’s Views of the Future and Environment Education As early as in the 1970s, researchers identified different ways in which people in the USA and Europe thought about the future. Of particular importance was Polak and Boulding’s (1973) The Image of the Future: Enlightening the Past, Orientating the Present. Later, Galtung (1982) identified three major ways in which people approach the future, which he called ‘probable futures’, ‘possible futures’ and desirable or ‘preferred’ futures. Other research showed that people tend to make an important distinction between relatively positive ‘personal futures’ and more negative general images, termed ‘global futures’ (Hicks 1994; Johnson 1987; Toffler 1974). While for some, these may be a reflection of lived experience, the generally negative or dystopian images of the global future are largely believed to be the result of the continual bombardment of the imagination by various media. These tend to portray fearful and extreme future scenarios where nature, corporations

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or technology have run wild (Slaughter 2004b) in films, such as in Blade Runner, The Day After, The Matrix, The Children of Men or a techno-utopian world where the ‘march of progress’ has led to consumer bliss. The public imagination becomes molded into false despair or false promises, where, as Sardar (1999) puts it, the future is already ‘occupied territory’ (p. 9). To date, there are few portrayals in the mainstream media of people’s preferred futures. However, dystopian images of the future can provide a rich and powerful resource for EfS. The lack of well-considered images of sustainable futures creates serious barriers to the envisioning of a different way forward. Further, dystopian images of the future imply that power is ‘outside’ and that the only way to participate in the future is passively within the unfolding of time. Humanity appears to be hamstrung. Research in Australia echoes much of the research outline earlier, pointingalso to a deepening negativity, lack of hope and a sense of powerlessness among many young (and older) people (Eckersley 2002; Mudzeilwana and Smith 2001). Hutchinson (1994) found that young people fear a future world that they characterise as uncompassionate, physically violent, divided, mechanised, environmentally unsustainable, politically corrupt and deceitful. However, the images are far from uniform. Cultural differences have been reported (Inayatullah 2002), while Hicks and Holden (1995) identified a gender divide, where boys’ images of their preferred futures tended to be highly technological, whereas girls referred more commonly of the greening of science and technology, social justice and making peace with people and Earth. Images also appear to vary with age. One of the more disturbing findings as children get older is that while at 15 years, many youth are relatively optimistic and positive, by 25 years, they become more disillusioned and rudderless (Hicks and Holden 1995). In their major UK project of almost 400 children aged from 7 to 18 years, Hicks and Holden (1995) threw light on how ‘the optimism of the 7 year old is transformed into the pessimism of the 18 year old’. Such research on young people’s images and ideas of the future leads to the bleak conclusion that for many, the future is a depressing and fearful place where they feel hopeless and disempowered to make a difference in their lives. This may well be one of the factors contributing to the relatively high rate of youth suicide in Australia (Eckersley 1997, 2002; Wasserman et€al. 2005). Indeed, Eckersley (2002) believes that hopelessness is the inability to imagine a tolerable future and is a powerful motivator for suicide. Hicks (2002) makes the connection between disconnection from nature and the angst of current times, seeing it as a manifestation of alienation and denial. For Hicks (2002): [S]ome problems are too much to bear so that we deny their very existence. Our defence mechanisms can thus lead to a ‘psychic numbing’ which denies the pain of the world and our part in producing it. By denying its existence we perpetuate it. (p. 99)

Obviously, not all young people are pessimistic about the global outlook and it should be noted that the meaning attached to these images remains contested (e.g., see Bessant’s and Evan’s [1995] rebuttal to Eckersely’s earlier research). However, they remain useful vehicles as a starting point for an exploration of alternative futures. For a comprehensive discussion on the research on youth futures, see Gidley et€al. (2004).

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9.5â•…Creating ‘Spaces of Hope’ in Global Futures Gidley (1998) found that the negativity and cynicism of older adolescents was not as apparent in students educated within the Waldorf (Steiner) school system in Australia. These students tended to express very positive, salient visions of preferred futures as well as a strong sense of activism in creating them. The students’ images seemed able to reflect the strong emphasis of Steiner education on the positive, creative processes of life, including substantial role-modelling of positive human achievement through story-telling. Gender differences in preferred futures were also not apparent in Steiner-educated adolescents, with both males and females expressing somewhat anti-technology views as a solution to future problems, focusing more on social, ecological and spiritual futures. Furthermore, while they may present dystopian image of global futures, this does not mean that young people are not interested in exploring different futures. Slaughter (2004a) sees young people as ‘passionately interested in their own futures and that of the society in which they live’. They universally ‘jump at the chance to study something with such intrinsic interest that also intersects with their own life interests in so many ways’ (p. 1). Conventional education routinely fails to allow students to explore their images of the future and to consider what it would take to create positive alternatives. Part of the reason is that young people’s images and visions of the future are hidden largely from adult discourse in schools and that the language to discuss alternative, positive futures is not in common usage, not available for creating what Harvey (2000) called the ‘spaces of hope.’ Gidley (2004) examined situations where young people had been given the opportunity to voice concerns and hopes about their future. She showed a strong link between considering the future through Futures Education (FE) and young people’s personal empowerment. Her research demonstrates clear links between hopelessness and helplessness, which she defined as ‘the inability to control outcomes, whether good or bad’ (2001, p. 52). For Gidley (2004), exploring different images of the future helped counter the fears that many young people have about the future, helped students develop greater sense of hope and possibility and promoted exploration of avenues for action (p. 21). When given the chance, young people tend to express their hopes for the future as one where there is less emphasis on the individual, material wealth and competition and greater emphasis on community, family, environment and cooperation. They desire to live in a green, more stable society, where there is equal distribution of wealth and a measure of economic self-sufficiency (ASTEC 1996). Researchers in the ASTEC (1996) study noted the Idealism and altruism of the young people they talked to when they were discussing their preferred futures, and that they valued highly the opportunity to think about the future in more than just personal, conventional ways. They clearly enjoyed the experience and expressed the wish that they could have this opportunity in more of their schooling. This promising research opens up the possibility for the creation of spaces of hope and the opportunity to actively engage with the natural world through EfS as

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part of envisioning a sustainable future. For Eckersley (2002), the relationship between a positive image of the global future and personal well-being is mediated through hope.

9.6â•…From Futures Studies to Futures Education: Building Foresight Capacity The Future as a serious field of study is a relatively new one. From its beginning after World War II in the fields of strategic planning, forecasting, trend analysis and scenarios, Futures Studies (FS) has evolved into a broad and complex field whose main project is now an emerging meta-discipline. It integrates a range of tools, methods and concepts for building a foresight capacity from a variety of sources to open up an exploration of possible probable and, most importantly, preferable futures (see Slaughter 2004b, 2005 for an overview of FS). FS reminds us that the future is not something that merely happens to us; rather it is actively created and shaped by a range of actors and decision-makers. It also teaches that while the future can never be known with any certainty, humans have the capacity to exercise what Slaughter (2004b) calls the ‘speculative imagination’ where the ‘not-here and the not-yet’ (p. 15) can be explored. A key idea in FS is the understanding that the world ‘out there’ is framed, understood and conditioned by the world ‘in here’, so that imagination of a preferred future precedes its bringing forth. At the same time, FS is critical, making it clear that these explorations are shaped, limited and clouded by the prevailing cultural contexts and assumptions located in particular worldviews. It seeks to unmask these, so that different, imaginative and other futures can be brought to mind. In short, FS seeks explicitly to consider not The Future, but Many Futures. A key purpose of EfS is to assist people to become ecologically literate in the workings of planetary ecosystems. A key purpose of FE is to help people move from a passive, disengaged acceptance of ‘the future’ to an understanding that there are many futures and that the future is not pre-ordained. Combining ecological literacy (ecoliteracy) (Capra 2005; Orr 1992; Smith 2007) and FE enables the construction of alternative future scenarios and is a powerful step towards more constructive outcomes. As Slaughter puts it: ‘the clearer the understanding of the current situation is, the easier it becomes to generate motivation to energise and enable a wide variety of helpful changes, while there is yet time and the future remains open. FS and applied foresight are constructive responses to altered global conditions, including new dimensions of hazard and risk’.

9.7â•…Futures Education The maturity of FS has meant that aspects of it are available to begin to build foresight capacity within the broad education sector, that is, as FE. The research on youth futures discussed earlier and the quite different perspectives of Steiner-educated

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students (Gidley 1998) indicate that education can and must play a significant role in opening up young people’s imaginations to voicing, exploring and designing their preferable, sustainable future. FE builds on students’ interests and counters fears by offering an impressive and empowering range of learning tools, strategies, concepts and particularly a language that can help them think and act critically and creatively about the future. By exploring alternative and preferable futures, students are able to imagine and develop the most desirable future and consider what it would take to actively to work towards it. As it is in FS and intrinsic to FE, is critical education, where students unpack the taken-for-granted worldviews, myths and metaphors underpinning education and its contribution to unsustainability, such as consumption, growthism and timeframes. From this social-critical perspective, students come to realise that no image of the future is neutral, but is always a product of vested interests, power and ideology. The overtly technological images seen in movies and science fiction, for example, those that appear in so many images of the future, relate to a deeply held but erroneous belief that technology will solve all problems or that it is the only thing that counts. Behind every technical innovation for the future lies interests that are served in the present. For a review of FE applied to particular educational settings, see Gidley et€al. 2004; Bateman et€al. 2006).

9.8â•…Education for Sustainability: Tools, Concepts and Resources Over the past decades, Futures educators have developed a range of useful tools, concepts, resources and especially a language for use with students of all ages to enable them to develop foresight capacity. Page (2000), for example, has written extensively in the area of Futures for pre-school children, while Hicks (1994) has focused on primary education. Some of the many approaches are briefly described subsequently (for further details see Slaughter 1995a, b; Hicks 1994, 2002; Slaughter and Bussey 2005; Smith 2007).

9.8.1â•…Timelines and Y-Diagrams These are probably the simplest and effective futures tools for use even with very young children. The bifurcation of the Y indicates the present and the two (or more) prongs indicate possible futures.

9.8.2â•…Futures Wheels/Mind Maps These can be used to explore a range of cause and effects, both negative and positive and are stimulating and effective.

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9.8.3â•…Preferable, Possible and Probable Futures (the ‘3P’s) Opening up to a range of possible futures and particularly visioning of preferred futures is one of the most important tools for futurists working with children and adolescents (see Galtung 1982; Bowen 2005; Hicks and Holden 1995; Smith 2007).

9.8.4â•…The Extended Present Seeing the past, present and future intimately linked and as part of the same continuum helps people understand the seamlessness of the past, present and future as well as the challenges and ideas about the here and now.

9.8.5â•…Scenario-Building Used to explore a range of alternate futures through text, pictures or multimedia.

9.8.6â•…Incasting (being in a future) Relates to descriptions of life in a particular scenario, such as technology, education, work, family, and environment and works well in conjunction with Y-diagrams.

9.8.7â•…Backcasting (Future history) A crucial part of visioning and scenario work as it links future scenarios back to the present and is often used with incasting. By asking ‘what needs to happen to get there?’ this provides a basis for action.

9.8.8â•…T-Cycle The T or change cycle introduces the idea that change has its own pace and processes and examines why some innovations are successful and why others are not (Slaughter 1995b). In addition to those mentioned earlier, creative learning tools that promote the imagination, such as brainstorming, concept mapping, drama, role play, music, creative writing that loops between pasts, presents and futures, drawing, jokes, cartoons and symbols, science fiction, the media and social inventions are all useful tools for FE.

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9.9â•…Conclusion Educators have always challenged the economic and political forces that have shaped society. And now, it is the very future of Earth that is the central concern. EfS must become embedded in education for all and at all levels of schooling. It is central to the difficult and complex transition from ruthless materialism, consumerism, scientism and the technologically and profit-driven control of nature and humanity to ecological sustainability. One of the key roles of FE is to enable all students, whatever their age, to become active participants in creating and learning to bring forth the different realities of sustainability and to generate a renewed sense of hope and purpose for a sustainable future that is worth living for. The concepts and tools of FE provide a means for educators to begin to engage in this process. By embedding Futures thinking, tools, ideas and language in everyday educational discourse, present and future generations are given powerful thinking and development tools to imagine, create and understand the future differently. FE opens up the imagination about what is possible and worth working towards. It resists and offers alternatives to the narrowing of the collective imagination. While a sustainable world will not come about tomorrow, if educators cannot offer spaces of hope of a better world for young people, who can?

References Stern Review (2006). Retrieved from www.hm-reasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_ review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_index.cfm Abbott, C., Rogers, P., & Sloboda, J. (2006). Global responses to global threats: Sustainable security for the 21st century. London: Oxford Research Group. Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council (ASTEC) (1996). Having our say about the future – young people’s dreams and expectations of Australia in 2010 and the role of science and technology. Report of the ASTEC Youth Partnership Study 1996. Canberra: AGPS. Bateman, D., Gidley, J., & Smith, C. (2006). Futures in education: Critical but absent. Professional Educator, 5(1), 32–38. Berry, T. (2000). The great work. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. Bessant, J., & Evans, M. (1995). Hints of catastrophe: Richard Eckersley, western civilisation and young people. Youth Studies Australia, Winter, 47–51. Bowen, J. (2005). Environment education: Imperatives for the 21st century (2nd ed). Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers. Bowen, J. (2008). Environment education: Imperatives for the 21st century. Melbourne: James Nicholas. Capra, F. (2005). How nature sustains the web of life. In Z. Barlow & M. Stone (Eds.), Ecological literacy. California: Sierra Club Books. Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse. Middlesex: Penguin. Eckersley, R. (1997). Psychosocial disorders in young people: On the agenda but not on the mend. Medical Journal of Australia, 166, 423–424. Eckersley, R. (2002). Cultural correlates of youth suicide. Social Science and Medicine, 55(11), 1891–1904. Ferreira, J., Ryan, L., & Tilbury, D. (2006). Whole-school approaches to sustainability: A review of models for professional development in pres-service teacher education. Macquarie University, Sydney: ARIES.

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Galtung, J. (1982). Schooling, education and the future. Department of Education and Psychology Research, Lund University, Malmo, Sweden. Gidley, J. (1998). Prospective youth visions through imaginative education. Futures, 30(5), 395–408. Gidley, J. (2001). An intervention targeting hopelessness in adolescents by promoting positive future images. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 11(1), 51–64. Gidley, J. (2004). Future/Foresight in education at primary and secondary levels: A literature review and research task analysis. In J. Gidley, D. Bateman, & C. Smith (Eds.), Futures in education: Principles, practice an potential. Australian Foresight Institute Monograph #4. Melbourne: Swinburne University of Technology. Gidley, J., Bateman, D., & Smith, C. (2004). Futures in education: Principles, practice and potential. Australian Foresight Institute Monograph #4. Melbourne: Swinburne University of Technology. Gore, A. (2006). An inconvenient truth. Film production: Paramount Classics and Participant Productions. Hamilton, C., & Denniss, R. (2005). Affluenza. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Harvey, D. (2000). Spaces of hope. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Hicks, D. (1994). Educating for the future. London: World Wide Fund for Nature. Hicks, D. (2002). Lessons for the future: The missing dimension in education. Teaching about global issues, the need for holistic learning. London/New York: Routledge/Falmer. Hicks, D., & Holden, C. (1995). Visions of the future: Why we need to teach for tomorrow. London: Trentham Books. Inayatullah, S. (2002). Youth dissent: Multiple perspectives on youth futures. In J. Gidley & S. Inayatullah (Eds.), Youth futures: Comparative research and transformative visions. Westport, CT: Praeger. Johnson, L. (1987). Children’s visions of the future. The Futurist, 21(3), 36–40. Miller, G. (2004). Choosing our legacy: Overcoming value conflicts that frustrate society’s efforts to deal with environmental challenges. Keynote Address, 9th Annual Values and Leadership Conference, Bridgetown, Barbados. Mudzeilwana, N., & Smith, C. (2001). Using young people’s images of the future to develop futures-orientated education. Paper presented at the XVIIth Conference of the World Futures Studies Federation, University of the Black Sea, Brasov, Romania. Orr, D. (1992). Ecoliteracy. New York: SUNY Press. Orr, D. (1999). Education for globalization. The Ecologist, 29(3), 166–169. Page, J. (2000). Reframing the early childhood curriculum: Educational imperatives for the future. London: Routledge. Polak, F. L., & Boulding, E. (Trans.). (1973). The image of the future. enlightening the past, orientating the present. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Princen, T., Maniates, M., & Conca, K. (2002). Confronting consumption. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Robottom, I. (2008). Reconstructing the curriculum for environmental responsibility. In J. Bowen (Ed.), Environment education: Imperatives for the 21st century. Melbourne: James Nicholas. Sardar, Z. (Ed.). (1999). Rescuing all our futures: The future of futures studies. Westport, CT: Praeger. Slaughter, R. (1995a). Futures concepts and powerful ideas. Melbourne: Future Studies Centre. Slaughter, R. (1995b). Futures tools and techniques. Melbourne: Future Studies Centre. Slaughter, R. (2004a). Introduction. In J. Gidley, D. Bateman, & C. Smith (Eds.), Futures in education: Principles, practice and potential. Australian Foresight Institute Monograph Series, number 5. Melbourne: Swinburne University. Slaughter, R. (2004b). Futures beyond dystopia: Creating social foresight. London: Routledge/ Falmer. Slaughter, R. A. (2005). The knowledge base of futures studies: Professional edition. Brisbane: Foresight International, CD-ROM. Slaughter, R. A., & Bussey, M. (2005). Futures thinking for social foresight. Taipei: Tamkang University Press.

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Smith, C. (2007). Education and society: The case for ecoliteracy. Education and Society, 25(1), 25–27. Sterling, S. (2001). Sustainable education. London: Green Books. Toffler, A. (1974). Learning for tomorrow: The role of the future in education. New York: Vintage Books. UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report (2007). Retrieved January 11, 2008, from www.ipcc.ch Wasserman, D., Cheng, Q., & Jiang, G. (2005). Global suicide rates among young people aged 15–19. World Psychiatry (June), 4(2), 114–120. MJA. Retrieved January 6, 2008, from http:// www.mja.com.au/public/issues/apr21/eckersley/ecker.html Woods, P. (2006). Caring for our future: The importance of strategic approaches and partnerships in education for sustainable development. Australian Association for Environmental Education Conference, Bunbury, WA, October 2006. Worldwatch Institute (2008). Retrieved January 11, 2008, from www.worldwatch.org Zajda, J. (2008). Society and the environment. Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers.

Chapter 10

Sustainable Living by the Bay: Improving Student Engagement in the Science Classroom for the Twenty-first Century Lyn Carter and Ranjith Dediwalage

10.1â•…An Innovative Science Curriculum for Pedagogy of Sustainability Many students complain that their science classes are boring and that remembering loads of facts are unnecessary and irrelevant. Indeed, recent research indicates that students perceive the traditional approach to science education as largely irrelevant to the realities of their complex contemporary world (e.g., see Eisenhart et€ al. 1996; Millar and Osborne 1998; Ogawa 2001). Significant among these studies is the extensive Relevance of Science Education (ROSE 2004) Project that has found students across the developed world to be largely disengaged from science education (for details, see Schreiner and Sjǿberg 2004). Together, the ROSE project and other studies have found that despite years of formal science education, students’ scientific misconceptions are common, and their lack of motivation and feelings of alienation show in the decreasing numbers opting to take science beyond the compulsory years (also Jenkins and Nelson 2005; Jenkins and Pell 2006; Lyons 2006; Tytler 2007). In many ways, this is not surprising, as students’ concern over environmental sustainability, now often manifest as global warming, when connected to destabilised ideas of science, and the increasing prominence of culturally diverse students, knowledge and practices, profoundly challenges what it means to enact science education appropriate for our ecologically fragile, rapidly globalising, technoscientific and complexly multicultural world. Clearly, science education derived from highly abstract and fragmented statements of Western canonical knowledge, as many versions of the widely applied standard-based science curricula seem to be (e.g., see Bianchini and Kelly 2003; Cross 1997; McNay 2000; Ninnes 2001; Rodriguez 1997; Settlage and Meadows 2002), is ill-equipped to take us forward into the twenty-first L. Carterâ•›(*) Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia e-mail: [email protected] R. Dediwalage St. Leonard’s College, Melbourne, Australia e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_10, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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century. Rather, school-based curriculum reformers need to develop innovative and engaging programmes that can provide students with appropriate scientific knowledge and skills relevant for their world, and which will contribute towards their life-long flourishing. Such an innovative project began when a group of science teachers from seven schools around the Bayside area in Melbourne came together to consider these issues, and how better to engage their students with a worthwhile curriculum. In what follows, we describe the development of their project entitled Sustainable Living by the Bay, and the two major strategies underpinning its approach.

10.2╅The Sustainable Living by the Bay Project The Sustainable Living by the Bay project was funded with the assistance of Federal Government through the Australian Schools Innovations in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM 2006). Our initial teacher discussions included an open (and hopefully, honest) reflection of our collective science programmes. We also administered a questionnaire to our Year 8 students to seek their views. We found that by and large, the programmes taught at the participating schools were content-heavy with the majority of the assessments being pen and paper tests. Even though we all included other assessment tasks, the importance placed on tests devalued the other forms of assessment. We seemed to prioritise content delivery and test performance at the expense of real conceptual understanding, and the application and transferring of skills to new learning situations. The majority of students reiterated these views, reporting a dislike of science as it was perceived to be a collection of boring and irrelevant facts. Further, we reviewed the use of ICT tools in our science teaching. Enquiry revealed that in many classes, the use of ICT was limited to word processing. Enhancing concept formation by using ICT to provide more realistic and authentic learning situations, and flexible learning environments, seemed not to be considered as important. We did not appear confident enough to use ICT to achieve things that we could accomplish in other ways. It was rapidly becoming apparent that we, as teachers, implemented our science programmes as quantities of testable content in very traditional ways. To address these areas, the team acknowledged that it would be inadequate to make only superficial adjustments to existing practices. Rather, what were needed were more radical changes to the curriculum and pedagogy that we could employ. We recognised our ineffective use of ICT, and sought out recent research on the development of cyberspace curriculum in the classroom (see Gibbs and Krause 2005, 2006; Gibbs 2006; Zajda and Gibbs 2009; Owen et€ al. 2006; Swan et€ al. 2005; Fergusson et€ al. 2009). We also examined the area of middle school literature, including research by Pendergast and Bahr (2005), Chadbourne (2001, 2002) and Barratt (1998). The teachers appreciated this opportunity to think about implementing their practices differently. Taken together then, the project considered the aspects of the existing curriculum, ICT tools, pedagogy and assessment as a dynamic interconnected web as shown in Fig.€ 10.1. Small changes in one aspect could create significant impact in the other aspects.

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Curriculum

Assessment

Sustainable Living by the Bay

Tools

Pedagogy Fig.€10.1╅ Project dynamics

In approaching the development of the project, we decided to work with all these aspects at once. Hence, the three major aims of Sustainable Living project became: 1. To develop a curriculum with the following outcomes for students • P  romote engagement, self motivation and the opportunity to reignite that spark to find out ‘why’, at the same time as students are • Exposed to core scientific concepts and skills for future study and awareness, as well as • Skills of independent learning, and creative and critical thinking, so that they are able to • Develop strategies to deal with change. 2. To incorporate the use of technology (particularly ICT) in the classroom 3. To provide teachers with the opportunity to continue their professional learning, particularly in pedagogy and assessment. The ASISTM funding was for 18 months – the first 6 months for planning and developing the curriculum material, and the next 12 months for implementation and evaluation. It involved nearly 400 students from seven government and independent schools at Year 8 level, and focused on understanding the natural dynamics of nearby Port Phillip Bay with a view to its sustainable use and development.

10.3â•…Strategies Underpinning the Development and Implementation of Sustainable Living by the Bay As there were many different facets to the development and implementation of a school-based curriculum reform project like Sustainable Living by the Bay, in this presentation, we will only elaborate the two major strategies underpinning the project’s approach. The first strategy is related to the content aspect of the curriculum, while the second strategy addresses pedagogy.

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10.3.1â•…Strategy 1: Habermas’ Knowledge Constitutive Interests Well-known social philosopher and critical theorist, Jurgen Habermas, developed a theory of knowledge, which provides interesting insights for curriculum reforms in education. Habermas (1971) argued that in order to survive, humans not only generate an interest in controlling and reshaping their physical environment and in communicating with each other for the maintenance of society, but also an interest in freedom from oppressive powers. These interests form the pre conditions that make knowledge possible. Habermas (1971) identified these three sets of knowledge constitutive interests as technical interest, practical interest and emancipatory (or critical) interest.

10.3.1.1â•…Cognitive Interests and Curriculum Development Habermas’ (1971) notion of knowledge constitutive interests provides us with a powerful lens to look at the science curricula that we offer in our schools. Through this lens, the straightforward (in the ontological sense of an objectively observable and measurable reality) positivism of technical interest, clearly has a major influence in our school science curricula. Positivists consider that knowledge claims are sound when they are pure and cleansed of the ‘savage of emotionality’ (Habermas 1971). In the pursuit of technical interest, humans inquire into, and thus generate knowledge about, the natural world and develop technologies for its control and exploitation (see Edgar 2006; McCarthy 1984; Pusey 1987). Technical interest is the interest of the empirical-analytic sciences, and is concerned with rule-like regularities, such that the scientists’ task is to articulate the rules or methods that good scientific inquiry should follow. Since the dawn of the European Enlightenment, the spread of modernity has ensured that the empirical-analytical sciences are considered as the source of privileged world knowledge. It does not take too much of a leap to see how Habermas’ (1971) notion of technical interest and positivism has influenced our traditional school science curricula more generally, as well as specifically, at the seven participating project schools. Our focus on teaching loads of facts, figures and rules privileges factual and technical knowledge at the expense of other knowledge. Our pedagogical practices have become limited to how best we can transmit this knowledge, and our assessment techniques to how reliable and valid are our ways of testing factual recall. As Kincheloe and McLaren (2000) have pointed out, this technical interest encouraged us to limit our questions to ‘how to’ instead of ‘why should’. While years of professional learning and experience meant we should know better, the facilitation of technical knowledge had become our job description for all sorts of reasons, not least of which is the increasing daily demands of school life. We were aware of the huge influence of constructivist ideas and pedagogies, particularly, social constructivism on the nature of the content, conceptual understanding, pedagogy and assessment practices within science curricula (e.g. see

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Driver 1995; Fensham et€al. 1994; Hodson and Hodson 1998). Constructivist ideas fit with Habermas’ (1971) second knowledge area of practical interest. Practical interest is the interest of hermeneutic-historical sciences, and is concerned with relating and communicating, which, as already noted, is the development of mutual understanding essential for human survival. Habermas (1971) argued that for this reason, humans develop an interest in the science of interpretation or study of meanings. He referred to two kinds of practical interests identified as personal and problem-solving, where the former relates to the personal meaning-making of contexts and situations, and the later to both individual and collective problem-solving. Science curriculum reformers influenced by the constructivist’s referent of learning as conceptual change, aim to embed personal meaning-making and problem-solving within the school science curricula. Although well-established now for several decades and the subject of an enormous amount of science education research and curriculum policy and planning documents worldwide, it is our experience that on the ground constructivist approaches have had variable impact on curriculum, pedagogy and assessment practices. Habermas’ (1971) final area of emancipatory interest refers to the interest of critical sciences, and is concerned with political action (Wallace et€al. 2005). This critical frame involves the questioning of current practices and identifying their governing power interests, and ultimately working to change such practices for the liberation of oppressed groups. While not normative within the science education literature, there are some scholarships that adopt these more critical and advocacy perspectives, especially for marginalised and disadvantaged groups (e.g. see Calabrese Barton and Osborne 2001; Kyle 2001; Weaver et€al. 2001). It was clear to us from both our teacher reflection activities and the student questionnaires that the science programmes of the seven participating schools were largely focused on technical knowledge. Our summative examination or test, like assessments, promoted content-oriented knowledge almost to the exclusion of everything else. Practical/communicative and emancipatory/critical knowledge when the apparent was limited, even tokenistic, was largely confined to some integrated units with humanities subjects. Figure€10.2 summarises this focus. With regard to designing the curriculum for Sustainable Living by the Bay, we decided to consider not only all three of Habermas’ (1971) knowledge constitutive interests, but also to try and maintain an equal balance between the three, as shown in Fig.€10.2. Accommodating the practical and emancipatory/critical interests to the same extent as technical knowledge proved to be the most difficult task. Interestingly, through our discussions and negotiations, it became apparent that there was a timehonoured belief among some teachers that the inclusion of practical and emancipatory/ critical interests in science curricula would ‘water it down’. As science-trained identities, these teachers were embedded in a positivistic belief structure that considers knowledge to be value-free, real and follow rule-like regularities. They believed that students should know more about scientific concepts and facts, and saw their role as teaching that information to their students. The idea of reducing technical interest component in the curriculum to accommodate the other two was

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Technical Practical

Technical

Traditional Science Curricula

Technical Practical Emancipatory

Model used in the Sustainable Living by the Bay Project

Technical Practical Emancipatory

Fig.€10.2╅ Transformation stages from a traditional science curriculum model to the one used for Sustainable Living by the Bay

a disturbing one indeed. They were also concerned about ‘covering the content’ needed for higher levels. We started concentrating on questions: what sort of content then would we include in this course? Do we need content? How much content do we need? While initially suspicious, through extensive and sometimes heated debate and reading as indicated earlier, the teachers finally came together as a team, and agreed, at least for the purposes of the project, to broaden their approaches. We ultimately decided to limit the content studied in Sustainable

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Living by the Bay and include more activities to accommodate all three of Habermas’ (1971) cognitive interests. In developing Sustainable Living by the Bay for the nearly 400 Year 8 students, we endeavoured to include key scientific concepts from the three major areas of physics, chemistry and biology as the technical constitutive interest. One example of the practical/communicative interest was the organisation of four half-day students’ forums attended by nearly 200 students daily. Each day considered a different theme, and every participating class had an opportunity to present on the appropriate theme. An Expert Panel of various environmental experts, politicians from all political parties, mayors and council members from the city councils in which the participating schools were located, educators and university academics were invited to present and discuss the issues and students’ presentations. There was also an exhibition of students’ works available for viewing throughout the forum. These forum days enabled students to both communicate with others and see what participating schools had accomplished. This hermeneutical and communicative focus reiterated the importance of developing communication and collaboration structures between teachers and students and students themselves, to develop personal meaning and shared understandings of significant societal issues. Other aspects of practical/communicative and emancipatory/critical interests were incorporated into the second strategy adopted in Sustainable Living by the Bay, that of developing student voice.

10.3.2â•…Strategy 2: Developing Student Voice For Furman and Calabrese Barton (2006), student voice is one strategy proposed in the literature for realising some of the goals of emancipatory/critical interests: The call for the integration of student voices in curriculum design and instruction is not new to education. Progressive visions of education have generally argued for a central role of student voices in educational practices as a means to engage students in active learning. These have been present as far back as Dewey’s (1899) “transformed recitation,” in which he envisioned students providing their experiences and ideas and having a dialogue with teachers in order to set up new lines of thought and inquiry. Critical visions of education have further claimed that their voices allow learners to create their own meanings and become authors of their worlds, demanding that students assume a proactive role in planning, implementing, and evaluating their own learning (Freire 1971; Giroux 1988; Simon 1987). Evidence from a variety of research studies has consistently shown that including student voices in science education can enhance motivation, contribute to the development of a wider range of teaching strategies, and help raise overall levels of student achievement in science (our italics). (Furman and Calabrese Barton 2006, pp. 667–668)

Similarly, Jenikins (2006) in his review of studies on student voice in science education, views student voice from a practical as well as emancipatory/critical perspective when he describes it as ‘focus(ing) more directly on what students think about the form, content and purpose of their school science education and exploring the pedagogical implications of the findings’ (p. 50, our italics). Not surprisingly

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though, student voice is an under-utilised construct in the classroom, probably because, as Moll et€al. (1992) assert, students are usually regarded by teachers and others as consumers rather than producers of knowledge. Viewed this way, students’ voices are reduced to responses to the questions asked by others who know the ‘right’ answers in advance, effectively silencing any student’s critical thinking and creativity. There are different ways of leveraging student voice in school curricula and practices, including Moll et€al.’s (1992) notion of ‘funds of knowledge’, which refers to the accumulated knowledge and skills from students’ homes, cultures and experiences (also Hammond 2001). Students draw on their ‘funds of knowledge’ as legitimate sources of knowledge to be incorporated alongside more technical classroom knowledge. In Sustainable Living by the Bay, however, we adopted a different approach to student voice that maintained a shared control of the learning process, and empowered students to have a critical voice to question teachers’ actions. This pedagogical approach drew upon the critical constructivist paradigm, and could be regarded as inquiry based learning. It involved the development of a ‘big question’ and various introductory activities for students to immerse themselves in the question/issue. Students were then encouraged to develop their own questions, and at the same time, they could question the teachers’ knowledge, actions and views of the big question/issue. Through whole-class discussion, students’ questions were further developed into processes, procedures and concepts to enable them to carry out in-depth inquiry. A great degree of flexibility was provided for students to negotiate their questions and the ways in which they could conduct their inquiries. The teachers were the key element enabling the changes in the teaching and learning culture from the technical to the practical and emancipatory/critical interest required for this inquiry-based learning to proceed. For many teachers, the suggested inquiry-based learning approach was new. They reported afterwards, as indeed it was apparent at the time, that the planning and discussion sessions were so intense that they were ‘stripped raw’ of their beliefs and values. Initially, heated discussions were full of emotion as the team fought to determine a shared teaching and learning culture and value system. They felt very uncomfortable with transferring control to students, and several feared the loss of classroom structure and control. However, throughout these intense ‘discussions’, the team maintained a respectful and thoughtful climate, with all encouraged to contribute, and their comments were listened to with empathy. Such a ‘gut wrenching’ experience in a safe, non-critical, trusting and supported environment ultimately led to a warm and cohesive regard among the team. Their collaborative, trusting and sharing nature enabled the difficult and frustrating times throughout the project not only be ‘weathered’, but also be turned into some great successes. On the students’ part, the above-mentioned classroom pedagogy proved very popular and empowering. While they had had little previous experience with excising their own student voice within the classroom, most rose amply to the occasion. The evaluation evidence collected during and at the conclusion of the project suggested that empowering students this way has raised their engagement and motivational level in the learning process.

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10.4â•…Evaluation The forum days were a huge success and the outcome was really positive. The guests and expert-panel members, through informal conversations as well as subsequent letters commented upon, were impressed by the engagement of the students and the quality of their discussion. The students themselves interacted very well with each other and the happiness, enjoyment and satisfaction that they showed during the forums was outstanding. The students’ displays and their presentations were fantastic. They seemed to value the opportunity to question the experts, and to hear firsthand about various expert/professional involvements in the Bay. This extended to the experts relating how they personally felt about some of the pressing issues and what should or could be done. The students also appreciated the responses that they received from other members of the community about their ideas and views on sustainable living. Moreover, students’ responses to the formal evaluation questionnaire were very positive, reiterating their excitement, enjoyment, motivation and welcoming the opportunity for interaction. There is evidence in their responses that they left the forums with the view that their work helped them participate and contribute to discussions with people/experts and organisations that have some influence over the environmental health and use of the Bay. Practical/communicative and emancipatory/critical interest is clearly in play with a positive sense of communication, and a feeling of having made a difference, which is the real evidence of the success of this project.

10.5â•…Conclusion This chapter discusses an innovative pedagogy conducted in a cluster of schools in the Melbourne Bayside. It focuses on experimental classroom pedagogy for teaching science, with particular reference to the two major strategies that underpinned it. The first strategy drew from Jurgen Habermas’ three knowledge generative interests, namely technical, practical/communicative and emancipatory/critical, to provide a theoretical framework for the project. The second strategy adopted a pedagogical approach from the critical constructivist paradigm, which enabled a shared control of the learning process, empowering students to have a critical voice in questioning the teachers’ actions. Our experience within Sustainable Living by the Bay classroom science pedagogy has been positive in improving student engagement and motivation.

References Barratt, R. (1998). Shaping middle schooling in Australia: A report of the National Middle Schooling Project. Canberra: Australian Curriculum Studies Association.

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Bianchini, J., & Kelly, G. (2003). Challenges of standards-based reform: the example of California’s science content standards and textbook adoption process. Science Education, 87, 378–389. Calabrese Barton, A., & Osborne, M. D. (Eds.). (2001). Teaching science in diverse settings: marginalized discourses & classroom practice. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. Chadbourne, R. (2001). Middle schooling for the middle years: what might the jury be considering? Paper prepared for the Australian Education Union, Southbank, Victoria. Retrieved August 1, 2008, from http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Publications/Middleschooling.pdf Chadbourne, R. (2002). A case for separate middle years teacher education programs. Middle Schooling Association of Western Australia Journal, 2, 3–13. Cross, R. T. (1997). ‘Back to the future’: the sixties come to school – science in Victorian schools. Melbourne Studies in Education, 38(2), 103–113. Driver, R. (1995). Constructivist approaches in science teaching. In L. P. Steffe & J. Gale (Eds.), Constructivism in education (pp. 385–400). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Edgar, A. (2006). Habermas: the key concepts. London: Routledge. Eisenhart, M., Finkel, E., & Marion, S. (1996). Creating the conditions for scientific literacy: a re-examination. American Educational Research Journal, 33(2), 261–295. Fensham, P., Gunstone, R., & White, R. (1994). Science content and constructivist views of learning and teaching. In P. Fensham, R. Gunstone, & R. White (Eds.), The content of science: a constructivist approach to its teaching and learning (pp. 1–8). Oxon: Routledge. Fergusson, J., et€al. (2009). E-learning in schools: making successful connections. In J. Zajda & D. Gibbs (Eds.), Comparative information technology languages, societies and the internet. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Furman, M., & Calabrese Barton, A. (2006). Voice in an urban science video project. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 43(7), 667–695. Gibbs, D. (2006). Cyberlanguage: what it is and what it does. In D. Gibbs & K. Krause, K. (Eds.), Cyberlines:2.0. Languages and cultures of the internet (pp. 11–34). Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers. Gibbs, D., & Krause, K. (2005). Cyberlines: languages and cultures of the internet. Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers. Gibbs, D., & Krause, K. (2006). Cyberlines:2.0. Languages and cultures of the internet. Melbourne: James Nicholas Publishers. Habermas, J. (1971). Knowledge and human interests. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Hammond, L. (2001). Notes from California: an anthropological approach to urban science education for language minority families. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(9), 983–999. Hodson, D., & Hodson, J. (1998). From constructivism to social constructivism: a Vygotskian perspective on teaching and learning science. School Science Review, 79(2), 33–41. Australian Schools Innovations in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM) (2006). Retrieved August 1, 2008, from http://www.asistm.edu.au/asistm/asistm_about_asistm,17207.html Jenikins, E. W. (2006). The student voice and school science education. Studies in Science Education, 42, 49–88. Jenkins, E. W., & Nelson, N. (2005). Important but not for me: Students’ attitudes towards secondary school science in England. Research in Science & Technology Education, 23(1), 41–57. Jenkins, E. W., & Pell, R. G. (2006). ‘Me and the environmental challenges’: A survey of English secondary school students’ attitudes towards the environment. International Journal of Science Education, 28, 765–780. Kincheloe, J., & McLaren, P. (2000). Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 279–346). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Kyle, W. C. (2001). Towards a political philosophy of science education. In A. Calabrese Barton & M. D. Osborne (Eds.), Teaching science in diverse settings: marginalized discourses & classroom practice (pp. xi–xvii). New York: Peter Lang. Lyons, T. (2006). Different countries, same science classes: students’ experiences of school science in their own words. International Journal of Science Education, 28(6), 591–613.

10â•… Improving Student Engagement in the Science Classroom for the Twenty-first Century 167 McCarthy, T. (1984). The critical theory of Jürgen Habermas. Cambridge: Polity. McNay, M. (2000). The conservative political agenda in curriculum: Ontario’s recent experience in science education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32(6), 749–756. Millar, R., & Osborne, J. (1998). Beyond 2000: Science education for the future. London: Kings College. Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & González, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132–141. Ninnes, P. (2001). Representations of ways of knowing in junior high school science texts used in Australia. Discourse, 22(1), 81–94. Ogawa, M. (2001). Reform Japanese style: Voyage into an unknown and chaotic future. Science Education, 85, 586–606. Owen, A., Farsaii, S., Knezek, G., & Christensen, R. (2006). Teaching in the one-to-one classroom. It’s not about laptops, it’s about empowerment! Learning & Leading with Technology, 33(4), 12–16. Pendergast, D., & Bahr, N. (Eds.). (2005). Teaching middle years: Rethinking curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. Pusey, M. (1987). Jurgen Habermas. London: Tavistock. Rodriguez, A. J. (1997). The dangerous discourse of invisibility: a critique of the National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34(1), 19–37. Schreiner, C., & Sjøberg, S. (2004). ROSE: The Relevance of Science Education: Sowing the seeds of ROSE. Oslo: Department of Teacher Education and School Development, University of Oslo. Settlage, J., & Meadows, L. (2002). Standards-based reform and its unintended consequences: implications for science education within America’s urban schools. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39(2), 114–127. Swan, K., van’t Hooft, M., & Kratcoski, A. (2005). Uses and effects of mobile computing devices in K–8 classrooms. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(1), 99–112. The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) Project (2004). Retrieved August 1, 2008, from http://www.ils.uio.no/english/rose Tytler, R. (2007). Re-imaging science education; engaging students in science for Australia’s future (ACER). Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.acer.edu.au/documents/AER51_ ReimaginingSciEdu.pdf Wallace, J., Venville, G., & Rennie, L. (2005). Integrating the curriculum. In D. Pendergast & N. Bahr (Eds.), Teaching middle years: Rethinking curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Weaver, J. A., Morris, M., & Appelbaum, P. (Eds.). (2001). (Post) Modern science (Education): Propositions and alternative paths. New York: Peter Lang. Zajda, J., & Gibbs, D. (2009). Comparative information technology: languages, societies and the internet. In J. Zajda & D. Gibbs (Eds.), Comparative information technology languages, societies and the internet. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Chapter 11

Preservice Female Teachers’ Mathematics Self-Concept and Mathematics Anxiety: A Longitudinal Study Rita M. Johnson, Kenneth H. Smith, and Sherrie Carinci

If there is one thing in the world that concerns every one of us, it is the self-concept (Rosenberg 1979, p. ix) People are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them (Epicetus, ad c.95).

11.1â•…The Importance of Self-Concept for Tomorrow’s Schools Future educators are being trained in classroom management techniques, developing teaching strategies, and understanding the pedagogical style that will work best in the classroom. These preservice teachers enter programs with various talents and expertise, being gifted in English, arts, and literacy, but research indicates that many preservice teachers enter their training with strong, often negative feelings toward mathematics (Brady and Bowd 2005; Carinci 2007; Ingersoll 1999). What prompted the research on this topic was the fact that many teachers are entering the profession with less than zealous feelings about math and their ability to teach math. Irrespective of the overall academic achievement, quality teaching may not be forthcoming if the preservice teacher does not have a positive perception of himself/herself in the specific academic subject area, such as mathematics. Research findings demonstrate the key importance of self-concept in the learning process globally, by acknowledging that teaching curriculum, such as mathematics, often represents a certain perspective from a particular culture or societal view R.M. Johnson and S. Carinci Department of Teacher Education, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, 95819 Sacramento, CA e-mails: [email protected]; [email protected] K.H. Smithâ•›(*) School of Education (Victoria), Australian Catholic University, 115 Victoria Parade, 3065 Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_11, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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(Diaz et€ al. 1999). The pedagogy for teaching mathematics with a global intent acknowledges that regardless of the culture or nation, students’ perceptions of one’s self and their ability affects learning and academic success. As teacher preparation programs throughout the world become more homogenous, it is imperative that issues of self concepts, math anxiety, and student’s perception toward mathematics be included and addressed in global math literacy discussions. A positive correlation between self-concept and teacher effectiveness in the classroom has been shown to indicate an interaction between the way teachers think of themselves and the way they relate to their students (Jones and Dindia 2004; Pajares and Schunk 2001; Smith 2000; Tudge et€ al. 2003). Since most teachers often have degrees in education or liberal studies, rather than more specific fields such as science or mathematics, their academic training does not prepare them to teach the subject of math even at the entry level (Joshua-Shearer and Thompson 2002). Research suggests that students’ who had a high interest in mathematics in high school were significantly more likely to choose a major or career that is mathrelated, rather than the teaching profession (Simpkins et€ al. 2006). This talent deficient leaves the classroom with teachers who are less likely to have an interest or positive feeling toward mathematics and their ability to teach math. Research suggests that when teachers perceive their own ability to be high in a specific subject area, they will apply this perception onto their students (Schweinle et€al. 2006; Skaalvik and Skaalvik 2005). This transference of assumed ability supports students’ positive self-perception and the ability for the students to achieve to their full potential. Teachers can also hold a perception that there are students who can do math and those who cannot do math (Goldberger 2008). When teachers have varied expectations of their students, the children’s ability to grow intellectually and socially suffer (Furner and Berman 2003). Students’ self-concept in math can be affected if their teacher expresses negative feelings toward math, does not feel confident in teaching the subject, or is insensitive to the students’ needs. Teachers’ behaviors create positive or negative expectations, which enhance or detract from the teacher-student relationship, promoting either positive or negative student self-concepts, and thus, increasing or reducing learning. For example, students often put forth a solid effort when teachers suggest that the assignment may be difficult, but express confidence that the students will be able to do the work (Burden and Byrd 2003; Jones and Jones 2001). Quality teaching practices, where students are invited to succeed in intellectual, social, and personal domains, will not be enhanced by a teacher, irrespective of his or her academic ability, if he or she has a low academic self-concept in teaching a specific subject. Although self-concept measures become stable and show little change after adolescence, research suggests that if external motivators or change agents are implemented, self-concept measures can change (Marsh and Köller 2003). This longitudinal triangulation study examined 102 female preservice teachers’ math self-concept as well as feelings of math anxiety upon entering and exiting a teacher preparation program. A follow-up survey was implemented 1 year after the participants exited the program, to measure subsequent changes in math self-concept and math anxiety. The purpose of this research was to examine the changes and sustainability in self-perceived math self-concept and self-perceived math anxiety over three periods

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of time: upon entering the preservice teacher program, following completion of the preservice teacher program, and 1 year after completion of the program. In particular, the present research aimed to investigate whether the attitudes of preservice teachers can change and be sustained after the completion of math methods and pedagogy courses within their teacher credentialing training. It is hypothesized that as preservice teachers are exposed to content and methods of teaching in the area of mathematics and other subjects, there will be an increase in their mathematics self-concept and a corresponding decrease in their self-described feelings of mathematics anxiety. It is also hypothesized that these changes will be sustained apparently 1 year post graduation from the program, indicating a degree of stability over time.

11.2â•…Mathematics Self-Concept in Schools According to Marsh (1992, 1993), Marsh et€ al. (2001), and Marsh et€ al. (2005), mathematics self-concept is defined as the respondent’s self-perceptions of their mathematical skills, mathematical reasoning ability, and interest in mathematics. The multidimensional, hierarchical model of self-concept as espoused by Shavelson and Marsh (1985, 1986) had a significant impact in advancing research in the area of academic self-concept. By postulating that global self-concept is a structure made up of a number of related and unrelated second- and third-order facets, it allows researchers to investigate individual self-concept facets and their inter-relations with each other. Self-concept theory examines the relations with other significant personality variables, such as motivation, achievement, and anxiety (Guay et€ al. 2003; Valentine et€al. 2004). Marsh and Shavelson (1985) and Marsh (1987), in an attempt to develop a theoretically sound self-concept measuring instrument, found that there was little to support a general academic self-concept, but rather favored a revised model that consisted of two distinct and uncorrelated academic factors – verbal and mathematics. According to the revised self-concept model, the general self-concept is represented by a highest factor in the hierarchy. A second level in the hierarchy is occupied by academic and non-academic self-concepts. The former is built of verbal and mathematical self-concepts belonging to a lower level of the hierarchy, whereas the latter may be divided into subordinate concepts that are social, emotional, and physical self-concepts (Marsh et€al. 2001). General self-concept is postulated as a stable construct, and other self-concepts are postulated as less stable constructs. This is because the more specific these concepts are, the more they depend on a particular context.

11.2.1â•…Mathematics Anxiety Brady and Bowd (2005) defined mathematics anxiety as a combination of “debilitating test stress, low self-confidence, fear of failure, and negative attitudes toward mathematics learning” (p. 38). Mathematics anxiety hinders the learner in

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common mathematical tasks, poor test performance, and avoiding mathematics instruction whenever possible. Mathematics anxiety affects the learner in future class performance and future career aspirations. People with mathematics anxiety typically avoid college coursework and careers that require higher level mathematics classes. Though there are environmental and family factors, teachers play a significant role in influencing mathematics anxiety. Teachers who have negative feelings toward mathematics, do not feel confident in teaching the subject, use poor instructional techniques, or are insensitive to students’ needs, can foster a dislike for mathematics and feelings of mathematics anxiety in their students (Furner and Berman 2003, p. 171). A dislike of mathematics and mathematics anxiety is common among preservice teachers and elementary school teachers (Zevenbergen 2005). Research by Sloane et€al. (2002) reports that teachers who have a higher anxiety and dislike of mathematics are more likely to teach in traditional ways using a procedural rules-based approach, with the same instruction for all students. This in turn can cause the students to dislike mathematics and develop mathematics anxiety. If teachers feel comfortable with mathematics, they are going to be more likely to engage in positive teaching pedagogies in their own classroom. The study by Sovchik (1996) and Cruikshank and Sheffield (1992) theorized that elementary school children do not develop mathematics anxiety independently, but learn math-anxious behaviors from teachers. Cruikshank and Sheffield (1992) noted that in order to establish a positive classroom climate for teaching mathematics, teachers should: (a) show that they like mathematics; (b) make mathematics enjoyable; (c) show the use of mathematics in careers and everyday life; (d) adapt instruction to students’ interests; (e) establish short-term, attainable goals; (f) provide successful activities; and (g) use meaningful methods of teaching so that mathematics makes sense. There are numerous reasons for students’ success in the classroom, but research suggests that there needs to be a conscious awareness of the pedagogical practices used when teaching mathematics. Research by Brady and Bowd (2005) suggests that teachers need to employ a simple, self-explanatory approach when teaching mathematics concepts, introduce new vocabulary prior to the lesson, and avoid unnecessary skill and drill exercises that often lead to anxiety, frustration, or boredom. These researchers also confirm that it is important for students to make connections to real-world applications in order to foster understanding and engagement in mathematics. Shields (2005) noted that a positive classroom culture, not overly structured or rigid, was critical in creating an anxiety-free atmosphere. She recommends that in order to decrease anxiety, more time should be given for discussion, less emphasis should be placed on completing tasks quickly, and more time should be spent on discovery learning. Schweinle et€al. (2006) reported a strong link between the affective climate of the classroom and student motivation. In classrooms where the climate was perceived to be positive, students reported having more intrinsic motivation, positive emotions related to the content, and perceptions of task-specific competencies. “The more learning is rewarding and enjoyable and the less it is

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boring and anxiety producing, the more students will seek it for its own sake” (Schweinle et€al. 2006, p. 271).

11.3â•…Method 11.3.1â•…Procedure and Data Collection A questionnaire was administered on three separate occasions: pre, post, and postpost (three waves) over a 3-year period. Students voluntarily participated and were commencing a preservice teacher education course of study at a university in northern California. Students enrolling in the teacher preparation program had already completed their undergraduate bachelor’s degree and entered the credential program as a graduate student. Students who majored in mathematics or science, or who were earning their single subject credential in mathematics or science were excluded from the study. Student participants were given the pre questionnaire early in the first semester of their preservice teaching program. The post questionnaire was administered at the end of the participants’ final semester in their teacher preparation program. The same questionnaire, post-post, was sent via US mail to participants 1 year after the post questionnaire was administered. In order to determine whether academic self-concept, mathematics self-concept, and mathematics anxiety perceptions changed during the participants’ teacher preparation training, the following subject classes were used: Mathematics Curriculum and Instruction for the Diverse K-8 classroom, Pedagogy A, Pedagogy B, and Schools and Community A and B. Positive classroom teaching methodologies, as suggested by Sovchik (1996) and Cruikshank and Sheffield (1992), were incorporated in each of the preservice subject classes.

11.3.2â•…Participants Participants who met the selection criteria (enrolled in a teacher education course of study and gave informed consent) were asked to complete a questionnaire during the first semester of their academic program. The research questionnaire comprised 30-item self-report Mathematics Anxiety scale and 10-item self-report mathematics self-concept scale. The participants were given details (verbal and written) of the study and instructions for completing the questionnaires. The time required to complete the questionnaire was approximately 20–30 min. At the end of the final semester of the program, the researcher met with each group of students and administered the same questionnaire. One year after graduation from the teacher preparation program, the third wave of the survey was mailed out to the students. Results from this third round were completed and mailed back to the researcher.

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11.3.3â•…Measures The Self Descriptive Questionnaire III (SDQ III) (Marsh 1992) 10-item Mathematics Self-Concept scale was selected to measure the theoretical facet of the student teachers’ mathematics self-concept, as it is based on a strong empirical foundation and a good theoretical model, namely the highly regarded 1976 Shavelson self-concept model (Shavelson et€al. 1976). Participants are requested to respond to ten unsophisticated sentences each with one of eight responses: 1 – Definitely False; 2 – False; 3 – Mostly False; 4 – More False Than True; 5 – More True Than False; 6 – Mostly True; 7 – True; and 8 – Definitely True. A high score on this scale indicates a high self-concept in the area of mathematics. Participants also completed the Ferguson’s Phobos Scale (Ferguson 1986), which was derived from the 98-item Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) (Richardson and Suinn 1972). The purpose of this scale was to determine each respondent’s level of mathematics anxiety as measured by their total Phobos score. The Phobos scale is made up of 30 questions, with each question answered on a self-rating 1 to 8 Likert scale: 1 – Definitely False; 2 – False; 3 – Mostly False; 4 – More False Than True; 5 – More True Than False; 6 – Mostly True; 7 – True; and 8 – Definitely True. A high total score indicates excessive mathematics anxiety in general. Based on a sample of 397 undergraduates, Richardson and Suinn (1972) reported that test-retest reliability coefficients for the MARS parent instrument were 0.78 over a 2-week period and 0.85 over a 7-week period with an internal consistency coefficient of 0.97. The two instruments utilized in this study, the SDQ III Mathematics SelfConcept scale and the Phobos Mathematics Anxiety scale are based on sound theoretical underpinnings. Both of these self-report inventories have solid empirical evidence to support their construct and content validity. In addition, significant reliability indices indicate that the measuring instruments provide scores that are quite consistent over time.

11.3.4â•…Data Analysis Following the input of the data, descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted using the statistical SPSS statistical software package (SPSS, 2008). This statistical software package was utilized to execute descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. To test for statistically significant differences between three or more related sample means, one-way repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is the most appropriate to utilize (Tabachnick and Fidell 2007). As such, in order to examine the differences between the three waves of the two measures (mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety), separate one-way repeated measures ANOVAs for each measure were conducted.

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11.4â•…Results The pre-questionnaire was completed by 245 participants (195 Females, 50 Males), and 163 of the 245 participants completed the post questionnaire (138 Females, 25 Males). The final third questionnaire was sent to each participant via US mail. One hundred and seventeen out of the 163 participants returned the final questionnaire. The number of participants who satisfactorily completed the measuring instruments for all three questionnaires was 102 females and 15 males. The 15 males were excluded from this study due to the small number of representation. As such, approximately 52% of the initial female participants satisfactorily completed the instrument (questionnaire) for each of the three waves over a period of 3 years. Of the 102 participants, 19 were in the single subject teacher preparation program and 83 were in the multiple subject program. In order to assess if participant loss has influenced the results, two-way repeatedmeasures ANOVA was conducted to compare participants who contributed data to only the first two waves with those participants who contributed data for all three waves. The results identified no significant differences on either wave for the selfconcept measure and anxiety measure. Both the groups of participants showed increase in self-concept and decrease in anxiety over the period of the waves. Table€11.1 depicts the present study’s psychometrics for the SDQIII Mathematics Self-Concept scale and the Phobos Mathematics Anxiety scale. These results are consistent with those reported in the authors’ original instrument development literature (Ferguson 1986; Marsh 1992). Table€ 11.2 presents the SDQ III Mathematics Self-Concept scale and the Phobos Mathematics Anxiety scale descriptive statistics across the three waves. The total scores for the Mathematics Self-Concept scale range from 10 to 80, while total scores for the Phobos Mathematics Anxiety scale range from 30 to 240. The correlations are congruent in terms of degree and direction, as reported in previous major classical reviews (Burns 1979; Hattie 1992; Wylie 1979), in which all have concluded that the relation between self-concept and anxiety is significant and negative. Table€11.1â•… Mathematics self-concept scale and mathematics anxiety scale internal consistency (alpha estimates) and raw score total standard errors of the mean by wave (n = 102) Variable Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3 Math self-concept Number of items 10 10 10 Alpha 0.94 0.93 0.93 SEM 1.57 1.43 1.41 Math Anxiety Number of items 30 30 30 Alpha 0.92 0.93 0.93 SEM 3.17 3.15 3.15

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Table€ 11.2â•… Means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlationsa among mathematics selfconcept scale and mathematics anxiety scale across three periods of time (n = 102) Variable 1 ╇╇ 2 ╇ 3 ╇ 4 ╇ 5 ╇ 6 1. Self-concept – ╇ −0.77 ╇ 0.87 −0.68 ╇ 0.85 −0.68 Wave 1 ╇ 48.40 ╇ 15.90 2. Anxiety – −0.71 ╇ 0.87 −0.71 ╇ 0.79 Wave 1 117.18 ╇ 32.06 3. Self-concept – −0.79 ╇ 0.89 −0.76 Wave 2 ╇ 51.30 ╇ 14.63 4. Anxiety – −0.74 ╇ 0.85 Wave 2 112.75 ╇ 31.78 5. Self-concept – −0.85 Wave 3 ╇ 51.25 ╇ 14.21 6. Anxiety – Wave 3 111.52 ╇ 31.85 All correlations are significant at p < 0.001 (2-tailed)

a

Table€11.3 represents one-way repeated-measures ANOVA to assess and evaluate 102 participants’ self-reported ratings of mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety across three periods of time.

11.4.1â•…Mathematics Self-Concept Box plots and Shapiro-Wilk statistics indicated that the assumption of normality was supported (p > 0.05); Fmax was 1.25 indicating homogeneity of variances. However, Mauchly’s test indicated that the sphericity assumption was violated. Consequently, the Huynh-Feldt degrees of freedom correction was employed. As indicated in the ANOVA summary statistical table (Table€11.3a), there were significant differences between the three mathematics self-concept waves; F(1.91, 193.25) = 9.68, p < 0.001, and partial eta-square (h2p) = 0.087. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons (Table€11.3b), controlling for Type 1 error using the Bonferroni procedure, further revealed that mathematics self-concept-Wave 1 (M = 48.40, SD = 15.90) was significantly lower than Wave 2 (M = 51.30, SD = 14.63) or Wave 3 (M = 51.25, SD = 14.21). Finally, it was found that Wave 2 and Wave 3 did not differ significantly.

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Table€ 11.3╅ One-way repeated measures analysis of variance summary for mathematics selfconcept scale and mathematics anxiety scale (3 Waves; n = 102) Tests of within-subjects effects A. Variable SS MS F p Power hp2 Math self-concept ╇ 562.50 293.99 9.68 0.000 0.087 Math anxiety 1811.31 0.051 966.40 5.40 0.006 Math self-concept df = 1.91, 193.25; Math anxiety df = 1.87, 189.30 B.

Pairwise comparisons Variable Math self-concept Wave 1 versus Wave 2 Wave 1 versus Wave 3 Wave 2 versus Wave 3 Math anxiety Wave 1 versus Wave 2 Wave 1 versus Wave 3 Wave 2 versus Wave 3

a

╇ 0.977 ╇ 0.821

Mean Difference

Std error

pâ•›a

95% C.I.

╇╇ −2.90 ╇╇ −2.85 ╇╇╇ 0.05

╇ 0.773 ╇ 0.824 ╇ 0.658

0.001 0.002 1.00

−4.78 to −1.02 −4.86 to −0.85 −1.55 to 1.65

╇╇╇ 4.44 ╇╇╇ 5.67 ╇╇╇ 1.23

╇ 1.61 ╇ 2.05 ╇ 1.76

0.021 0.021 1.00

╇ 0.52–8.35 ╇ 0.67–10.66 −3.04–5.50

Bonferroni adjustment for multiple post-hoc comparisons

11.4.2â•…Mathematics Anxiety The Shapiro-Wilk (p > 0.05) and Fmax (1.02) statistics were used to test the assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance, respectively. However, Mauchly’s test indicated that the sphericity assumption was violated. As such, the Huynh-Feldt degrees of freedom correction was conducted. The repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that the participants’ self-reported mathematics anxiety ratings did change significantly over time; F(1.87, 189.30) = 5.40, p < 0.006, and partial eta-square (h2p) = 0.051 (refer to Table€ 11.3a for details). The post-hoc pairwise comparisons (Table€11.3b), controlling for Type 1 error using the Bonferroni procedure, indicated that the participants’ Mathematics Anxiety-Wave 1 mean rating (M = 117.18, SD = 32.06) was significantly higher than Wave 2 (M = 112.75, SD = 31.78) or Wave 3 (M = 111.52, SD = 31.85). Furthermore, there was no significant difference between Wave 2 and Wave 3.

11.5â•…Discussion These results support the following hypotheses: As preservice teachers are exposed to content and methods of teaching in the area of mathematics and other subjects, they will show increase in their self-reported mathematics self-concept and decrease in their self-described feelings of mathematics anxiety. Additionally, the results support the hypothesis that this positive change in mathematics self-concept and the reduction in mathematics anxiety was sustained apparently 1 year post graduation

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from the program. Educational psychology researchers have called for the development of educational programs that not only increase academic competencies of students, but also confidence in their ability in specific academic domains (Pajares et€ al. 1999). Pajares et€al. (1999) believe that what is not being fully explored and studied at the present time in educational program reforms is the idea that while aptitude and actual competence are necessary, they are not sufficient conditions required to increase teaching performance. The results of this study lend support to the notion that it is important that educators assist students to develop positive mathematics self-beliefs in supporting them to reduce mathematics anxiety that may impede achievement to their full potential, not only when they are in a formal educational setting, but in addition to prepare them for life-long autonomous learning. These results suggest that focus is required to understand the development of teachers’ self-concept during preservice teacher training. Additionally, interventions designed to enhance the mathematics self-concept of not only preservice teachers, but in addition, inservice teachers, may improve the quality of teaching. Additionally, the results suggest that there is a need for a balance of academic and personal development units in teacher education programs – preservice and inservice. The education of mathematics teachers should be viewed developmentally, both from the perspective of the development of relevant knowledge and skills, and from the perspective of the concept of self as a mathematics teacher.

11.6â•…Conclusions The present study results should be interpreted in light of a number of methodological constraints. It is important to emphasize that this study is restricted in terms of its sample size and composition (female preservice teachers). Owing to the restricted sample size, particularly with regard to males, the present research was unable to investigate gender differences. Additionally, as the participants were drawn from only one university teacher training program, caution is warranted in generalizing these results to other university preservice teacher populations. This study would be strengthened by a systematic instructional approach offered in each course within the preservice teaching program to ensure consistency to what is being taught in concert with the objective of this study. Future research would be strengthened by including more observable data with regard to other major correlates of mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety, such as prior mathematics experience, mathematics self-efficacy, previous mathematics achievement, mathematics attitudes, gender, and age. Further study can advance knowledge of mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety’s influence in an educational setting by striving to describe and understand the stability and changing characteristics of these constructs for preservice teachers during teacher training. It appears that further research is required to advance understanding of the complex influence that mathematics self-concept and mathematics anxiety have on the

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instructional behaviors of teachers in the classroom. In the past, emphasis has been placed on pupils’ academic achievement and their mathematics self-concept; however, there is a paucity of research on the impact of teachers’ mathematics selfconcept on pupil’s academic performance. While it has been demonstrated that self-reported mathematics self-concept has increased in a positive manner following completion of a teacher training program with a corresponding reduction in mathematics anxiety, further research is required to determine if this influence extends to the actual practice of teaching. The intent and focus of this study is critical to the success and inclusion of all students to foster an interest in mathematics. Since fewer teachers enter the profession with an educational background in mathematics, students are often being taught by teachers who feel less confident and successful in their mathematics ability. This study examined the impact of studying preservice teachers and whether the study’s participants’ self-concepts and anxiety toward the subject of mathematics change while in a preservice teacher preparation program and 1 year after leaving the preservice program. It is hoped that this study will prompt other educational institutions to examine the concerns of mathematics self-concepts and anxiety, which begins early in ones’ education. The cycle of negativity can be broken if issues of self-concept and anxiety toward the subject of mathematics are addressed within the preservice teacher preparation programs. Finally, self-concepts and anxiety toward school mathematics will continue to occupy a significant place in global pedagogies, where the focus is on offering worthwhile and authentic quality education for all. It is hoped that by addressing issues of anxiety and self-concept when teaching mathematics, students from all social and cultural backgrounds will be encouraged to consider professions that need mathematics skills. This research will help bring awareness to the challenge that many preservice teachers face when dealing with their personal feelings toward mathematics and teaching mathematics. Using this global lens when addressing preservice teacher issues of anxiety and self-concepts regarding the subject of mathematics will cultivate a richer discussion of this topic throughout preservice teacher preparation programs globally.

References Brady, P., & Bowd, A. (2005). Mathematics anxiety, prior experience and confidence to teach mathematics among preservice education students. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 11, 37–46. Burden, P. R., & Byrd, D. M. (2003). Methods of effective teaching. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Burns, R. (1979). The self-concept in theory, measurement, development, and behavior. New York: Longmans. Carinci, S. (2007). Examining gender and classroom teaching practices. In G. B. Stahley (Ed.), & G. Eisman (Series Ed.), Gender identity, equity and violence: Multidisciplinary perspectives through service learning (pp. 63–82). Sterling, VA: Stylus. Cruikshank, D., & Sheffield, L. (1992). Teaching and learning elementary and middle school mathematics. New York: Merrill.

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Diaz, C., Massialas, B., & Xanthopoulos, J. (1999). Global perspectives for educators. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Ferguson, R. (1986). Abstraction anxiety: A factor of mathematics anxiety. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 17, 145–150. Furner, J., & Berman, B. (2003). Math anxiety: Overcoming a major obstacle to the improvement of student math performance. Childhood Education, 5, 170–179. Hattie, J. (1992). Self-concept. London: Lawrence Erlbaum. Goldberger, S. (2008). Beating the odds. Boston, MA: Carnegie-IA’s Commission on Mathematics and Science Education. Guay, F., Marsh, H. W., & Boivin, M. (2003). Academic self-concept and academic achievement: Developmental perspectives and their causal ordering. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 124–136. Ingersoll, R. (1999). The problem of underqualified teachers in American secondary schools. Educational Researcher, 28, 26–37. Jones, S., & Dindia, K. (2004). A meta-analytic perspective on sex equity in the classroom. Review of Education Research, 74(4), 443–471. Jones, V. F., & Jones, L. S. (2001). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of support and solving problems. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Joshua-Shearer, M., & Thompson, G. L. (2002). In retrospect: What college undergraduates say about their high school education. The High School Journal, 85(4), 1–15. Marsh, H. (1987). The hierarchical structure of the self-concept and the application of hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis. Journal of Educational Measurement, 24, 17–39. Marsh, H. (1992). Self Description Questionnaire (SDQIII): A theoretical and empirical basis for the measurement of multiple dimensions of late adolescent self-concept: An interim test manual and a research monograph. Macarthur, New South Wales, Australia: Faculty of Education, University of Western Sydney. Marsh, H. W. (1993). Academic self-concept: Theory, measurement, and research. In J. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 4, pp. 59–98). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Marsh, H., & Köller, O. (2003). Bringing together two theoretical models of relations between academic self-concept and achievement. In H. Marsh, R. Craven, & D. McInerney (Eds.), International advances in self research (Vol. 1, pp. 17–48). Greenwich, CT: Information Age. Marsh, H., Martin, A., & Dubus, R. (2001). Individual differences in verbal and math self perceptions: One factor, two factors, or does it depend on the construct? In R. Riding & S. Rayner (Eds.), International perspectives on individual differences: Self perception (Vol. 2, Chap. 7, pp. 149–170). London: Ablex. Marsh, H., & Shavelson, R. (1985). Self-concept: Its multifaceted, hierarchical structure. Educational Psychologist, 20, 107–123. Marsh, H. W., Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., Koller, O., & Baumert, J. (2005). Academic self concept, interest, grades, and standardized test scores: Reciprocal effects models of causal ordering. Child Development, 76(2), 397–416. Pajares, F., Miller, M., & Johnson, M. (1999). Gender differences in writing self-beliefs of elementary school students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 50–61. Pajares, F., & Schunk, D. (2001). Self-beliefs and school success: Self-efficacy, self-concept, and school achievement. In R. Riding & S. Rayner (Eds.), International perspectives on individual differences: Self perception (Vol. 2, Chap. 11, pp.239–266). London: Ablex. Richardson, F., & Suinn, R. (1972). The mathematics anxiety rating scale: Psychometric data. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19, 551–554. Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books. Schweinle, A., Turner, J., & Meyer, D. (2006). Striking the right balance: Students’ motivation and affect in elementary school mathematics. The Journal of Educational Research, 99, 271–293. Shavelson, R., Hubner, J., & Stanton, G. (1976). Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretation of test scores. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407–441. Shavelson, R., & Marsh, H. (1986). On the structure of self-concept. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Selfrelated cognitions in anxiety and motivation (pp. 305–330). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Shields, B. (2005). Teachers have the power to alleviate math anxiety. Academic Exchange Quarterly, Fall, 326–330. Simpkins, S., Davis-Kean, P., & Eccles, J. (2006). Math and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and belief. Developmental Psychology, 42, 70–83. Skaalvik, S., & Skaalvik, E. M. (2005). Self-concept, motivational orientation, and help-seeking behavior in mathematics: A study of adults returning to high school. Social Psychology of Education, 8, 285–302. Sloane, T., Daane, C., & Giesen, J. (2002). Mathematics anxiety and learning styles: What is the relationship in elementary preservice teachers? School Science and Mathematics, 102, 84–87. Smith, K. (2000). The self-concept and verbal academic achievement of primary and secondary student teachers. Retrieved from Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne. http://dtl. unimelb.edu.au/R/5MVTNKMKYY2IE9A5P5UFDGCS9V62P5QELX4K8PPAK8PKQ18 F8B-01476?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=65867&local_base=GEN01&pds_handle= GUEST Sovchik, R. (1996). Teaching mathematics to children. New York: HarperCollins. SPSS for Windows (2008). (Version 17) [Computer software]. Chicago: SPSS. Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, L. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Tudge, J., Odero, D., Hogan, D., & Etz, K. (2003). Relations between the everyday activities ofpreschoolers and their teachers’ perceptions of their competence in the first years of school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18, 42–64. Valentine, J. C., Dubois, D. L., & Cooper, H. (2004). The relations between self-beliefs and academic achievement: A systematic review. Educational Psychologist, 39(2), 111–133. Wylie, R. (1979). The self-concept (Vol. 2, Rev. ed.). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. Zevenbergen, R. (2005). Primary preservice teachers’ understanding of volume: The impact of course and practicum experiences. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 17, 3–23.

Chapter 12

‘Learning to Be’ for Tomorrow’s Schools: A Transcultural Dimension into Teaching Marie-Laure Mimoun-Sorel

12.1â•…The Origins of ‘Learning to Be’ Pedagogy Defining the ‘Learning to Be’ pillar for Education for the twenty-first century, the Delors Report (1996) stated, ‘Individual development is a dialectical process which starts with knowing oneself and then opens out to relationships with others. In that sense, education is an inner journey’ (p. 95). Even if my research was focussed on the epistemological level, I was wondering what could be ‘Learning to Be’ in my Language Other Than English (LOTE) classes and what are the cross-cultural implications. I had the understanding that ‘Learning to Be’ was, between, across and beyond subjects taught at school. I could perceive the essence of ‘Learning to Be’, but what could be its substance, as applicable to classroom pedagogy in diverse cultural settings? Learning to be in its current wording first appeared as the title of the Faure Report (1972). The commission working on the report feared that the world would be dehumanised as a result of technical change (Faure, p. xxiv) and proposed recommendations to free human beings from being seen and used essentially as productive tools for a given society, claiming that education was more ‘utilitarian than cultural’ (Faure, p. vi). According to the Faure Report, education should enhance the full expression of being human. Twenty-four years later, through the Delors Report (1996), UNESCO recommended four indispensable pillars for the education of the twenty-first century: • • • •

Learning to know Learning to do Learning to live together Learning to be

This report, through the pillar learning to be, reinforces the idea of enhancing the full expression of human being, stating that to be able to evolve in a changing world, the twenty-first century needs a variety of talents and personal qualities. M.-L. Mimoun-Sorel (*) Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus, Australia e-mail: [email protected] J. Zajda (ed.), Global Pedagogies: Schooling for the Future, Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 12, DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_12, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

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The principles set out in the Faure Report are still relevant: ‘the aim of development is the complete fulfilment of man in all the richness of his personality, the complexity of his forms of expression and his various commitments’ (Delors 1996, p. 95). More than 10 years after the publication of the Delors Report, learning to be continues to be difficult to understand and apply in the classroom. As a teacher, I am responsible for preparing students to deal with ever more complex global, social and cultural challenges that they will encounter in the course of their life (Zajda 2005, 2007a). The need for Learning to Be strongly emerges when studying the context of the twenty-first century, particularly in multicultural societies, where heterogeneity of cultures and values brings contradictions, disorganisation and tensions, which are experienced at the individual and collective identity level (Bindé, 2004). In addition to these tensions, globalisation of the world requires human beings to conciliate the global and local within their value system (Smolicz and Secombe 2005; Zajda 2008a; Zajda 2009). The educational need, then, is not only content-oriented emphasising technology and the sciences: education in the twentyfirst century also requires focusing on human progress, strongly recommended by the Delors (1996). As knowledge is culturally based (Kron 1998; Smolicz 1999; Banks, 2002; Zajda 2007a), there is a concern of sustainability for all the world community, which, according to Morin (2001a), must develop an Ethics of Understanding, which should start with the individual in order to recognise cultural conditionings. Morin (2001b) stresses that human progress commences from introspective questioning. Even if the dynamic of the twenty-first century requires adaptation and flexibility of human beings, these qualities are essential, but are not enough. What is required is the order of transformation: transformation of oneself, of our way of thinking about ourselves and the world, if we have the desire to survive as a species (Matsuura 2004; Delors 1996; Bindé 2004; Barbier 1997; Fullinwider 1996; Morin 2001a; Mimoun-Sorel 2009; Zajda 2010a, 2010b).

12.2â•…Education Does Not Exist a Priori The words of Professor R. Barbier (the University of Paris 8), whom I interviewed for the purpose of my research, come to my mind: Education is at the crossroads of knowledge’s in action and of intimate understanding. Education is the process which expresses the dynamic of the inner life in contact with the external world. It should not be define by scientific disciplines or categories of established thoughts. Education is order of improbable evolution for each person. It does not exist a priori but is based on its own movement. It does not have a goal, nor project other than within the moment of reflexion. Being, it is to educate oneself, always with the other, and in this way to find what we are in the course of what is happening.

This approach to education is not a linear one; it is a comprehensive and complex one. It requires going with the perpetual movement of life, which ‘unwinds’ itself in the classroom.

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12.3â•…Preparing the Self for the Research Before undertaking any action regarding ‘Learning to Be’, I decided that I would try ‘to find what I am, in the course of what is happening’ in my LOTE classes. This statement of Barbier reconnected me to a conversation that I had in Cairo in 1994 with Messiha, an Egyptian Egyptologist. Messiha emphasised that we are mainly focussed on getting knowledge, rather than ‘becoming knowledge’. He explained that ‘becoming knowledge’ happens when being in a state of humility, which is a quality of presence, like if all our cells were listening to what is inside and around us. He advised that we should also be aware of the ‘bridge’ created between what is inside and around. Messiha recommended the release of all our expectations, making clear that expectations disconnect us from the complexity of the reality and distort our understanding. He advocated that our connexion to what is happening generates directions to follow. He also underlined that the understanding of what we learn and experience is not always visible immediately. It can be expressed later, helped by a situation, an event or a context. It was the case for one of my Preparatory students (6-year-olds) who repeated the grade because she did not demonstrate an understanding of what was taught in class. During her second year as a Prep student, Boori Monty Pryor, an Aboriginal author and a storyteller, came to our school for a presentation. Before attending a workshop with him, the little girl put her hand up to tell the class that her grandfather was an elder in the Aboriginal Community and she stated that: ‘when he speaks, every one listens to him’. Very clearly, she was able to explain the Aboriginal quest to be recognised as a valuable culture in Australia. She could link together a complex thinking about this issue, which was a current topic within her family life. The Prep teacher and I were very emotional about what was happening – this 6-year-old little girl had the courage to stand up and speak in the name of her people, something she never did so intelligibly before, for any topic taught. We realised that the teaching and learning context that we offered through our curriculum was not always relevant to allow her to demonstrate her ability of understanding. We experienced the theory of Barbier: ‘Education does not have a goal, nor project other than within the moment of reflexion’. When that event happened, we had no expectation. Because of our existential quality of being at that moment, we could access, see and understand the capacity that this little girl had to link together complex thinking. Recently, I noticed that when we receive mails from the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), the following statement is written in capital letters on the envelope: ‘Education is not preparation for life: education is life itself.’ Wondering what life is, I am tempted to answer that life for me, as a pedagogue, is me, a human being living on Earth with other human beings, other creatures and other forms of life. Life is what we experience, learn and understand everywhere and every day. I find the VIT statement ‘Education is life’ very close to Barbier’s statement: ‘Being, it is to educate oneself, always with the other and in this way to found what we are in the course of what is happening’. We make life with what we are every day. In order to make Education ‘alive’ and not just reproduce static patterns, we need to allow

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ourselves and our students to be ‘alive’: be aware of learning and understanding that we initiate and which is found in our being. In order to explore the ‘Learning to Be’ pillar, I have to be entirely myself (not only in the role of a teacher), empathetic, humble and open to what could happen in my class, listening, so to speak, to the present moment. It seemed to me that what we normally call an Action Research would start as a Non-Action Research.

12.4â•…A Favourable Context At the time I decided to start my Non-Action Research in my LOTE class, Loreto Toorak Junior School was involved in the Ithaka Project. This project links seven schools and over 100 teachers. The concept is to provide a frame for exploring teaching and learning through the use of action research to investigate the applications of the ideas of Intellectual Character of Ritchhart (2002). Through exploration of the overlap between some current theories of reflective and metacognitive thinking, Ritchhart proposes six thinking dispositions: • • • • • •

Open-minded Curious Metacognitive Truth seeker Strategic Sceptical

Teachers and then students were introduced to these thinking dispositions, which were used within the curriculum areas. The entire primary school had a common language with which to discuss the processes of learning and thinking. In addition to this new thinking vocabulary, the master words in classes became ‘thinking routine’, ‘visible thinking’ and ‘learning for understanding’. On a regular basis, teachers of all schools involved in the project had the opportunity to meet together for cross-school meetings and discussion, special interest groups, professional developments, reading groups, seminars and annual conference. The Year 6 students were the first ones to investigate and experience the thinking dispositions through one session of 1 h per week with their class teacher and the head of the curriculum who received a specific training in order to implement this ‘culture of thinking’ at the Junior School. On entering the classroom, I could not miss the posters pined on the walls, reflecting their research, their definitions and their application of the Thinking Dispositions in the different topics studied. They were of great help to remind me that I was entering into a territory with new pathways to enhance ‘learning for understanding’. After 4 weeks of this programme, when I was going from classroom to classroom, I could witness students being genuinely empowered by their new way of thinking. However, the students did not apply these Thinking Dispositions spontaneously in LOTE class; certainly because I did not start to challenge their thinking with my subject. I was observing and

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trying to have a comprehensive perception, being aware and attentive in order to access, see and understand what was in the shadow. I was wondering what were the invisible dynamics between the students and myself, the students and my subject, the Thinking Dispositions and my subject, the Thinking Dispositions and the ‘Learning to Be’ dimension and so on. I was aware that the Thinking Dispositions of Ritchhart could further my understanding of the ‘Learning to Be’ dimension and more. Using the knowledge already acquired from my research on ‘Learning to Be’, I thought that the Transdisciplinarity research could help me to better understand and make meanings of the complexity of the context and the multiple dynamics within.

12.5â•…The Transdisciplinary Research for Pedagogy In 1987, Nicolescu, former theoretical physicist at the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, originated the Transdisciplinary methodology of research and established the International Centre of Transdiciplinary Research (CIRET). Nicolescu (1996) explains that the Transdisciplinarity approach offers better and deeper understanding of complexity, which is at the opposite side of scientific objectivity that defines a mechanistic view of the world. Through its Transdiciplinarity approach, the intention of Nicolescu (2007) is to suppress any rigid distinction between the Subject and the Object, between objective reality and subjective reality. Being a theoretician physicist of quantum mechanics, Nicolescu (2007) affirms that the quantum revolution radically changed the modern science founded on the idea of a total separation between the knowing subject and Reality ‘which was assumed to be completely independent from the subject who observed it’. Nicholescu (2007) underlines that ‘with very few exceptions – Hussrel, Gadamer or Cassirer – modern and post-modern thinkers gradually transformed the Subject in a grammatical subject. The subject is today just a word in a phrase.’

12.5.1â•…Subject–Object Interaction Through his transdisciplinarity methodology of research – complexity, multiple levels of reality and the logic of the included middle – Nicolescu (1996) advocates that ‘beyond disciplines precisely signifies the Subject-Object interaction. The transcendence, inherent in transdisciplinarity, is the transcendence of the Subject. The Subject cannot be captured in a disciplinary camp. The meaning beyond disciplines leads us to an immense space of new knowledge.’ De Mello (2001) suggests that ‘Transdisciplinarity can be thought of as one, among other powerful means, to a greater end defined as: sustainability of human being and of society. Transdisciplinarity views human learning as art, in the sense of articulating different levels of reality and also as a creative informative, formative, trans-formative endless learning process’.

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The reason for choosing the transdisciplinary approach, as a framework for this research, is embedded in the complex nature of the ‘Learning to Be’ concept. Learning and being are both, transdisciplinary dimensions. Maria de Mello (2001) advocates that ‘the transdisciplinary concept goes beyond the reductionism founded on the logic of exclusion yes/no, true/false, which has so powerfully moulded the minds and actions of western society. Transdisciplinarity conceives a broader horizon for the cognitive act, by presenting a new epistemology and methodology that encompass the principles of complexity, the notion of levels of reality and the logic of the included middle’. Nicolescu (2007) defines the methodology of transdisciplinary research using an ontological axiom, a logical axiom and an epistemological axiom.

12.5.2â•…Levels of Reality and Levels of Perception: The Ontological Axiom There are different levels of Reality of the Object and correspondingly, different levels of Reality of the Subject. Nicolescu (1996) considers that the major impact of the quantum revolution is to challenge the contemporary philosophic dogma concerning the existence of only one level of reality. The existence of different levels of reality has been affirmed by different traditions and civilisations, but this affirmation was founded on the explanation of the interior universe only. Levels of reality are likely to be different if, going from one to another, there is a rupture of laws and rupture of fundamental concepts. Nicolescu (1996) also emphasises that the unity linking all levels of Reality must necessarily be an open unity. For example, Nature can be seen as an open unity of levels, with a coherence existing between each of them. Human beings also have different levels of reality and perception. Nicolescu underlines, ‘A level of reality is what it is because all the other levels exist at the same time’. In transdisciplinarity vision, Reality is not only multi-dimensional, it is also multi-referential. The different levels of reality are accessible to human knowledge, thanks to the existence of different levels of Perception. These levels of Perception permit an increasingly general, unifying, encompassing vision of Reality, without ever entirely exhausting it. Nicolescu (2007) emphasises that ‘knowledge is neither exterior nor interior: it is at the same time exterior and interior. The study of the universe and the study of the human being sustain one another’.

12.5.3â•…The Logic of the Included Middle: The Logical Axiom The passage from one level of Reality to another is insured by the logic of the included middle. Nicolescu (1996) suggests that in order to obtain a clear image of the meaning of the included middle, we should represent the three terms of the new

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logic – A, non-A and T – and the dynamics associated with them by a triangle in which one of the vertices is situated at one level of Reality and the two other vertices at another level of reality. Nicolescu emphasises that ‘if one remains at a single level of Reality, all manifestation appears as a struggle between two contradictory elements. The third dynamic, that of the T-state, is exercised at another level of Reality, where that which appears to be disunited is in fact united and that which appears contradictory is perceived as non-contradictory’. Nicholescu (2007) suggests that the ternary structure of reality can be found in the analysis of concrete situations like, for example: Levels of confusion – Levels of language – Levels of interpretation; Physical levels – Biological levels – Psychical levels; Levels of objectivity – Levels of subjectivity – Levels of complexity and Levels of ignorance – Levels of intelligence – Levels of contemplation. The logic of the included middle is the logic of complexity, insofar as it permits to cross the different fields of knowledge, thus freeing the tension between ‘A’ and ‘Non-A’.

12.5.4â•…Complexity: The Epistemological Axiom The structure of the totality of levels of Reality is a complex structure: every level is what it is, because all the levels exist at the same time. Nicolescu (1998) explains that ‘cognitive complexity refers to thinking in terms of categories, not unlike the laws of the Hegelian dialectic, which exclude one another: black-white, day-night, A-non A’. However, as soon as the complexity emerges, everything changes. Since the twentieth century, complexity has invaded every sphere of knowledge. Complexity cannot be approached with a classical and formal logic, founded on binary oppositions like ‘true’ and ‘false’. According to Welter (2003), the binary thinking has influenced empirical sciences and all human activities. Morin (1990) explains that with the emergence of complexity, ‘we abandon the linear type of explanation for a type of explanation in motion, circular, where we go from the parts to the whole and from the whole to the parts in order to try to understand the phenomenon’ (p. 165). Much earlier, around 1660, the physicist, mathematician and philosopher, Pascal, stated, ‘All things being influenced and influencing, caused and causing, I consider impossible to know the whole without knowing the parts and to know the parts without knowing the whole’ (Pascal 1991).

12.6â•…A Transdisciplinary Action Research Nicolescu (1996) explains his notion of Transdisciplinarity as a new epistemological synthesis: ‘Transdisciplinarity is globally open. It entails both a new vision and a lived experience. It is a way of self-transformation oriented towards knowledge of the self and it takes into account all the dimensions of the human being’. One could rely on these statements for one’s own research because an action research is a lived experience; ‘Learning to Be’ is a new vision likely oriented towards knowledge

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of the self and the Thinking Dispositions require being globally open. Considering the Transdisciplinarity approach in my action research, I had to locate epistemological tensions in my classes expressed between, for example, an element ‘A’ and an element ‘Non-A’. I had to access the different levels of reality impacting on learning and discover the included middle, which would release the tensions and bring forth the unity of knowledge. In order to perceive the complexity that takes place within a context, Nicolescu recommends that ‘we first have to make an effort of inner silence, stifle the usual thought which is very talkative and tells us over and over what is false and what is true. Within this silence we discover that there is a natural perception of the unity of contradictions’. These recommendations of Nicolescu are similar to those of Messiha, who advises that in order to access the complexity of the reality, we should give up our preconceived ideas and expectations.

12.7â•…Data Collection I chose two methods of gathering data. The first one was observation of what was happening within lessons. The Transdisciplinary approach in action research implied that the purpose of observations was not predetermined. I had to be globally open to unexpected situations, session after session. For being able to quickly record classroom situations, I used post-it notes. The second method of gathering data was collection of data from student’s reflections about their learning. This process was favoured by the ‘thinking culture’ of the school, which required students to make their thinking ‘visible’ using ‘thinking routine’. For example, for the majority of their piece of work, individual or collective, students had to reflect either on the strategy that they used to complete the task, or on their learning ability or difficulty, understanding and improvement. After the session, the pieces of information gathered were put together in order to form a concept map, where I could observe eventual connexions between the different aspects emerging.

12.8â•…Situations in the French Class Observing that my students did not spontaneously apply their new thinking dispositions in French class, I wanted to see what would arise if I challenged their thinking.

12.8.1â•…Here, There is Nothing to Understand Considering that I should try to destabilise them, I wrote on the whiteboard a sentence in English language, but following the French rules of grammar regarding adjectives: ‘the cats blacks are eating a mouse blacke and a fish black’. From that sentence, I asked the students to deduce what could be the French rules for adjectives.

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They had 20 min to discuss it within their group, write the rules down and make up their own sentence in English, but according the French rules. All of them made the remark that the position of the French adjectives is after the noun and that if the noun is plural, the adjective becomes plural. They had more difficulty in finding out why ‘black’ ended with ‘e’ when placed after ‘a mouse’. A group of students could link it to their prior knowledge regarding the concept of gender and could formulate: ‘because ‘mouse’ may be a feminine word, we put an ‘e’ at ‘black’ and because ‘fish’ may be a masculine word, we don’t add an ‘e’ at ‘black’’. They were right. However, a lot of students were still saying ‘I don’t understand’ and kept on their position, unable to make up their own sentence in English using the French rules for the adjectives. As a reminder, the Thinking Dispositions posters on the walls helped me to reflect on what was happening and stop my habit to straight away try another pedagogical approach to facilitate their understanding. Using the Thinking Dispositions vocabulary, I told them: ‘Here, there is nothing to understand, except that you just have to be open-minded: accept that the French grammar is different than the English one’. They knew what ‘being open-minded’ involved; they had already investigated the concept with their class teacher. However, I had the feeling that they needed a more concrete representation of how the English and French languages are different, not only at the intellectual level, but also at the aesthetic one. From their perception of the French language and in comparison with the English one, I asked them to design two trees: the first one representing the English language and the second one, the French one. For the majority of them, the design of the English tree was very simple. On the contrary, their design of the French tree was very detailed and precise. It was interesting to see they could capture – through their feeling expressed by this artistic exercise – the complexity of the French language. One of the students explained: ‘In English we say “you are beautiful” but when we say that, we don’t know if we speak to one person or to a group of people. In French we make the distinction: you singular is tu and you plural is vous’. Looking at their drawing, they agreed that no understanding process was required; just see that the French adjectives had different rules and accept it. By the end of the session, they all admitted that in order to write their English sentence according the French rules, they had to be open-minded.

12.8.2â•…Speaking Like That, It’s Not Me In the next session, when I asked them to share with the class their sentence following the French rules about adjectives, it was not an easy exercise. They felt either shy or weird or embarrassed to read loudly their English sentence making voluntary mistakes. Intellectually, they understood that it was important to be openminded when we learn a foreign language. However, emotionally they had difficulty to speak ‘making mistakes’ in order to communicate according to the French rules. Sharing her feeling with the class, one student said: ‘It is ok to write these weird Frenchy English sentences but it is much more difficult to speak English making these enormous mistakes like the cats blacks. It’s difficult because speaking

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like that, it’s not me’. They all agreed with her when she said: ‘it’s not me’. From that day, their deep thinking and emotion started to be visible. The French rule about adjectives introduced within their native language destabilised them and activated their perception regarding their identity. I understood I was at the heart of what matters for them: their being. It seemed easier for them to define who they are not than who they are. From here, I initiated the discussion: ‘is your language linked to your identity?’ By exploring what makes their identity through brainstorming in small groups, they expressed the idea that behavioural and thinking patterns are shaped by their language and their culture. They also added that they did not want to lose or change their identity. I was amazed that they could formulate with their own words – using the Thinking Dispositions – the theory of TrocmeFabre (2004), ‘All living organisms have an immense potential: potential of observation, adaptation, choice, transformation, repairing, innovation, exchange and learning. These potentialities have no limits than those imposed by our cultures and our representations. Nor information, nor knowledge constitutes a reality in itself. We perceive what we see, ear and understand through our own history’. For me as an educator, the question became how, from their statement ‘it’s not me’, I could find a ‘bridge’ to help them overcome their limitations that hindered their learning. The students’ statements ‘it’s not me’ helped me to make the connexion with the Transdisciplinarity approach. ‘A’ would be the statement learning English, it’s me and ‘Non-A’ would be the statement learning French, it’s not me. I could see and understand the tension in my class between ‘A’ and ‘Non-A’. However, what would be the included middle that would release the tension and free the immense potential that students have as living organisms? Trying to be openminded to my students, I realised that in order to release the tension, I had to enlarge my focus. I thought I should stop regarding learning French as the only priority for also considering the identity issue that was taking place between the students and the context of French class. Between was in the shadow, but it was actively impacting on their learning. Investigating the shadow allowed me to enlarge my level of perception. From the tension generated by learning English, it’s me and learning French, it’s not me, I could see, experience and understand that the ‘Learning to Be’ dimension was emerging. Beyond the cultural aspect, the identity of my students had been shacked and they had to give up their previous landmarks. Learning French forced them to adopt a new vision about themselves and the world around. It is the order of dealing with the unknown. Trocme-Fabre (2004) advocates, ‘Learning a foreign language is not just about borrowing a new vocabulary, another grammar and another pronunciation. It is question of putting in place a whole new cognitive process’.

12.8.3â•… ‘Learning to Be’, The Included Middle The context of the lessons helped me to see another level of reality: through learning French, my students started ‘learning to be’, as beings in evolution.

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I understood that ‘Learning to Be’ proved to be the included middle of the Transdisciplinary approach. Having a better understanding of the parameters involved, I could start to be strategic: using the context of learning French in order to push further my students out of their thinking limitations. My concern became: how could I help them to realise it is not a question of losing their identity but enlarging it? I asked them to work in group of four to investigate the quote of Maturala and Valera (1987), ‘The world we see is not the world but a world’. The task was to share their understanding about this quote, give examples, explain, putting up with examples, how this statement could be relevant comparing the English and French grammar. At the end of the time allocated, they shared their ideas with the class. Different kinds of perceptions, understandings and feelings were expressed. One student expressed that even if we have differences, we also have commonalties: ‘Everyone is a world in itself and in the main time we are all made of the same things. We all can be: sad, happy, crazy, funny and angry but not necessary for the same reasons’. Another one realised that we never stop learning and for this we need to be flexible and persistent: ‘What scares me is that in order to be able to communicate from one world to another, we need to adapt ourself. It seems to be endless: adapting all the time’. A girl was concerned that ‘because there are so much different worlds, with different rules, it is difficult to know who is telling the truth. Who can we trust and believe?’ Following this last statement, the students expressed that the notion of ‘truth’ is relative and linked to a specific context. What is legitimate within one context is not within another one. A link was made by a student regarding the news at that time about the young Australian who was sentenced to death in Singapore for drug traffics. One of them said: ‘I didn’t know that in another country we could be sentenced to death penalty for drug traffics and no one could save you because the law is not the same’. Investigating the notions of truth, rules and context, I asked them to tell me how they experienced these notions in French class, for example, when I asked them to read their Frenchy English sentence. One of them said: ‘It is difficult because doing the exercise we don’t respect the rules we have being taught in order to speak correct English’. From the discussion, the questioning came: may be the ‘absolute truth’ does not exist. One of the students said: ‘we are sure there is no “absolute truth” regarding the grammar rules when we go from one language to another one. Now, we don’t know yet if there are other examples in life where the “absolute truth” exists’. All what was arising was so rich and deep, just following from the sentence written on the whiteboard: ‘the cats blacks are eating a mouse blacke and a fish black’. It was very interesting to see and understand the dynamic between their inner life and their learning in French class. It was not only the question of learning another language. It was the order of ‘understanding where I come from, experiencing who I am and being aware and open to what I am becoming’; it was the order of ‘Learning to Be’. I observed that learning French started to really matter, because it was learning another language for understanding oneself and others.

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12.8.4â•…Freeing the Intelligence The substance of ‘Learning to Be’ became visible to me, because by adjusting my level of perception, I could access the complexity of the learning process and understand the connexions within. However, were the outcomes of the French curriculum reached? What was my student’s level in French by the end of Year 6? I designed a test during term four in order to evaluate their knowledge acquired in French language along the year. The test was divided into two parts: the basic knowledge about vocabulary and grammar and the applied knowledge in written communication. The second part required them to be able to change their thinking patterns according to the French context. The spectrum of difficulties went from end of Year 4 to end of Year 8. I was surprised that 75% of the students demonstrated an understanding of applied knowledge reaching the level of end of Year 8. The end of year test in French language proved me that investigating the sense of their being and identity, working on their thinking patterns, emotions and limitations, helped the students to free their capacity of understanding. They also experienced that the freedom to learn comes from the inside. This action research led me to the conclusion that the ‘Learning to be’ dimension is a ‘bridge’ deployed where the self meet itself, meet others and the different levels of reality of the world. Through this research, I experienced that ‘Learning to Be’ in LOTE classes is between, across and beyond any cultures. In the context of my transdisciplinary action research, ‘Learning to Be’ offers a transcultural dimension that brings forth to students the possibility to: –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi –â•fi

Identify their thinking limitations Face their fear to lose their landmark and identity Change their thinking patterns in order to ‘enlarge’ their identity Free their understanding Develop their metacognitive disposition Experience that identity is composed of different levels of reality Understand that some levels of reality comprising an identity are common to all human beings, irrespective of their culture –â•fi Approach the complexity and relativity of the world, experiencing that ‘the world we see is not the world but a world.’

12.9â•…Reflections Through this investigation, I experienced that Learning to Be in French classes is indeed a process that takes place between, across and beyond the discipline taught. In the context of such a transdisciplinary approach, Learning to Be brought forth to my students the possibility to:

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–â•fi Identify and go beyond their thinking and cognitive limitations –â•fi Face their irrational fears of losing their landmark and identity –â•fi Change their thinking patterns in order to ‘extend’ the perception of their identity –â•fi Liberate their understanding from pre-conceived ideas and biases –â•fi Develop their metacognitive dimension –â•fi Learn that one’s social identity is composed of different levels of perception and reality –â•fi Understand that some levels of reality composing one’s identity are common to all human beings and across cultures –â•fi Develop a new approach towards the complexity and relativity of the world, while experiencing that ‘the world we as we see it is not the world, but a world, constructed through the philters of our perception, senses and subjectivities’ (see also Postman and Weingartner 1971, p. 93). The end of year test in French language proved to me that students, by investigating their own sense of being and identity and working on their thinking patterns, emotions and limitations, were able to free their innate abilities to approach the complexity of their being and their connexions with the surrounding. Immersed in their French class, they started to comprehend the world in a more holistic way. They experienced that the real freedom to learn comes from ‘within’. This inner freedom led them beyond themselves and beyond the discipline that they were learning. While they were involved in a learning process in French class, they became more introspective and explored their ability to change their mindset, which is crucial to go in the direction of a breakthrough in the twenty-first century. Personally, I experienced the impact of a change of priorities, perception and values in my way of teaching and approaching the French curriculum. I could see the transformative power of the Learning to Be dimension. I understood that it is possible to go beyond a discipline from within it. It was a first step to access our human responsibility to be prepared to and involved in a new way of thinking at the individual, social and species levels.

12.10â•…Conclusion The above-mentioned investigation of the ‘Learning to Be’ dimension in the classroom suggests that classroom pedagogy has to change its learning focus, because, as essential learning for the twenty-first century, Learning to Be has to produce wisdom; a wisdom, which is achievable through personal transformation in order to save the individual-cultural-species identity of our earthly condition (Zajda 2010b). We also need to understand and accept Learning to Be as a fundamental need, a fundamental human right, as a cluster of values and a fundamental social responsibility and an indispensable priority for a new dimension of well-being to be considered in the classroom pedagogy.

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References Aloni, N. (2002). Enhancing humanity, the philosophical foundations of humanistic education. Boston, MA: Kluwer. Barbier, R. (1997). L’approche transversale: l’écoute sensible en sciences humaines. Paris: Anthropos. Capra, F. (2003). The hidden connections. London: Flamingo. Delors, J. (1996). Learning: the treasure within. Paris: UNESCO. Kron, F. (1998). Cultural and ideological dimensions of language awareness. In W. Tulasiewicz & J. Zajda (Eds.), Language awareness in the curriculum (pp. 33–40). Melbourne: James Nicholas. Labercane, G., Griffith, B., & Tulasiewicz, W. (1998). Language awareness in the classroom. In W. Tulasiewicz & J. Zajda (Eds.), Language awareness in the curriculum (pp. 1–10). Melbourne: James Nicholas. Learning to Be: The Treasure Within (1997). UNESCO Report for Education for the 21st Century, published by the German UNESCO Commission. Berlin: Luchterhand. Maturala, H., & Valera, F. (1987). The tree of knowledge. Boston, MA: Shambala. Morin, E. (1990). Science avec conscience. Paris: Seuil. Nicolescu, B. (1996). Transdisciplinarité: Manifeste. Monaco: Editions du Rocher. Pascal, B. (1991). Pensées. Paris: Gallimard. Ritchhart, R. (2002). Intellectual character. San Francico: Jowey-Boss. Secombe, M., & Zajda, J. (Eds.) (1999). Education and culture. Melbourne: James Nicholas. Smolicz, J., & Secombe, M. (2005). Globalisation, cultural diversity, and multiculturalism: Australia. In J. Zajda (Ed.), The international handbook of globalisation and education policy research (pp. 207–220). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Trocme-Fabre, H. (2004). L’arbre du savoir-apprendre. Paris: Etre et connaître. Tulasiewicz, W., & Zajda, J. (Eds.) (1998). Language awareness in the curriculum. Melbourne: James Nicholas. Welter, R. (2003). La présence consciente comme réponse à toute fragmentation. In Nicolescu (Ed.), Le sacré aujourd’hui (pp.185–193). Paris: Editions du Rocher. Zajda, J. (Ed.) (2005). The international handbook of globalisation and education policy research. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J. (2007a). Living together: Globalisation, education and intercultural dialogue. Political Crossroads, 14(1), 37–49. Zajda, J. (Ed.) (2007b). Education and society (4th edn). San Francisco & Melbourne: James Nicholas. Zajda, J. (2008a). Globalisation and implications for equity and democracy in education. In J. Zajda, L. Davies & S. Majhanovich (Eds.), Comparative and global pedagogies: Equity, access and democracy in education (pp. 3–12). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J. (2008b). Citizenship education and nation-building. In H. Daun, L. Saha & J. Zajda (Eds.), Nation-building, identity and citizenship education: cross-cultural perspectives. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Zajda, J. (2009). Values education in the global culture. In J. Zajda & H. Daun (Eds.), Global values education: Teaching democracy and peace. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J. (2010a). Globalisation, ideology and education reforms. In J. Zajda (Ed.), Globalisation, ideology and education policy reforms. Dordrecht: Springer. Zajda, J. (2010b). Globalisation, education and social justice: Introduction. In J. Zajda (Ed.), Globalisation, education and social justice. Dordrecht: Springer.

Name Index

A Abbott, C., 145 Abdullahi, S.A., xviii, 23, 32 Abosi, O.C., 116 Abu-Saad, I., 86 Ali, T., 7 Anderson, B., 11, 27, 95 Anderson, G.L., 47 Antikainen, A., xix, 130, 135, 138, 140 Apffel-Marglin, F., 94 Appadurai, A., 37, 38, 40 Apple, M., xvi Arenas, A., xviii, 87, 90, 91 Arratia, M.-I., 86 Awartani, S., 117 B Bahr, N., 158 Banks, J., 92, 106 Barbaro, M., 59 Barbier, R., 184 Barnes, E., 113 Barnhardt, R., 86, 87, 89, 97, 103 Barratt, R., 158 Bartell, C.A., 72 Bauman, Z., 3, 6, 7 Bazerman, M.H., 51 Beare, H., xiv Belbin, R.M., 58 Bello, W., 43 Bennett, D., 43 Berman, B., 172 Berry, T., 146, 147 Bianchini, J., 157 Bindé, J., xxi, xiv Blommaert, J., 101

Borgerhoff, A., 91 Boulding, E., 148 Bourdieu, P., xvii, 62 Bowd, A., 169, 171, 172 Bowen, J., 148, 153 Bowers, C.A., 94 Bowles, S., xvi Boyer, E., 25 Brady, P., 169, 171, 172 Brookes, T., 50 Bruner, J., 62 Burden, P.R., 170 Byrd, D.M., 170 C Calabrese Barton, A., 161, 163 Capra, F., 151 Carinci, S., xx, 169 Carnoy, M., xvi Carter, L., xx Case, R., 30 Castell, M., xvi, 133, 134, 139 Chadbourne, R., 158 Champagne, D., 86 Cheong, A., 118, 119 Choi, J.K., 93 Christenson, C.A., 120 Clark, C., 138 Clifford, J., 44 Clinton, W.J., 26 Cloerkes, G., 116 Collins, R., 101 Cooper, B., 97 Coulson, A., xxi Crockett, D., 65 Cross, R.T., 157 Csapo, M., 115

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198 D Dalin, P., xxi, xvi David, S., xviii Dediwalage, R., xx De Graaf, J., 14 Delors, J., xiv, 184 de Mello, M., 187, 188 Demovsky, 32 Dempster, N., 60 Deng, M., 116 Denniss, R., 147 Diamond, J., 63, 148 Diaz, C., 31, 32, 170 Dindia, K., 170 Dolby, N., xviii, 41, 44 Dore, R., 101 Dorn, S., 120 Driver, R., 161 Duarte, C., 98 Dugger, C., 87 Dybdahl, C., 93 Dyson, A., 119 E Eckersley, R., 149, 151 Edgar, A., 160 Einstein, A., 50 Eisenhart, M., 157 Evans, A.M., 25 F Faure, E., xiv Feenberg, A., 63 Fensham, P., 161 Fergusson, J., 158 Ferreira, J., 147 Fidell, L., 174 Fine, G.A., 62 Fishman, J., 91 Fontana, D., 115 Forero, J., 88 Foucault, M., 67 Fuchs, D., 122 Fuchs, L.S., 122 Fulk, B.M., 116, 118 Fullinwider, 184 Furman, M., 163 Furner, J., 172 G Gadamer, 187 Galtung, J., 148, 153

Name Index Gamage, D.T., xviii, 72, 74, 76, 77 Gardner, H., 57 Gellner, E., 94, 95, 102 Geo-JaJa, M.A., xvi, xvii Giangreco, M., 117 Gibbs, D., xvi, 158 Giddens, xvi Gidley, J., 149, 150, 152 Ginsburg, xvi Gintis, H., xvi Giroux, H., 18 Goffman, E., 67 Goldberger, S., 170 Goodale, G., 96 Gordon, R., 93, 99 Gore, A., 145 Gould, S.J., 64 Gray, D., 118 Grossman, 32 Guay, F., 171 Gumpel, T.P., 117 Gurría, A., xvi Guthrie, S., 50 Guttman, A., 38 H Habermas, J., 160 Hale, K., 91, 92 Hall, K., 43 Hamilton, C., 147 Hammond, L., 90, 164 Hargreaves, A., 67 Harris, G., 51 Harrison, B., 87 Harrison, T.W., 119 Harvey, D., 150 Hedetoft, U., 38 Held, D., 119 Herr, K., 47 Hicks, D., 148, 149, 152, 153 Himanen, P., 134, 135, 138, 139 Hinton, L., 91, 92 Hjort, M., 38 Hodson, D., 161 Hodson, J., 161 Holden, C., 149 Holm, W., 92 Holt, J., xiii, 105 Houtsonen, J., 137, 138 Hull, G., 91 Huotelin, H., 135 Hurn, C.J., 121 Husén, T., 130

Name Index Hussrel, 187 Hutchinson, 149 I Illich, I., xiii, 99, 101, 104, 105 Ilon, L., 43 Ingersoll, R., 169 Inglehart, R., 52, 54 J Jenkins, E.W., 157, 163 Johansson, Y., xv Johnson, L., 148 Johnson, R.M., xx Jones, L.S., 170 Jones, S., 170 Jones, V.F., 170 Joshua-Shearer, M., 170 K Kachur, J.L., 119 Kauppila, J., 135 Kauppila, P., 137 Kawagley, A.O., 86, 87, 97 Käyhkö, M., 137 Kelly, G., 157 Kettunen, P., 133 Kincheloe, J., 160 Kirkwood, T.F., 27, 31 Kivirauma, J., 131 Klein, N., 43 Köller, O., 170 Korten, D., 4 Kortteinen, M., 138 Kozol, J., 5 Krause, K., 158 Kron, F., 184 Kuhn, T.S., 51 Kyle, W.C., 161 L Lambert, W., 99 Lari, Z., 115 Law, W.-W., 116 Lehr, R., 113 Lehtimäki, H., 140 Leonard, T., 100 Lerner, M., 12 Levitt, P., 37, 43 Lim, L., 116 Lindsay, xvi

199 Linton, S., 118 Lomawaima, T., 89, 100, 103–105 Lupart, J.L., 117 Lyman, S.M., 56 Lyons, T., 157 M Maalouf, A., 15 MacBeath, J., 60 Macdonald, J.B., 17 Maffi, L., 100 Mangum, xvi Mannheim, K., 137 Marcos, S., 104 Marsh, H., 170, 171 Massey, D., 42 Massialas, 32 Matinheikki-Kokko, K., 140 Matsuura, 184 Mazurek, K., xix, 115 McCarthy, T., 160 McCarty, T., 86, 89, 91, 94, 99, 100, 103–105 McDermott, R., 62 McGee Banks, C., 92, 106 McIntosh, xvii McLaren, P., xvi, 160 McLaurin, W., 18 McNay, M., 157 McNeil, L.M., 59 Meadows, J., 157 Meek, B., 92 Merriam, S.B., 138 Merryfield, M., 24, 27–29, 31 Messing, J., 92 Meyer, J.W., 134 Millar, R., 157 Miller, G., 148 Mimoun-Sorel, M.-L., xx, 184 Moll, L.C., 164 Moore, E., 135 Moos, L., 60 Morin, 184 Morin, E., 189 Mudzeilwana, N., 149 N Nabhan, P., 100 Nam, S.S., 116 Nelson, N., 157 Nicolescu, B., 187–189 Niemuth, 32 Nieto, S., 92, 106

200 Nietzsche, F., 50 Ninnes, P., 157 Nussbaum, M., 37 O O’Brien, D., 63 O’Farrell, C., 102 Ogawa, M., 157 Ogbu, J., 106 Oksa, J., 139 Ongtooguk, P., 93, 104 Oppenheimer, T., 101 Orr, D., 146, 147, 151 Osborne, J., 157 Osborne, M.D., 161 Owen, A., 158 P Page, J., 152 Pajares, F., 170, 178 Pang, N.S.K., 72 Papa, R., 87 Pascal, B., 189 Passerson, J.C., 62 Pell, R.G., 157 Pendergast, D., 158 Pervova, I., 116 Pitkänen, P., 140 Polak, F.L., 148 Ponti, C.R., 123 Popen, S., 60 Postman, xiii, 195 Power, C., xiv Princen, T., 145 Prothero, S., 56 Purpel, D., 18 Pusey, M., 160 Putnam, R.D., 3 Q Quart, A., 43 R Räty, H., 140 Raven, S.A., 116, 118 Reagan, T., 88, 90 Reeves, A., 88 Reich, R., 4 Reiter, S., 117 Reyes, I., xviii Rinne, R., 131

Name Index Ritchhart, R., xx, 186, 187 Ritzer, xvi Rival, L., 95 Rizvi, F., xviii Robbins, B., 37 Roberts, J., 51 Robottom, I., 148 Rodriguez, A.J., 157 Rothberg, D., 55 Rouse, M., 117 Ruiz, R., 100 Rust, V., xxi, xvi, 23, 27, 33 S Sale, K., 55, 56 Samuelson, R.J., 49 Santa Ana, O., 92 Sarangapani, P., 86, 96 Sardar, Z., 149 Sassen, S., 37 Schneider, B., 137 Schreiner, C., 157 Schunk, D., 170 Schweinle, A., 170, 172 Secombe, M., 184 Senge, P.M., 49, 50 Settlage, J., 157 Shavelson, R., 171 Shepherd, T.L., 116 Shields, B., 172 Sieder, R., 94 Simmel, G., 50 Simola, H., 131 Simpkins, S., 170 Sinclair, A., 60 Sjøberg, S., 157 Skaalvik, E.M., 170 Skaalvik, S., 170 Skutnabb-Kangas, T., 99 Slaughter, R., xiv, 147, 149–153 Slee, R., 122 Sloane, T., 172 Sloan, K., 66 Smith, C., xix, 146, 147, 149, 151–153 Smith-Davis, J., 114 Smith, G., 96 Smith, K., 170 Smith, K.H., xx Smolicz, J., 184 Snellman, L., 140 Sobel, D., 87, 96 Spring, J., 94 Sterling, S., 146, 147 Stevenson, D., 137

Name Index Streeck, W., 133 Stromquist, N.P., 28 Suoranta, J., 140 Suransky-Polkaow, S., 43 Su, Z., 72 Svi Shapiro, H., xvii, xviii, 3–20 Swan, K., 158 T Tabachnick, B., 174 Tanner, D., 66 Tanner, L., 66 Tatsuno, Y., 74 Tharp, R., 103 Thompson, G.L., 170 Tikly, L., 42 Tirozzi, G.N., 78 Toffler, A., xiii, 148 Tonkin, 32 Trocme-Fabre, H., 192 Tucker, J.L., 25 Tudge, J., 170 Turner, V., 64 Turunen, J., 139 Tytler, R., 157 U Ueyama, T., xviii Ulin, D.L., 65 V Vakil, S., 115, 118 Valentine, J.C., 171

201 Välijärvi, J., 131 Varenne, H., 62 Vidich, A.J., 56 W Waite, D., xviii, 47, 59, 62, 65, 67 Wallace, J., 161 Wallerstein, I., xvi, 52 Wasserman, D., 149 Weaver, J.A., 161 Weber, M., 137 Weingartner, 195 Weingartner, C., xiii Welch, S., 12 Welter, R., 189 West, C., 19 Willis, D.B., 72 Willis, P., 44 Winzer, M., xix, 112, 115 Winzer, M.A., 119 Wong, L., 92 Wyman, L., xviii, 88 Y Young, J., 66 Young, M.F.D., 129 Z Zajda, J., xvi, xxi, xiv, xvii, 23, 24, 27, 33, 103, 158, 184 Zevenbergen, R., 172 Zims, J.E., 123

Subject Index

A Academic achievements, 77, 169, 179 Academic competencies, 178 Academic success, xx, 170 Accountability, xvii, 4 Adult education, 141 Advertising, 58 African–American children, 12 African–American heritage, 13 “Afrocentric” educational environments, 13 Alienation, xvii, 7, 157 American culture, 14 American Forum for Global Education, 32 A Nation at Risk, 59 Anthropomorphism, 50 Anxiety, 170 Apprenticeship model of learning, 58 Australia, xviii, 39, 72, 78, 118, 146 Australian Schools Innovations in Science, Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM 2006), 158 Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI), 146 Authentic democracy, xxi Authentic learning community, xviii Autonomy, 71 B Basic skills education, 82 Behavioral modification, 58 Bilingual education, 13 Biodiversity, 145 Blade Runner, 149 C Canada, 37, 117 Capitalism, 7

Child-centred pedagogy, xiii Chile, 97 Christianity, 56 Citizenship, 37 Citizenship education, xviii Civil society, 52 Classical social theories, 137 Classroom culture, 172 Classroom pedagogy, xx Classroom science pedagogy, 165 Collective identity, 184 Colombia, 90 Communication theory, 49 Communities of meaning, 9, 15 Communities of resistance, 12 Community, 3–8, 150 Compassion, xxi Competition, 18 Conservative Christian communities, 14 Consumerism, xix, 154 Consumerist culture, 3 Corporate ethos, xvii Cosmopolitanism, xviii Creativity, 82 Credential society, 101 Critical and independent thinking, 82 Critical constructivist paradigm, 164, 165 Critical literacy, xiii Critical thinking, xv Cross-cultural sensitivity, 27 Cross-cultural values, xxi Cultural assimilation, 93 Cultural capital, xvii, xxi, 106 Cultural dimensions, 112 Cultural diversity, 27 Cultural heritage, 53 Cultural identity, xix, 134 Culturally responsive pedagogy, 87 Cultural mismatch, 106

203

204 Cultural realignment, 121 Cultural transformations, xiv Culture, 62, 65, 68 Culture of learning, xxi Culture wars, 47 Curricular organization, 66 Cyberspace curriculum, 158 D Data-driven decision-making, 60 Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, xv Decentralised schooling, xiii Decentralization, 130 Democracy, xviii Democratisation, xx Denmark, 56 Digital divide, xvii Disability, 118, 119 Disciplinarity, 67 Discourse, 49 Discrimination, 13, 32, 106 Diversity, 82 Dominant culture, 11 Dominant ideology, xvii, 119 E East Timor, 91 Ecological literacy, 151 Ecological sustainability, xix, 154 Economic capital, xxi Economic competitiveness, xvii Economic equity, xv Economic privilege, 5 Ecosystems, 85, 145 Education, 25 Educational identity, 138 Educational inequality, xvii Educational leadership, 17, 18 Educational opportunities, 122, 136 Education for sustainability (EfS), xix, 146 Education for sustainable development (ESD), 146 Education for the twenty-first century, 183 Education for tomorrow, xv Education reforms, xiv, xx Efficiency, xvii Emotional and physical well-being, 82 England, 117 Environment, 150 Environmental education (EE), 146

Subject Index Environmental Education for a Sustainable Future: National Action Plan, 146 Environmental well-being, 106 Epistemological assumptions, 51 Equality, xxi Equity, xxi, 120, 129 Ethnicity, 3, 10, 32 Ethnic minority cultures, 92 Ethnocentrism, 120 European Union, 136 Exclusion, 5 Experimental classroom pedagogy, 165 F Finland, 129–132 Flexible citizenship, 37 Forces of globalisation, xiv Formal rationalization, 137 Futures education, xx Futures studies (FS), 151 G Gender, 134, 137 General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 61 Genuine community, 9 Germany, 96 Global cities, 37 Global citizenship, 23, 27 Global classroom, 32 Global community, xviii, 20, 23 Global culture, xix Global curriculum, 32 Global education, 23–25, 27–29, 31, 33 Global education curriculum, 29, 31 Global education programs, 25 Global educators, 24, 29, 33 Global future, 151 Globalisation, xvi, xvii, xx, xxi, 24, 28, 33, 42, 44, 82, 112, 119, 123, 133, 141 Global pedagogy, xiv, xv, xviii, xix, xx, 20, 23, 28, 123 Global pedagogy for tomorrow, xviii Global perspectives, 25, 30 Global “self,” 44 Global terrorism, 24 Global trends in religion, 56 Global village, xxi, 33 Global warming, 157 Gross national product (GNP), 52

Subject Index H Hegelian dialectic, 189 Hegemony, xvi Human capital theory, 121 Human rights, xviii, xxi, 23, 24, 27, 32 I ICT tools, 158 Ideal school, 82 Identity, 8, 20, 40, 192 Ideology, xx, 63 Ideology of inclusion, 114 Ideology of inclusive education, 119 Ideology of universal human rights, 120 Imagined futures, xv Inclusion, xix, xxi, 113, 119, 120, 122 Inclusive education, 111, 114 Inclusive education reform, 112 Inclusive schooling, 113, 117, 120, 122 Inclusive schools, 122 Inclusive special education, 117 Inclusive strategies, 122 Indigenous children, 106 Indigenous cultures, 103, 104 Indigenous education, xviii, xix, 87–90, 92, 93, 99, 103–105 Indigenous education programs, 98 Indigenous knowledge systems, 97 Indigenous language revitalization movements, 91 Indigenous languages, 92 Indigenous models of education, 86 Indigenous people, 85 Indigenous youth, 88 Individual identity, 135 Individualism, 18, 93 Indonesia, 78 Industrialization, 94 Inequalities, 131, 134 Inequities, 106 Information communication technologies (ICTs), xvi Information society, 139, 141 Information technology, xiii, 82, 140 Innovative pedagogy, 165 Inquiry-based learning, 164 Inquiry learning, xiii Integrated curriculum, 66 Intellectual Character, 186 Intentional pedagogy, 94 Interactionist ontology, xviii Intercultural understanding, xxi

205 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 145 International Centre of Transdiciplinary Research (CIRET), 187 Interpersonal understanding/human relations, 82 Ireland, 56 Islam, 7, 19, 56 Israeli, 117 J Japan, xviii, 72, 96 Judaism, 56 K Knowledge society, xvi, 141 L Language Other Than English (LOTE), 183 Learning society, 129 Learning to be, xx, 183, 184 Learning webs, xiii Lifelong education, 131 Lifelong learning, 130, 132 Linguistic identities, 99 Linguistic plurality, 99 Literacy, 92 M Macrosocial forces, 52 Malaysia, 38 Managerial accountability, 60 Managerialism, 60 Maori studies curriculum, 87 Market, 52 Materialism, xvii, xix, 154 Mathematical abilities, 131 Mathematics, 171 Mathematics anxiety, 171, 172, 174 Mathematics self-concept, 174, 177 Metacognitive thinking, 186 Mexico, 37 Minority children, 106 Minority languages, 90 Modernity, 7 Moral dimensions, xx Moral imperatives, 119 Moral responsibility, 20 Mozambique, 100

206 Multiculturalism, 140 Multicultural society, 31 N National Commission on Excellence in Education 1983, 59 National history, 47 National identity, 24, 134, 141 Nationalism, 3, 38, 94, 136 Nation-states, 37, 38, 95 Native American bilingual education movement, 94 Neo-liberal, xvi Neo-tribal communities, 18 Network society, 134 New Zealand schools, 87 “No Child Left Behind,” 60 Nordic model, 129 O OECD Program for International Student Assessments (PISA), 129 OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), xv Oral languages, 99 P Paradigm shift, xvi Patriotism, 136 Peace education, xvi Phenotypes, 62 Philippines, 118 Polytechnics, 133 Postmodern society, 6 Postmodern world, 18 Poverty, 23, 24, 28, 51 Prejudice, 32 Preservice teacher program, 171 Private schools, 16 Problem-solving, 161 Profit-driven managerialism, xvii Progressive pedagogy, xx Project-based curriculum, 66 Public education, 58 Public schools, 14 Q Quakers, 14 Quaker schools, 14 Quality education, 179

Subject Index Quality education for all, xx Quality learning for all, xiii Quality of life, xv Quality teaching, 169, 170 R Race, 3, 10, 32, 121 Racism, 106, 134 Reading literacy performance, 131 Reflexivity, 49 Relevance of Science Education (ROSE 2004) Project, 157 Religion, 50 Religious community, 10 Religious fundamentalism, 24 Russia, 96 S School-based curriculum, 158 School-based management (SBM), 71 Schooling for tomorrow, xiii School reform initiatives, 59 School reforms, 82 School science curricula, 160 Self-concept, xx, 169–171, 179 Self-efficacy, xx Self-esteem, xx, 106 Self-sufficiency, 8 Social change, xx Social class, 137 Social constructivism, 160 Social equality, 13 Social institutions, 60 Social justice, xv, xviii, xxi, 20, 111, 120, 122 Social stratification, xvii Socio-economic status (SES), xxi South Africa, 38 Special education, 111–113, 115 Spiritual power, 13 Standardized testing, 57 Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, 113 State, 52 Stereotyping, 32 Strategic plan, 68 Student-centered curriculum, 66 Students’ success, 172 Subject-object interaction, 187 Sustainability, 146 Sustainable development, 32 Sustainable future, 154

Subject Index Sustainable living, 106 Sustainable Living by the Bay, 158 Sweden, 133, 136 T Teacher certification, 57 Teacher effectiveness, 170 Teachers’ self-concept, 178 Teaching mathematics, 170 Technocratic revolution, 32 Technological change, xiii Technological transformations, xiii Technology, 63, 65, 66 Thailand, 78, 118 The Children Of Men, 149 The Day After, 149 The Politics of Education Reforms, xvi The Schooling for Tomorrow project (SfT), xiv, xvii Thinking dispositions, 192 Tolerance, xxi Tomorrow’s schools, xx Towards Schooling for the Twenty-First Century, xvi Transdisciplinarity, 187, 189 Transdisciplinarity approach, 192, 193 Transdisciplinarity research, 187 Transdisciplinary action research, xx Transdisciplinary pedagogy, xx Transformative pedagogy, xxi

207 Transgenerational communication, 90 21st century schools, xvi U UK, 78 Ultra consumerism, xvii Underclass, 140 UNESCO, 183 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 113 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 86 Urban schools, 5 USA, 38, 47, 54, 56, 57, 59, 65, 66, 72, 78, 117 V Values, 8, 14, 72 Visionary leaders, 81 Vocational education and training (VET), 75 Vouchers, 57 W Welfare state, xix, 133 Well-being, 7, 151, 195 Western models of education, 86 What education for the twenty-first century, xiv Wisdom, xxi, 195 World Values Surveys, 54