We
are discussing the history of education in the West. In Part-1, we looked at
Greek and Roman education, influence of Christianity that led to the formation
of Church schools, Monasteries, Grammar schools and later to formation of
Universities. The 3Rs of education at this point were – Reading, ‘Riting and
Religion. In Part-2, we looked at the influence of growing trade that gave
impetus to Apprenticeship and also added the fourth R - ‘Rithmetic to the
education mix. Renaissance and Humanists propagated the idea of ‘education for
all’ and Age of Enlightenment then gave rise to the scientific method. Reason
became the 5th R of education.
The
bohemian spirit of Renaissance went up in steam… literally! The Industrial
Revolution took a dictator-like grip on education, demanding schools produce
large numbers of compliant, inter-changeable cogs for the industrial behemoth. Education
entered Modern Times, and much like
Charlie Chaplin, students were force-fed and accelerated along an assembly line
of standardised curriculum.
To
train large number of people in new skills, experiments such as the Monitorial
system were tried. A teacher standardised the instruction, trained a few
students – called monitors - and these monitors then imparted the same
standardised instruction to their fellow students. This way, one teacher could
teach hundreds of students while keeping the cost of imparting education low.
In 1892, the American National Education Association appointed a Committee of
Ten. The Committee recommended 12 years of compulsory education and its standardisation,
which meant adopting a one-size-fits-all curriculum and pedagogy.
Denizens
of the agrarian economy thought of time in months – plough the land, sow the
seeds, then harvest. But the ideal worker for the factories required changing
this mindset to ‘work in 8 hours shift, with short breaks in between’. So they
invented school bells. Study one subject for 40 minutes, then switch to another
subject. Take a short lunch break and get back to class again. Sit in rows,
follow rules and routine (timetable) and be obedient. Sound familiar?
The
World Wars that needed very large number of soldiers and nurses and the
post-war immigration further stoked the need for mass standardised education.
In America, to sort students quickly and efficiently, a professor in Kansas invented
the multiple-choice test, which he described as ‘a test of low order thinking’.
This format has become the most used assessment format in education today and
has made us outstanding at mass testing lower order thinking, which in turn
means that now lower order thinking is all we prepare students for!
Though
on the positive side, after the Wars schooling was extended and school-leaving
age raised. Child labour was abolished. War created disabilities raised
awareness about special education. In England, The 1918 Education Act, made
schooling for all disabled children compulsory.
Pavlov’s
experiment with salivating dogs and Skinner's operant conditioning chamber led
to the adoption of the carrot & stick approach to motivating learners. Rote
memorisation and regurgitation of this learnt-by-heart information in exams,
strict discipline imposed through fear and emphasis on conformity became the
norm of education. Think Pink Floyd’s anthemic “We don't need no education. We
don't need no thought control.”
By
and large this post Industrial Revolution education system is what we are still
following. Students get admitted to a particular grade or class based on their
age, not based on their ability. All students in a particular class then learn
the same curriculum in exactly the same way and face standardised assessment.
Some thrive in this system. Many fail. It could be argued that education today
does not even meet the age-old objective of ‘Know Thyself’ thus making joyful
living elusive to most.
At
Timeless Lifeskills, we believe this need not be the case.
Seven
billion human population that will soon become nine billion (mostly frustrated
or unhappy), growing inter-dependence that leads to local problems cascading
globally - be it a financial crisis or a viral epidemic, poverty and widening
gap between the haves and the have-nots, diseases, climate change, terrorism,
wars, advances in technology and other such factors require not a redefined set
of ‘R’s but a paradigmatic shift in education.
We
need to shift from the narrow ‘R’s based education to an education system that
addresses all aspects of life. The 4Ds of education should look at success in
all four dimensions of life – social success, physiological success,
psychological success and existential success (a life of exuberance, joy and
bliss). This 21st century education should also be personalised –
suiting the ability and disposition of each learner, highly affordable and universal.
From being a privilege, such education should become a life long right, for
all.
Only
then can we hope for this story to meet a conclusion we can all benefit from.
