Course name

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Lecture 7 PLG5151 November 2012Diploma disease and deschoolingContentsDiploma diseaseThe bureaucratisation of educationDeschoolingAlternative forms of education

Diploma DiseaseDiploma Disease

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CALL NOW for details of how to register and receive your diploma and $500 FREE GIFT within days. $500 FREE GIFT - JUST FOR REGISTERING !1-713-866-4087 Call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week . . .including Sundays and holidays.Source: http://www.faxfn.org1. Diploma diseaseEverywhere, in Britain as in India, in Russia as in Venezuela, schooling is more often qualification-earning than it was in 1920, or even in 1950. And more qualification-earning is mere qualification-earning - ritualistic, tedious, suffused with anxiety and boredom, destructive of curiosity and imagination; in short, anti-educational.(Ronald Dore, 1976)1. Diploma diseaseDefinition: excessive reliance on educational qualifications as evidence of ability and merit for entry to particular occupations, careers or internal labour markets

Credentialism: the qualification of individuals is more important than their real skills and knowledgesPeople believe that educational certificates are the key to obtaining the best-paid and most secure jobsThey strive to obtain higher and higher degrees

Expansion of education from this approach: the same jobs require higher and higher academic qualification1. Diploma diseaseEducation >< SchoolingParadox: spending time in school will lead to an educated personEducation: any kind and form of learning, within and beyond the classroom"It is by losing ourselves in inquiry, creation & craft that we become something. Civilization is a continual gift of spirit: inventions, discoveries, insight, art. We are citizens, as Socrates would have said, & we have it available as our own.(Paul Goodman)Schooling:A ritualistic processAim: to obtain qualificationsStrategy: to accomplish the formal requirements of educational institutionsLimited set of knowledgeRigid assessment systems: Development of test-wiseness instead of practical skills2. The bureaucratisation of educationThree types of authority (Max Weber):1. Traditional: focuses on culture acquired from our ancestors and other traditional institutions (e.g. customary law, aristocracy or magic)2. Charismatic: power based on individual ability and policy supported by the subordinates (e.g. Prophets)3. Rational: rules and regulation (e.g. written law, human right or the Education Department)

Bureaucracy is based on rational authority

2. The bureaucratisation of educationCharacteristics of bureaucratisationDivision of laborFormalisation, expansion in scale and standardisationHierarchical system of authoritySpecialisationDoes not necessarily mean centralisationFocusing on official or organizational function without considering personal gains or benefitsFair treatment of subordinates and clientsProfessional positions based on qualification and skills

2. The bureaucratisation of educationCommon perception of bureaucratisation:Consequent delay in getting things doneDepartmental empire-buildingConcentration of power at the top >< Helplessness at the bottom

The impact of bureaucratisation on teachers, students and parentsFrustrationResistance to changes or reforms (difficult to change on institutionalized practice)Focus on uniformity rather than diversityRestriction to formal rules and regulation (rules say cannot so cannot)Impersonal relationship Position-based authority (dont come into my territory)Looking for extrinsic (monetary) not intrinsic return Decrease in the ethos of teacher professionalism

3. Deschooling"... the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it.(John Holt)Schools dumb down the children:Confuse them with an incoherent ensemble of information that they need to memorize day by dayFills almost all their free timeTeaches them to accept their class affiliationMakes them indifferent, emotionally and intellectually dependentConditions them to provisional self-esteemConditions them to obey, and to live under constant supervision(John Taylor Gatto)3. DeschoolingSchools cannot provide the best possible educationInformal and individual learning is more suitable for humansEverybody needs a difference pace of learning(Ivan Illich)

Schools indoctrinate the culture of silence to children, especially to the children of the oppressed(Paolo Freire)4. Alternative forms of education1. Forms which require parental decision: elitist in substanceAlternative schoolsRepresent some educational or social philosophyChild centered educationTeachers trained for the school and by the group behind the schoolMostly private schools that charge high tuition fees

HomeschoolingThe home is the natural environment of learningFull or supplementary educationEnormous responsibility on parents4. Alternative forms of education2. Forms which require individual decision: democratic in substanceFree schoolDecentralised learning networksVoluntary share of knowledge, skills and informationLack of hierarchy and institutionFor all age groupsThe development of information technology has empowered and extended the activity of learning networks

Street schoolsA second chance for those who miss out of formal educationIn big cities: for high-risk children/youthIn countries struggling with extreme poverty or social/political/health conflicts: for orphaned, disabled or extremely poor childrenThank you for your kind attention