The Assumption of the Role of Education in Jamaica
Classrooms in Jamaica are overwhelmingly authoritarian and undemocratic. They focus on fragmented knowledge that is disconnected from the students’ lives. Proven reforms are resisted at all levels and systematic progressive change is non-existent after many decades. Why is this so? The standard liberal outlook is that schools are ‘neglected’, but they have the potential, with reform, to be a major progressive force in society. This document questions these assumptions through a review of the educational framework on the assumption of the role of education in Jamaica. The major claim to our perspective is that our educational system’s primary role is to mirror, support, stabilize, and reproduce the fundamentally hierarchical structures that existin society.
The current state of our educational system is far from ideal. Nearly half a century after the reform of the education system, an overwhelming majority of classrooms are based on the realist model: learning is authority-based and focused on fragmented, rote knowledge. We wonder why proven reform ideas are systematically resisted or nearly impossible to implement on a large scale. Implicit in this wondering is the assumption that our classrooms are the way they are because our educational system is ‘neglected’. The state of our classrooms is an unwanted or accidental result of a lack of resources, personnel, and coherent ideas for reform. However, underlying these beliefs are even deeper assumptions about the role of education in our society: that education is inherently progressive and in alignment with our own educational goals. This assumption is so fundamental to the accepted paradigm that few have investigated to see if it is actually true.
In a recently concluded document by the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning; The National Report of Jamaica on the development and state of the art of adult learning and education, Jamaica still continues its efforts to reduce the illiteracy rate; even though it has a three-tiered education system that should enable students to grow and develop. This document introduces you to a seminal work in the study of educational institutions; a Report which was prepared on behalf of the Ministry of Education by the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL) in April 2008. The work of the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning has had a dramatic influence on the educational community, and inspired a wide range of research, so much so that it guided a committee that included members of JFLL, The Ministry of Education, The University of the West Indies, the Jamaican Council for Adult Education, and the Planning Institute of Jamaica using extensive statistical and historical evidence that begs to question the fundamental ‘hidden assumptions’ of the liberal educational paradigm.
Only a limited number of us are open about our goals for educational reform. Many of us would like to see vast improvements in all areas, still there are others whom are of the opinion that making one subject area or class better means improving classroom environments and curricula; and some would like to encourage rational or scientific thinking or national literacy. Other goals include independent thinking, personal development, and social and economic equality. Behind these goals lie hidden assumptions about the role of education in our society.
Unlike perrenialists who argue that human nature is the same in every time and place, progressivists contends that humans exist in a changing universe. Hence, knowledge should not be seen as static, but dynamic and changing. Students should therefore, through the curriculum, develop skills to construct knowledge for themselves based on past experiences. One of the earliest advocates of this school of thought was John Dewey who argued that education must be viewed as a process of growth that involves reconstructing experiences of knowledge through successive interaction with the social environment.
From the history of progressive education three major roles can be assumed. These are: Integrative Function; Egalitarian Function and Developmental Function.
(a)Integrative Function prepares children for their roles as adults in society; provide them with the skills necessary to survive and work, and to socialize them so that they can work within the standardized norms and social relationships.
(b)Egalitarian Function provide every child with an equal opportunity to excel, so that those who do will be able to use their education to their advantage. Those in lower social positions will be able to improve their lives, and education may mitigate the inequality between rich and poor.
(c)Developmental Function provides opportunities for every child to explore their potential and interests, to help them develop into a fully independent and realized individual.
Given the state of our educational system, and the growing inequality in our society, it seems likely that there is a tension between the three roles of education, with the integrative role dominating the other two. Why do we not question the compatibility of these roles? The major claim of schooling in Jamaica is that the primary role of education in Jamaican society involves a correspondence between the fundamental social relationships that exists in the schools and workplaces. Our schools are fundamentally oppressive and authoritarian not because they are neglected, but because they are successfully playing their primary role in society. Thus, the educational system is part of how our society evolves.
The current state of our educational system is far from ideal. Nearly half a century after the reform of the education system, an overwhelming majority of classrooms are based on the realist model: learning is authority-based and focused on fragmented, rote knowledge. We wonder why proven reform ideas are systematically resisted or nearly impossible to implement on a large scale. Implicit in this wondering is the assumption that our classrooms are the way they are because our educational system is ‘neglected’. The state of our classrooms is an unwanted or accidental result of a lack of resources, personnel, and coherent ideas for reform. However, underlying these beliefs are even deeper assumptions about the role of education in our society: that education is inherently progressive and in alignment with our own educational goals. This assumption is so fundamental to the accepted paradigm that few have investigated to see if it is actually true.
In a recently concluded document by the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning; The National Report of Jamaica on the development and state of the art of adult learning and education, Jamaica still continues its efforts to reduce the illiteracy rate; even though it has a three-tiered education system that should enable students to grow and develop. This document introduces you to a seminal work in the study of educational institutions; a Report which was prepared on behalf of the Ministry of Education by the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL) in April 2008. The work of the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning has had a dramatic influence on the educational community, and inspired a wide range of research, so much so that it guided a committee that included members of JFLL, The Ministry of Education, The University of the West Indies, the Jamaican Council for Adult Education, and the Planning Institute of Jamaica using extensive statistical and historical evidence that begs to question the fundamental ‘hidden assumptions’ of the liberal educational paradigm.
Only a limited number of us are open about our goals for educational reform. Many of us would like to see vast improvements in all areas, still there are others whom are of the opinion that making one subject area or class better means improving classroom environments and curricula; and some would like to encourage rational or scientific thinking or national literacy. Other goals include independent thinking, personal development, and social and economic equality. Behind these goals lie hidden assumptions about the role of education in our society.
Unlike perrenialists who argue that human nature is the same in every time and place, progressivists contends that humans exist in a changing universe. Hence, knowledge should not be seen as static, but dynamic and changing. Students should therefore, through the curriculum, develop skills to construct knowledge for themselves based on past experiences. One of the earliest advocates of this school of thought was John Dewey who argued that education must be viewed as a process of growth that involves reconstructing experiences of knowledge through successive interaction with the social environment.
From the history of progressive education three major roles can be assumed. These are: Integrative Function; Egalitarian Function and Developmental Function.
(a)Integrative Function prepares children for their roles as adults in society; provide them with the skills necessary to survive and work, and to socialize them so that they can work within the standardized norms and social relationships.
(b)Egalitarian Function provide every child with an equal opportunity to excel, so that those who do will be able to use their education to their advantage. Those in lower social positions will be able to improve their lives, and education may mitigate the inequality between rich and poor.
(c)Developmental Function provides opportunities for every child to explore their potential and interests, to help them develop into a fully independent and realized individual.
Given the state of our educational system, and the growing inequality in our society, it seems likely that there is a tension between the three roles of education, with the integrative role dominating the other two. Why do we not question the compatibility of these roles? The major claim of schooling in Jamaica is that the primary role of education in Jamaican society involves a correspondence between the fundamental social relationships that exists in the schools and workplaces. Our schools are fundamentally oppressive and authoritarian not because they are neglected, but because they are successfully playing their primary role in society. Thus, the educational system is part of how our society evolves.
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