A new paradigm of education

In order to start improving the quality of education, we need to understand where and why we have failed.


Mashhood Rizvi September 21, 2010

After two decades of focusing on enrolment in schools, the issue of quality of education is finally coming to the forefront of debates in Pakistan. We have to give credit to parental observations such as, ‘we don't understand the relevance of this schooling’. Several parents in rural parts of the country have said that schools have spoiled their children. They are not able to get a government job in the city, nor do they have any respect for family work, culture, values or relationships. The crisis of quality becomes even more poignant if one asks a young person what he or she wants to learn. The answers tend to range from blank stares to ‘whatever you want to teach me.’ Upon deeper interrogation, the vast majority of school graduates will readily admit that their school education is irrelevant to their daily lives.

In order to start improving the quality of education, we need to understand where and why we have failed. Educationists have tended to focus on some combination of building more infrastructure; setting up more village education committees to raise funds and monitor schools; introducing more tests and minimum standards. The above is based on the assumption that one must reinforce the role of education as an instrument to mould and 'socialise' human beings to fit within the institutionalised framework of globalisation where free market dictates and limits our roles to the obedient worker, clerk, soldier, citizen and, above all, consumer.

Much research from diverse disciplines and from practical experiences in a wide range of countries has emerged, raising several questions about the legitimacy of this assumption.

A first step in moving towards a new paradigm of quality education that nurtures human beings who can learn, unlearn and relearn throughout their lives is to strongly question one-sided claims about the economic and social gains made in society because of schooling and literacy and to conduct a serious analysis of the real gains and losses to our society from conventional schooling.

A second step is to start asking new questions — questions that allow us to critically interrogate economic, political and social systems and their linkages to education; questions that can open up new shared visions and possibilities for moving beyond existing systems; questions that are open to all learners to reflect on — not just the 'experts'. Such questions might include: What is a good human being?; What is a healthy society? What is progress? What is social justice and equality? What are the limitations of historical analysis and scientific analysis? How are different institutions and technologies redefining what it means to be human?

Such questions can help open up new parameters for assessing quality education in any community. Despite what some might argue, there are not any absolute universal answers. In fact, discovering and creating individual and collective meanings around these questions in different contexts is an essential part of the learning process.

The third step, perhaps the most critical, is to create spaces for genuine dialogue. This means that we need to move beyond campaign and propaganda modes of public engagement. We need to get out of the culture of approaching each conversation as a debate to be won. Lastly, I would vehemently disagree with those who believe that there has already been too much discussion on education in Pakistan and it is time to get on to action. Genuine dialogue requires an atmosphere of trust and honesty, of active listening, of being open to questioning deep-rooted assumptions, of breaking out of static roles and relationships, of allowing for and valuing mistakes. Such an atmosphere is lacking in schools and educational policy circles today. Dialogue, action and reflection must go hand-in-hand. This is the essence of quality education.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2010.

COMMENTS (3)

HIK | 13 years ago | Reply I agree with the last point. Debate over education particularly can not end. Change analysis, if not learnt through education, then from where else? It is a constant process necessary for advancement and to avoid complacency.
num10 | 13 years ago | Reply Thank you so much for writing this, you nailed it. Try to write more articles you're definitely on the right wave length here
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