Chapter 11 - Aims and Conceptions of Education
Introduction to the Aims and Conceptions of Education
Post-apartheid South Africa has experienced significant changes since the first non-racial and democratic election on .
The philosophy of education in contemporary South Africa is underpinned by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (). The general aims of this policy are to provide learners, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic background, intellectual ability, or physical ability, with the knowledge, values, and skills required for self-fulfilment and meaningful participation as citizens in a free society.
Democratic citizenship education is specifically provided for through subjects such as life orientation and social sciences.
The study of educational aims involves analyzing and interpreting classical, liberal, traditional, and democratic theories of education.
The House Analogy: A Framework for Education
The structure of educational aims can be compared to the components of a house:
The Foundation: Represents the general understanding or conception of education. Every system is built upon a fundamental understanding of what education is and its function.
The Walls: Represent the perimeter and anchors of the house. In education, these symbolize the sets of ideas concerning who should control education (e.g., the state, parents, or professionals).
The Roof: Represents the finishing touches and the quality of protection. This symbolizes the intended outcomes of education, which must be able to cope with prevailing social, political, and economic conditions.
These components are co-dependent; a correct general conception of education is necessary before determining who should control it.
Analyzing educational aims is an analytical exercise—it draws out meanings implied in policies and practices—and a reflective exercise—it mirrors current practices for critical engagement.
The exercise is also political as it interrogates the legitimacy of different influences on education and the role of the state in regulating the lives of future citizens.
Conceptual Dimensions of Education
The Sociological Understanding
Education is viewed as the process of socialization: integrating an individual into the general norms of behavior of a society.
It does not necessarily require formal teaching or a formal institution. It refers to how people learn to act and live according to society's standards, regardless of whether those ways of life are good, valid, or true.
Examples include family upbringing where children learn specific behaviors.
If the values learned are not worthwhile, this results in "miseducation," which includes brainwashing or indoctrination through informal social practices.
The Institutional Understanding
In this view, "being educated" is synonymous with attending a formal institution such as a school or university.
Education is seen as the development of a person resulting from the influences of these institutions.
It assumes that whatever occurs within a school aligns with the official goals of schooling.
The General Enlightenment Understanding
Rooted in the Enlightenment period where reason and human faculties replaced religious faith as the primary guides for thought and action.
Pioneered by philosophers such as Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, who identified the development of human thought as the primary object of education.
It is often referred to as the individual sense of education, associated with "illumination," "clarification," and "understanding."
Education is viewed as intrinsically valuable: something worthwhile and desirable for its own sake, not merely as a tool for extrinsic ends like getting a job.
An educated person is characterized by:
Mastery of a wide range of types of knowledge.
Depth and breadth of knowledge that provide "cognitive perspective."
The ability to see connections between different forms of knowledge to create a coherent way of life.
The Latin root educere means "to elicit" or "to draw out" latent potential.
Traditional Models of Educational Control
State or Government Control: The Platonic Model
Plato (pictured in Figure ) used the "Allegory of the Cave" to explain education as a transition from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge).
The Allegory: Prisoners are chained in a cave seeing only shadows. If one is released and dragged into the sunlight, they are initially distressed and blinded, but eventually see reality.
Education is the instrument by which the soul is turned away from the "world of becoming" toward the "brilliant light of being."
The Noble Lie: To maintain an orderly society, Plato proposed a myth that God created three classes of people:
Guardians (Gold): The rulers who possess wisdom and manage the community.
Auxiliaries (Silver): The military or police who possess courage.
Workers (Iron and Copper): The farmers and producers who possess endurance.
The aims of education in this model are to cultivate unity and ensure everyone performs the function of their class to maintain social harmony (Platonic Justice).
Parental Control: The Lockean Model
John Locke (pictured in Figure ) argued that parents have a natural right to control education based on the "state of nature."
The State of Nature: A state of perfect freedom and equality where individuals govern actions according to the law of reason implanted by God.
Tabula Rasa: Locke argued that children are born as "empty slates"—helpless, fragile, and without knowledge.
Because children are in an imperfect state of childhood, parents are under a natural obligation to preserve, nourish, and educate them until the child’s reason takes over.
Parental authority is temporary, and in return, children have a perpetual obligation to honor their parents.
Locke's view assumes that external experience is the only legitimate source of understanding.
Community and African Traditional Education
Adeyemi and Adeyinka () described indigenous education prior to Western civilization as a communal process of raising children into adult roles.
Five Principles of African Traditional Education:
Preparationism: Education for future roles based on gender. Boys were trained as warriors, farmers, or smiths; girls as wives and mothers.
Functionalism: Learning through active participation, imitation, work, and oral tradition (songs, poems, stories).
Communalism: Responsibility for upbringing belongs to the whole community. Any adult could discipline any child (living together, sharing possessions).
Perennialism: Education as a vehicle to preserve cultural heritage or the status quo of the clan or tribe. It was often restrictive and discouraged experimentation.
Wholisticism: Acquisition of multiple skills; an educated person was expected to see connections between different areas of life (e.g., building a house requires knowledge of geography and geology).
Strengths: It was free, compulsory for all, and had no shortage of teachers (every adult was a resource).
Weaknesses: Relied on memorization due to lack of writing, and use of punishment/fear (indoctrination).
Liberalism and the Autonomy of the Individual
The liberal conception, defended by John Stuart Mill (pictured in Figure ), values individual reason and the ability to choose one's own path in life.
The Principle of Liberty: An individual should have the right to act as they wish as long as the negative consequences affect only themselves (self-regarding actions).
The Harm Principle: Society is only justified in interfering with a person's liberty to prevent harm to others.
Tyranny of the Majority: Mill warned that in a democracy, the majority can oppress the minority. He argued for protecting the free development of individuals against the "tyranny of opinion."
Liberal Education: Aims for neutrality in teaching. Decisions on content should belong to individual liberty.
Mill suggested that professional experts (neutral educators) should control education rather than the state or parents.
He advocated for compulsory public examinations beginning at an early age to ensure a minimum acquisition of facts and positive science.
Democratic Theory and Shared Authority
Amy Gutmann (pictured in Figure ) rejects exclusive control by the state (Plato), parents (Locke), or individuals (Mill) in her work Democratic Education ().
She proposes a Shared Form of Educational Authority between the state, parents, and professional educators.
Two Core Principles of Democratic Education:
Non-repression: The state and parents must not prevent teachers or learners from engaging in critical debate. Freedom of individuals to rationally deliberate on different ways of life is secured.
Non-discrimination: No educable child should be excluded from education based on race, gender, class, ethnicity, or disability. All children must be prepared to participate as citizens.
Education in a democratic state is defined as the cultivation of moral democratic citizenship.
Models of Deliberative Democracy
John Rawls and Public Reason
Deliberation means reasoning together as equals.
Dialogue should be constrained and neutral, focusing on points of agreement and shunning deeply divisive issues.
Education should teach the limits of reasoning and the ability to work with reasonable disagreements.
Seyla Benhabib and Discursive Democracy
Argues that learners must be able to discuss matters even when they disagree.
Favors a Cosmopolitan Perspective, where individuals identify with others based on a shared universal humanity.
Education should teach citizens to put themselves in the place of others.
Iris Marion Young and Communicative Democracy
Views "difference" as a resource rather than a hurdle.
Argues that traditional Western deliberation is often elitist and favors specific middle-class styles.
Proposes three tools for communicative democracy:
Greeting: Establishing trust and respect through courtesy.
Rhetoric: Styles of speaking that attend to the audience and foster careful listening.
Storytelling: Revealing experiences and social knowledge from different cultural viewpoints to bridge differences.
Questions & Discussion
Critical Skills and State Education: Is the state to blame for South Africa's critical skills shortage, or is the system hampered by social apathy and violence?
Intrinsic Value: Do you regard education as something of intrinsic value (good in itself), or merely a tool for employment?
House Construction Activity: Discuss traditional house construction in South Africa. How do foundations and walls affect the total quality of the "house" (education system)?
Plato's Model in South Africa: The South African Schools Act (Act No. of ) regulates compulsory attendance (Chapter ), public vs. independent schools (Chapters and ), and funding (Chapter ). Identify elements of Plato’s Guardianship model in these regulations.
Locke's Model in Law: Section of the South African Schools Act allows for home schooling if it is in the learner's interest and meets curriculum standards. Does this effectively manage educational inequality, and does it align with Locke's view of parental authority?
African vs. Western Education: Is it feasible to merge African traditional principles (Communalism, Functionalism) with a formal Western-type education? Is African traditional education uniquely African, or are the principles universal?
Teachers' Strikes: Would Plato's concept of an educated person "descending back into the cave" to share troubles prevent teachers' wage strikes today?
Neutrality: Is it possible for an educator to remain truly neutral to societal forces? Can this neutrality promote individual autonomy?
Bill of Responsibilities (): Discuss the statement: "I accept that with every right comes a set of responsibilities." How does this reflect John Stuart Mill’s conception of education?