My Take on State Education

Education that transcends the paradigmatic confines of modernity.
(Children and societies need education to be future oriented rather than past oriented)

English  state sponsored education serves three Primary functions. To maintain and reinforce the  status quo and the present social distribution of power and wealth.

To prepare children to be  able to contribute to the economic and social objectives of Government
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To socialise children to  accept the unequal distribution of opportunity through forced and competition with their peers; whilst denying them the knowledge to understand the fundamental unfairness of this competition.

This is easily demonstrated by:
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Reference to early Education  Acts in the UK and the absence of any fundamental revision of this legislation.
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Outcome research linking  social deprivation and educational achievement.
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The lack of evidence of  social mobility as a product of state education.

Soft evidence for this can be seen the anti learning culture of working  class communities, high levels of school disaffection, challenging behaviour  and low self esteem in children who ‘fail’ academically in a system designed  to select a minority for higher education. The brain washing and coercion of this process is known by sociologists as ‘the hidden curriculum’.

This situation is both morally indefensible and counterproductive to the  needs of both children and societies in preparing for the 21st century.   It is maintained because the forces devoted to it’s maintenance have not yet been overwhelmed by the combined forces of social evolution, children’s increasing access to other sources of knowledge, and the recognition of the unmet educational needs of individuals and communities in the face of the accelerating technological and social change that characterises the present times.

The intrinsic characteristic of formal education in the UK is that it is narrowly focussed on discredited notions of intelligence, is authoritarian, hierarchical and conformist. These characteristics are antithetical to what we know about what individuals and communities need to be equipped to respond to change.

Future oriented education would equip children to deal with paradox,  uncertainty, changing opportunities and multi-cultural interpersonal relationships. It would enable children to learn how to learn and to love learning and discovery. It would enable them to experiment and learn about their potential within a supportive and nurturing environment. It would enable them to experience collaborative co-operative learning and achievement and would support self directed learning and creativity. It would
support them in engaging their families and communities in the celebration of their learning.

Future oriented education would approach the child and their group  holistically helping them to develop clear analytical thinking skills alongside creative, intuitive thinking valuing both equally.

It would understand ‘reality’ as a narrative driven process that  inevitably evolves and changes so that knowledge of ‘truth’ is held gently and allowed to evolve. It would essentially demonstrate trust in the innate process of human growth and development by trusting the wisdom of children in being able to significantly influence their own learning experiences.

Future oriented education would not throw the ‘baby’ of Newtonian  scientific rationalism out with the ‘bathwater’ of modernism. Post modernist  thinking is not about the rejection of everything past in favour of embracing  everything ‘New Age’. Neither is it about replacing one set of guru’s with  another. However modernist thinking was mechanistic and limiting, has not stood up to the test of time and has dismissed useful ideas, knowledge and approaches on the basis that they have not been compatible with a modernist world view.

Future oriented education would place emphasis on the child as a whole  person, holistically valuing senses such as intuition and unconscious  interpersonal communication even if they are not fully understood from a  modernist perspective. Interpersonal skills, introspective analytical skills,  awareness of body/mind connectivity, emotional intelligence (EQ) would all be  valued and nurtured.

Coaching
With it’s roots in the person centred approach of Carl Rogers, coaching  provides a uniquely well placed skill set with which to re-equip teachers to  be able to provide educational experiences for children and young adults that  would prepare them better to meet the unknown challenges of the 21st Century.