School Lines Where are you Jean-Jacques Rousseau? (Who is he?) Lester Flockton feedback, feedforward, Feedup, feeddown lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz
Two or three years ago when working on a significant ‘job’ with a prominent measurement expert, I suggested that we take time to consider what a good education for children should be all about before proceeding to things ‘assessment’. The response was snappy and dismissive: ‘Let’s not go there!’ When I asked the former Minister of Education (much better suited to Police and car crushing) for her view on the same matter, she was equally snappy yet instant and self-assured with her answer: ‘Literacy and numeracy’ (and as we know, the consequence is a Ministry deeply beholden to its Minister’s pleasure).
competition, and the maximisation of profit (a euphemism for greed). Let’s be frank. Most of our politicians have very shallow understandings and insights into the nature and processes of education, yet they presume to cast their spell of influence and authority over the public with the promise of a better system (better teachers) to overcome simplistically concocted crises (viral underachievement). As for the prominent measurement expert, he typifies an overriding interest in mechanisms of education in his own corner of specialisation, with scant regard for healthy debate about the deeper worth and implications of those mechanisms, and whether they support and enrich Most of our politicians have very a well-rounded education for our children. This has become all too prevalent among the small but influential shallow understandings and hard-edged evidence-based and data-enthralled fraternity insights into the nature and processes of of academics who, unsurprisingly, are courted by the But it goes disturbingly wider than that. education, yet they presume to cast their Ministry. During a presentation I attended at a recent international symposium in Canada, I was appalled to find that this spell of influence and authority kind of academism is breeding internationally. I heard over the public with the promise of a senior Australian academic tell the audience that one of the worst things that can happen in schools, is for a better system to overcome teachers to pass on their good ideas to other teachers. Why? Because their ideas are unlikely to have been simplistically concocted crises. supported by research evidence and therefore risk harmful consequences. It seems that grounded common It seems to me that we can have little faith or hope in the sense, experienced judgement, and intuition are not to be trusted. quality or integrity of what ruling politicians think and do on New Zealand’s education system, now in the grip of political the most important subject in education (defining its purpose populism and central control, has become a naïve little and matching policy and practice accordingly), particularly since sister of big brother Western nations whose politicians have their world view seems to be wedded to individualism, money, commanded national standards, disfigured the curriculum,
given measurement and data a status well beyond what they deserve, promoted competition and accountability through misleading league tables, mandated performance pay, harked on robotically about raising teacher quality, and imposed public–private business models of schools (charter schools). In effect, current policy in our country is being syphoned from elsewhere – an elsewhere that is not performing with any distinction; an elsewhere that cannot produce convincing evidence of widespread benefits of its policies. These policies are not the bright, original ideas of educational visionaries with the capacity to foresee those learning experiences in childhood that develop personal, social, cultural and intellectual talents, and the powers of imagination and self-efficacy so necessary in a world of challenge and change. Rather, in New Zealand we have governmental agents and political advisers who import ideas and policies with diplomatic immunity; ideas and policies that
are perverting the meaning of a great schooling experience and education system for our children. So what brought about the theme of my column this time round? It was a recent visit to the Château de Chenonceau in France, where the once-upon-a-time gentry had the good fortune to have the services of Jean-Jacques Rousseau as tutor of their children. An exhibition in the château portrayed the impressive thinking of the 18th century philosopher, writer, teacher and musician who made a profound contribution to educational thought – a contribution that many truly professional minds would argue should still be in fashion when shaping the direction of education. Rousseau’s guidance to the teacher is, however, far distant from what is happening today: Firstly, know well that it is rarely up to you to suggest to him [the student] what he should learn; it is for him [the student] to desire, to seek, to find; for you to put it within
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his (the student’s) reach, to skilfully allow this desire to be born and to provide him with the means to satisfy it. Regardless of literal meaning, there is an important message here – the kind of message that is now sadly lacking in the discourse on education and in the shaping of policy. It seems there is no longer a place for building education on philosophic principles. Indeed, some would say that educational philosophy is dead, while political imperatives are alive and well. But not for me. In my day (and that day remains), we were grounded in the deeper purposes of education through the study of great educational thinkers, so that we in turn would come to align our practice to strong beliefs about the nature and purpose of education. To return to my original question, what about you, dear reader? What do you believe to be a great schooling experience for our children? And having given your answer, I wonder how you would rate the strength of your beliefs as reflected in your actual day-by-day leadership and practice. Or is all of this irrelevant. Are we becoming so obsessed with formulating ‘next steps’ that we have overlooked our responsibility to question the suitability of the stairway? Postscript I had just finished writing this column when I came upon two brilliant and highly experienced Arts lecturers. ‘Our jobs in the College are on a very thin thread,’ they said. ‘It’s all literacy and numeracy now.’ Reference Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (First published in 1762). Emile or Treatise On Education (Émile ou de l’éducation).
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