Susan Kramer A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witvatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requiremcntn for the Degree of Bachelor of Education. Johannesburg 1977 apsthact ■towards national sovereignty. #*#Ld a it-, creation of the no. ..cioii.t »». p h ilosop h ies upon • formation of the "useful" ran, _ _ T ** m 4 mine and all the political implications associated with this idea, is the Third World aiming a t a goal which w ill destroy man as a c r i t i c a l , unique individual capable of rational, unindoctrinated thought? Or is indoctrination a necessary part of this "education"? If future prospects look bleak. mm iv Pmt'ACF, I .m indebted to Profeeeor A.P. Hunter of the Univer.it, of the Witwatersrond for .tianlating my intore.t in the toprc, and for hi. guidance, humour, warmth and encouragement during my travails# I would also liko to thank Wally Morrow and Don Margetson for their memorable teaching which has contributed in a true sense to what one hopes may be called my "education". m V TATtt.F. OF CONTENTS page . « • • 1 INTRODUCTION . •• * CHAPTER I The Concept of Education • • • • 14 CHAPTER II Education and the Third World •• • • • • 29 CHAPTER III Education in Cuba* A Case-Study 29 Why Cuba is of particular interest to educationalists 31 Pre-revolutionary education 35 The educational aims of the Revolution . • • 35 e • * • Democratization of education •• ^ 36 Education for economic growt* •• * ** 37 The new ran •e •• •• "' 39 New forma of education - achievements and problems 42 The literacy campaiirn, 1601 " " f 43 School-to-the-country •• •• ,e “ 44 Interest circles .. •• •• ** *’ The role of the students .. •• " ] 4b Rural education « •• * * 4% University education . •• " ** * * 4q Technological instituteo •• •• * * 5 0 Adult education •• •• * ** ** 5 ] if the HoToiution « sJhci: of*hsyolutionlry I-ilr-.tic :: ;• g Media end the a rts .. •• " ** 5 8 59 thT .«U ty u'tlie .uhool, history the univcr.itie. 59 Deficiencies end dilercr.ee in Cubcn e d u c tio n .. 67 ONCLUSION BIBLIooraphy INTRODUCTION Thie paper will attempt to come to some understanding of the following issue* Is "education" for the developing Third World countries to be evaluated according to the same principles as our concept of education in the developed Western world? A brief survey of some contemporary Western philosophy of education will he made. This will be contrasted with some of the priorities and aims of education as a prerequisite for "development". A brief case-study of educational policies and reforms in post­ revolutionary Cuba will serve as an example, albeit not wholly typical, of a developing nation. The problem under consideration may he summarized as follows: la education merely a means to some extrinsic state of affairs, or does it have no other goal, os some philosophers maintain, th,m the development of the educated man? To use the terminology of T.S.Kuhn (1962), the paradigm within which contemporary philosophers of education work is different from, and may conflict with the framework of concepts used by educational deve1opment-p1anners. Their points of departure, their comprehension and interpretation of the available "facts"} the problems they attempt to solve, have little common meeting ground. To several philosophers, the concept of education is associated with concepts of autonomy, rationality, critical thought, intrinsic worth, interest, knowledge and understanding, objectivity and truth. To others, and most specifically to development planners, education must be utilitarian and is linked with goals such us nation-building, training of man­ power, economic development, political socialization and the creation of a leadership cadre. 2 . Perhaps it. is possible for the two pared ignis to merge. Post­ revolutionary Cuba will servo as a easc-study to examine whether this merging has been achieved, or if education, when it is placed in a position of subservience to other goals, must necessarily become distorted into related concepts ouch as schooling, training or indoctrination. Till: CONTETT OF MM.’CATION It in not with the radical "deachoolera" of Western educational c irc le s th a t I wish to c o n tra st the dove 1opment—planners, but with the rather more purist approach cf Jlritish academia. What follows is necessarily brief and selective, but provides, hopefully, a working outline of what "education" may be understood to entail. Education has to do with know’edge and understanding - knowledge in depth and breadth - not simply "know-how or e. knack", or a too narrow specialization (Hirst,P.H, and Peters,R.S.(1970)(p 25). A distinction must be made between educating a man and training him, because education is not compatible with any "narrowly-conceived enterprise". In this sense, a man who is becoming educated is changing to a sig­ nificant degree, and this change - (and this second point is strongly emphasized by Hirst and I’eterr) - is necessarily change in a worth­ while and desirable direction. What may be considered to be worth­ while becomes a rath e r cumbersome issu e, not e n tire ly s a tis fa c to rily solved by Peters's "transcendental argument" (Peters U.S. 1966). One can more easily come to grips with Hirst's elaboration of what knowledge may encompass. Knowledge, according to Hirst, is not relative, as has been proposed by, amongst others, Mannheim, Marx and Kuhn. Knowledge is an accumulated history of Ran'« "ttewpt to understand and appreciate the world we live in. Man may be said to view the world from various distinctive perspectives. These may be elaborated upon, or brought into focus more precisely, but there remain certain definable "modes of understanding" or inter-related conceptual frame­ works which Hirst describes as "forms of knowledge", each with a con­ ceptual network peculiar to itself, and each possessing its own unique tests for truth and validity, and its own standards of objectivity (Hirst,P.H., in Archambttult,R.D.(cd.) .1965). In fact, Hirst makes a bold attempt to outline eight such branches* mathematics, empirical science, human science, morality, aesthetics, philosophy, religion and history. These are the "public modes of experience". Education is the development of the rational mind, and the educated man must be competent to exercise his rational and critical judge­ ment in each of these various form of understanding and to distinguish between them and their appropriate tests for truth. H irst's exact classification of knowledge into eight branches may be disputed, or regarded as merely provisional| but his approach to ♦he problem of knowledge and its connection with education seems to be useful and sound. If it is found to be acceptable, his thesis provides grounds for suggestions of a universal and compulsory pro­ gramme of study for the development of the ideal of the educated man, be he B riton, Ugandan or Pole. To return now to the central issue of what is worthwhile in education; why, for instance, are these "forms of knowledge" more worthwhile than, as has been suggested, skittles, pin-ball, or blowing up frogs w ith bicycle pumps? A. Philips-Griffiths (1965) distinguishes between activities which are regarded as an end and those which are considered ?s a means. No activity is of much value unless it is guided hy certain recognized standards of achievement or failure and necessitates some degree ci strenuous effort. Activities of value are said to l*o "absorbing", "interesting", "fascinating", end are varied and capable of infinite development w ithout mere re p e titio n of modes of action. Such a c tiv ­ ities possess "reciprocity". They require us to give varied and unpredictable responses. Our action is not merely mechanical but totally absorbing. Griffiths makes on interesting observation which is of relevance to what is to be discussed later as regards Third World education; "Some very important activities derive their value from their effects rather than what they are in themselves. We may continue with them very wisely when they arc mech­ anical, uninteresting, effortless or dull; but unles* we are road this will only he because we arc concerned with some further end they happen to serve. Emptying dustbins neatly might, just possibly, be an interesting task at first, but it would make an odd permanent hobby. Nevertheless the efficient disposal of waste is undoubtedly of the utmost 6. value. But we must not, because impressed by the important by-products of human activity, forget that some human activities have a value of their otn. Iftnptying dustbins w ill, we hope, one day be done entirely by machines; but not our dancing or our conversation". To pursue an activity as an end in itself is to learn to love that activity, and the pursuit of learning - the study of history, physics or philosophy - is undeniably an activity whose objects possess reciprocity and universality. They are public and objective in a way that other activities are not, and they all involve the pursuit of truth. An interesting observation may be made; the so-called "1iberal-arts" i.e. the humanities and the social sciences, are often contrasted with those studies having an immediate utility such as engineering, bu ainess-admini strati on, forestry etc. But, what makes the distinction should not he the field of study, but the way in which it is pursued i.e. for i1 1 intrinsic interest as opposed to some means to an extrinsic state of affairs. Technological problems may be objective, public problems in exactly the same vuv as problems of physics or literary criticism. Similarly, P.Herost in Peters, R.S, (cti.)(1973), distinguishes between work and labour to illustrate his concept of an activity of intrinsic worth.