L'educazione come scolarizzazione ( ^ ) L'invenzione e la diffusione della scrittura unitamente alle altre capacità connesse quali il leggere e il calcolare, favorirono la fondazione di scuole, prima in Egitto e a Babilonia e poi in Grecia.
In Grecia, Socrate divenne l'esponente famoso di un modo di educare, chiamato maieutica, in cui colui che è disposto ad apprendere viene aiutato, attraverso a series of questions and answers appropriate to consciously bring to light what was believed to be already present in a latent and undeveloped in his mind and his senses. And this is what the very word "education" means from the etymological point of view, namely e-ducere (bring out) ie to stimulate and facilitate the full expression of the energies and qualities of the individual.
In contrast to this concept and educational practice, a new line of inquiry emerged in ancient Greece that would set the pattern for the majority of student teachers: the sophists. The method used by the sophists was to teach the art of persuasion elements tested (dialectics) and expression (rhetoric) so that the children of wealthy Athenians could prevail in oratorical contests against their political opponents. The method assigns a sophistical
enormous importance to the ability to use words and their formal arrangement, which will affect most aspects of school education throughout the centuries.
The separation between school life and that this way of teaching and learning could not help, also emerged in Rome. It is precisely against this negative aspect of education that Roman took off his famous warning of Seneca: "Do not scholae discimus sed vitae" [we learn not for school but for life].
After the fall of the Roman Empire and the decline of cities, schools decreased in number and almost disappeared and returned to education to take place mainly at home and through daily activities. With the resumption of urban areas (around the year 1000) and with the development of production and commerce, reappeared teachers and educational institutions to meet the new needs of the children of aristocrats and wealthy merchants and craftsmen.
The revival and spread of schools ( ^ )
During the Middle Ages, the Church took on the task of preserving the works of Greek and Roman authors by saving the death and abandonment. Clerics then became more elements of society with education, practically the only ones able to read and write and possess knowledge from past ages.
For this reason it is not surprising that the Church was present with a dominant influence (if not exclusively) in the establishment and management of almost all the centers and educational activities of the time, dall'insegnamentom of children in the foundation of universities .
Being the Church universal power, researchers and students could move from one center to another (from Bologna to Paris to Oxford) free from any political barrier or cultural restrictions, using Latin as its lingua franca.
limits were learning, in many cases, other consisted of the same and that had affected the practice of the sophists: the separation between the materials and methods of teaching on the one hand and the activities and problems of people's lives on the other. Formal aspects, learning by heart, pedantic study of Greek and Latin, they became the founding pillars of most of the medieval schools. The student was required to familiarize themselves slavishly with the texts of classical authors as if they were the heights of culture unsurpassed and unsurpassable. This view, shared by many educated people in various parts of Europe, have strongly marked by the purposes and practices of almost all future schools, confining alla pura e semplice trasmissione di precedenti conquiste culturali.
L'educazione classica basata sullo studio del latino era allora ritenuta essenziale per entrare a far parte delle più alte professioni quali l'avvocato, il medico, il teologo. Però, contemporaneamente, data la richiesta dei tempi, cominciarono ad apparire scuole di tipo professionale, indirizzate ai figli della classe commerciale in ascesa, nelle quali erano insegnate materie più attinenti alla vita pratica quali la matematica applicata al commercio e il leggere e scrivere in volgare.
La presenza congiunta di vari tipi di scuole, promosse da categorie differenti di persone (ricchi mercanti, signori laici ed ecclesiastici, governanti cittadini, docenti itineranti, etc..) shows that when there is a need and there are no restrictions (political, technical or otherwise) on the modes of its fulfillment, which most likely will result is the provision of a range of possibilities, in this case a variety of educational experiences from a series of educational promoters.
Quest unenforceable will be even more evident in a later period, at the time of the Industrial Revolution, when the general improvement in living conditions, due to a significant increase in productivity enabled him to devote a growing share of time and energy to education formal education of children. During the first half of the nineteenth century, an incredible number of initiatives school education is developing in England was becoming the most advanced country in Europe. Catholic and Protestant schools were added to the Sunday school (Sunday schools) for workers employed during the week, night school for adults, schools, charities (charity dame schools or schools) for the poor in the most deprived districts of cities, schools village (village schools) supported by voluntary contributions and from the small fees, the schools (factory schools) promoted by far-sighted entrepreneurs such as Robert Owen, schools for mechanics (mechanics Institutes) arose as a result of the commitment of George Birkbeck, partnerships educational cooperation (mutual improvement societies), gli istituti di studi letterari e filosofici (literary and philosophical institutes), le scuole per l'apprendistato (training colleges) e una serie di altri centri di istruzione e di università sorti con un lascito e finanziati soprattutto attraverso donazioni volontarie, fondi personali e contributi degli utenti. Il numero delle cosiddette scuole private (e cioè, quelle che basavano le loro entrate solo su quote e contribuzioni personali) passarono in Inghilterra da 688 nel 1841 a 3754 nel 1850 (Fonte: Censimento 1851), una crescita del 545% in soli dieci anni. Uno sviluppo simile poteva attendersi in altri paesi una volta che avessero avviato il loro processo di industrializzazione e intrapreso la strada del miglioramento delle condizioni of life.
But in other parts of Europe there was already moving in a different direction, with the state assumed more and more control of education, and even England would be involved, in due course by this stream of ideas and of shares.
The birth of the state school ( ^ )
The rise in status to a position of dominance in the field of school is preceded by a long period of preparation during which the Church and education centers established that it had started to be denigrated and opposed, and this fact was contrary to the previous period in cui la Chiesa era stata considerata un alleato dello stato a cui potevano essere affidati compiti educativi in quanto propri alla sua missione.
Infatti, nel 1547 il vicere di Spagna aveva incoraggiato il coinvolgimento dei Gesuiti nell'educazione e nella fondazione di scuole invitando Ignazio di Loyola (il fondatore della Compagnia di Gesù) a mandare in Sicilia, nella città di Messina, alcuni appartenenti al suo ordine al fine di svolgere attività caritative e di insegnamento.
Nel 1759 il vento aveva cambiato totalmente di direzione. In quell'anno la Compagnia di Gesù venne espulsa dal Portogallo. Nel 1764 fu bandita dalla Francia e di lì a poco, nel 1767, dalla Spagna. Le scuole da essa fondate furono o chiuse o affidate ad altre institutions.
Since the end of the eighteenth century, many buildings and church property was confiscated in several European countries (primarily in France of the Revolution) is not only undermining the power of the Church but also, in some cases, the ability to carry out charitable activities such as' free tuition to the poor.
In 1763, Louis-René de la Caradeuc Chalotais, chief magistrate of Britain, wrote an "Essay on Education National advancing the idea of \u200b\u200ban educational system promoted by the state. He was motivated by two main objectives:
- Control access to education. The de la Chalotais was extremely concerned that "there had never before been so tanti studenti … persino le persone che svolgono lavori manuali vogliono studiare."; "i Fratelli della Dottrina Cristiana chiamati gli Ignoranti stanno attuando una politica disastrosa; essi stanno insegnando al popolo a leggere e a scrivere mentre costoro dovrebbero apprendere solo a fare schizzi e a maneggiare la pialla e la lima ma si rifiutano di sottoporsi a questi lavori."
- Controllare il contenuto dell'educazione . Al fine di porre fine all'influsso della Chiesa, in particolare quella dei Gesuiti, sulle menti delle giovani generazioni, il de la Chalotais voleva che venissero istituite scuole statali in quanto "i figli dello stato devono essere allevati dai membri dello stato". A tal fine egli sollecitava il re a formare una commissione per lo studioa del problema dell'educazione nazionale, per definirne gli scopi e per approntarne gli strumenti necessari (ad esempio, i libri di testo).
In Prussia, che va considerata assieme alla Francia come la culla della scuola di stato, i "Regolamenti generali delle scuole" emessi nel 1763 sotto Federico II decretarono l'obbligo scolastico per tutti i ragazzi dai cinque ai tredici anni di età. Nello stesso periodo (1768), Johann Bernhard Basedow stava formulando la sua proposta di un Consiglio supremo della Pubblica Istruzione che fu poi formato (Oberschulcollegium) nel 1787 sotto Federico il Grande. Nel 1794 tutti gli istituti educativi furono posti sotto la supervisione dello stato, una decisione che venne riaffermata nel 1803 nel Codice Giuridico Prussiano in cui si dichiara espressamente che "le scuole e le università sono istituzioni dello stato."
Nel frattempo in Francia, B. G. Rolland, presidente del Parlamento di Parigi, produceva un rapporto sull'educazione nazionale (1768) in cui invocava l'intervento delo stato attraverso un sistema nazionale gerarchico, centralizzato nella capitale, che controllasse tutte le scuole locali.
Le fondamenta teoriche e pratiche della scuola di stato furono dunque poste nella seconda metà del secolo XVIII, pronte per essere utilizzate dai protagonisti della Rivoluzione Francese e dai ceti dirigenti degli altri stati europei, testimoni invidiosi e timorosi del fascino politico e dei successi militari dello stato centralizzato francese.
The consolidation of state school ( ^ )
The French Revolution, with its deification of the state presented as the protector of the people, prepared the way for despotism of Napoleon.
Fourcroy in 1802 by the Decree of the state as he left the local primary school initiative, took under his protection by imposing a secondary education curriculum controlled by the center. Napoleon was seen in the education of half to produce preparations administrators and military officers to obey him. To that end instituted the state high school, whose trait was represented by a military-style discipline. Since 1804 the state arrogated to itself the right to appoint teachers and in 1806 the Imperial University was established (supplemented by further decrees in 1808). It was a kind of Ministry of Education in charge of controlling the entire apparatus of the school system and teaching in France.
The role of the state in education was extended after the fall of Napoleon, in 1833 when the law is forced Guizot every town in France to establish a state primary school. But it was under the minister of education Jules Ferry (during the year 1880) state that the education received a boost, making the state monopoly to which the ruling elites aspired since the beginning of the century. A series of laws significantly reduced and even eliminated in some cases the presence of Catholic schools, introducing the prohibition of teaching by the clergy. The curriculum of the schools of all levels was developed centrally and fully expurgated of all references or religious theme. It was decided to fund the schools through the state tax and therefore their frequency was apparently the cost free while being paid by everyone in varying degrees, indirect and almost hidden.
In Prussia, the example of France and the increasing role that the state was assuming there as supreme leader of the nation in all fields, contributed to the emergence a current of ideas (mainly represented by Hegel and Fichte) in which the mission of education is the formation of citizens loyal and devoted to the state.
Following the example of France and Prussia, many European countries took control of education, dispossessing those who had allegedly played a role of educators in the past and potential new competitors Elmina avrebberro not been able to compete in a situation in which the school status must be financed by all.
From those early beginnings in the second half of the eighteenth century, the school was spread everywhere, and took control of education so that education itself has come to be identified with the school e per scuola si intende quasi implicitamente la scuola di stato.
Occorre quindi focalizzare l'attenzione un po' più a fondo sulla scuola di stato, presentando brevemente le giustificazioni offerte per la sua introduzione e le funzioni, le caratteristiche, i protagonisti e gli effetti che caratterizzano la sua esistenza.
Le conclamate ragioni per l'introduzione della scuola di stato ( ^ )
La ragione principale a sostegno dell'introduzione della scuola di stato è consistita in considerazioni di tipo egalitario e umanitario.
Gli elementi radicali presenti in Francia e in Inghilterra, in conjunction with philanthropists, social unrest and political reformers, they saw state intervention in education a way to improve the condition of the underprivileged and to reduce if not eliminate, differences in cultural and social dislocation.
In other words, according to proponents of state intervention, only the state, as representative of the entire national community, could and should deal with the education of all citizens to be free from ignorance and a society free from inequality .
In fact, in many countries a large part of elite government did not share this perspective at all for the emancipation of individuals through the dissemination of education promoted by state. In fact, the literacy of the masses was considered as a possible cause of rebellion and disorder. According to this view, an individual belonging to the subordinate classes who were able to read a manual worker or trained is a contradiction and a source of discontent that would threaten the established order.
For this reason we must correct, if necessary, the widespread view that the state was the real advocate of education and the initiator of mass literacy.
In fact, since the late eighteenth century the spread of literacy was already happening and despite the opposition of the state, taking into account that even a ruling elite liberale come quella Inglese aveva introdotto tasse sulla carta per scoraggiare la diffusione della lettura e della scrittura tra i meno abbienti. Nonostante ciò, l'ampia circolazione di documenti rivoluzionari come "Rights of Man" (1791-1792) di Thomas Paine o "Enquiry concerning political justice" (1793) di Richard Godwin, rappresentavano un segno che la capacità di leggere si stava diffondendo anche senza l'intervento dello stato e nonostante gli ostacoli posti dallo stato. E non appena la tassa sulla stampa venne abolita nel 1855, diciassette nuovi giornali di provincia vennero fondati, una indicazione ulteriore della presenza consolidata di capacità di lettura tra la popolazione inglese in generale, molto prima di qualsiasi scolarizzazione di stato in Inghilterra.
Una ulteriore giustificazione per l'intervento dello stato sotto forma di frequenza scolastica obbligatoria per tutti i ragazzi fino ad una certa età, si basava sulla volontà di porre fine al loro sfruttamento da parte di genitori snaturati e di padroni avidi che li costringevano a lavorare nelle miniere e nelle fabbriche. Questa è, ancora una volta, una ragione molto encomiabile ma si basa su una generalizzazione che è molto lontana dal vero.
Infatti, mentre è vero che un numero ristretto di genitori non si comportavano in maniera umana nei confronti della loro prole, la maggior parte di essi compiva ogni sforzo per assicurare ai loro figli un futuro migliore. Come riportato da James Mill nella Edinburgh Review of October 1813: "We happened to meet with families in which for weeks at a time, had not consumed any food that potatoes, but was set aside for each child, the hard-earned sum needed to send them to school." ["We have meet with Families in Which, for weeks together, not an article of sustenance But potatoes Had Been Used; yet Every Child for the hard-earned sum Was Provided To Send Them to School."]
And at school or attend various courses of instruction they came in increasing numbers if we refer to the situation in England. During the first half of the nineteenth century (1818-1858), when state intervention in education was virtually no English, the student population passed from 675,000 to 2,500,000 individuals, with an annual increase in the number of pupils than double the increase of population (1965, EG West, Education and the State). At the same time the vast majority of workers had already literate or through a personal commitment or through the generous assistance of other people. So, the conventional portrait that shows the first state intervention in education, a scenario of widespread illiteracy and child neglect and exploitation, is in most cases or literary invention or pure propaganda necessary to justify the entry of the state in a new field of action (presented as a service provider's providential otherwise unavailable for all) and settle into a position of total supremacy.
the hidden motivations for the introduction of state school ( ^ )
The reasons advanced to justify state intervention in education are indeed very convincing and elicited the support of many people genuinely progressive and humanitarian ideas. However, even if we accept that they are valid reasons to support the promotion of education by the state (for example by funding and facilitating in many ways every kind of educational activity), these reasons do not lead necessarily to become Proponents of school status and education of the general control by the state.
is therefore clear that, behind a screen of philanthropy and egalitarianism that has really inspired many reformers and social activists and justified state intervention in education, hide other substantive reasons that led to the establishment of more pervasive and intrusive type of intervention: education compulsory in state schools.
This goes far beyond and in a direction opposite to what many claimed. In fact, be in favor of education of the lower classes, in view of their emancipation, not identified with the compulsory attendance of school was, if we consider how many There are other ways to promote and access to education. Nevertheless, regardless of educational information to the contrary, in some countries since the beginning of the nineteenth century, the school has been chosen is the only way for education to the detriment of many other experiences. This choice is the result of certain events that suggested the state governments to undertake such a course of action.
At that moment in history the whole of Europe was under the influence of Napoleon in every country that was exporting the ideas of the French Revolution and the new state that arose, among the measures "revolutionary" who had been taken that there was of a centralized educational system (1802). The
repeated victories of the French armies in various parts of Europe and especially the defeat of the Prussians at Jena in 1806 had the effect of arousing national feelings of revenge. If Napoleon's successes were due to a strong state and a centralized system of education that produced sodati obedient and efficient, that model was imitated. And so the idea is established to instill a sense of national pride and dedication to the country through a national system of education under the aegis of the state. The document that best represents this concept is the "Address to the German Nation" (1808) by Johann Fichte.
The state education system already present in Prussia was then further refined based on more more nationalistic to the point that schools became one of the most effective political arsenal of the state. The success in producing loyal subjects state was such that, after the fall of Napoleon, Prussia was walked to become the new maximum power of continental Europe. This ascent will culminate in two events:
- the victory of the Prussian army in the Austrian Königgrätz (Sadowa) in 1864;
- the Prussian victory over the French army at Sedan in 1870.
In the words of the Prussian minister of war, "the real winner of the battle of Königgrätz was the Prussian schoolmaster." The same words could be repeated and applicate con riferimento alla vittoria militare contro i Francesi.
L'esperienza Prussiano-Tedesca mostrò che "le scuole sono strumenti di politica statale, come l'esercito, la polizia e gli esattori delle imposte" (1960, Elie Kedourie, Nationalism). E praticamente tutti i governanti statali, a tempo debito, appresero la lezione.
Il primo stato ad assorbirla fu quello che era già meglio posizionato al riguardo e cioè la Francia. Dopo la sconfitta del suo esercito, nuovi uomini politici erano emersi per i quali il rinnovamento della nazione sotto uno stato forte costituiva una assoluta priorità. Tra di essi spicca la figura di Jules Ferry che, come abbiamo già visto, fu l'artefice di un sistema scolastico statale (leggi of 1882 and 1886) and rigidly controlled by the center from which all other outside influence to the state (eg. the Church, the community, parents) was methodically eliminated or marginalized. This is the system that will be adopted in many countries (eg Italy) and that will survive, with some upgrades and modernizations of the facade, during almost the entire course of the twentieth century.
So, the real motive behind the intervention of the state in education is the survival and the power of its ruling classes. As pointed out by a keen observer, the educational system of nation-state "... the purpose of education is to bend the minds of the younger generation to the will of the nation" (1960, Elie Kedourie, Nationalism), that is the will of the rulers national state. Or, to quote the words of a famous French historian (Ernest Lavisse) at the beginning of the twentieth century "if the student does not become a citizen very conscious of his duties, and a soldier who loves his gun, the teacher will have wasted his time. "
The functions of the state school ( ^ )
If not confessed goal of the state school is to train the subjects for the promotion and expansion of state power inside and outside, of course, the actual functions simply can not be those must be freed from ignorance and emancipation to independence in critical thinking and acting. On the contrary, the objectives of the school was very obvious and pressing in the past but still inherent in its approach to education can be summarized as:
- Indoctrination of people. Indoctrination means in this context, diffusion, forced and planned from the top, ideas to help create an identity (ie, uniformity) under the aegis of the national state. The real mission of the school was not to facilitate the development of individuals with knowledge and reasoning skills to produce docile subjects but all the same state them. The implementation of territorial sovereignty by the state requires control and manipulation of mental attitudes of those living within that territory. In the words of an Italian writer and patriot, Massimo d'Azeglio, once made from Italy, it was necessary to "make Italians" thereby alluding to the formation of an Italian national identity, that is made in a national subjects. And this task could best be achieved only through the establishment and continued strengthening of a public school system designed for breeding of a population "devoted to the Fatherland and the King" (in the words of a circular from the Minister of Education del1886 Michele Coppino) or, case of Germany, "loyal to the Kaiser, the army, the navy." The state was finally able to function in place of the Church to shape minds and was replacing the old religion with the new ideology of statism.
- Homogenization of the masses. Homogenization means that all students must go through the same process of education, evenly absorbing the same concepts and the same attitudes and behaviors in order to produce workers and citizens obedient to the owner subject to the laws. The process is imposed from the top in a uniform so that towards the end of the nineteenth century, a Minister of Education in France, seems to have boasted to say as part of the state curriculum was carried out in every school in the country simply by reference to the date and time. The terms refer to swallow especially on events and achievements of earlier civilizations, arranged in a line of historical progress leading, as ultimate realization, the emergence of the nation state. The state is subtly presented as the initiator or the creator of all that, according to a vision of convenience, alleged to have been neglected or poorly implemented in the past (administration of justice, provision of social services, provision of infrastructure, etc. ..) In addition, each national school system seems to have the congenital tendency to portray his country as the beacon of civilization and to minimize the accomplishments and successes of the populations of other countries may give, in some cases, to practices of exploitation and robbery from which their country is magically immune. It's no wonder that this kind of mass manipulation has paved the way for mass slaughter where national identities to create art clashed in a struggle for supremacy.
Homogenization is only part of the function of the school and is directed primarily to classes at the base of the social pyramid. When students from these classes have absorbed the basic concepts and behaviors, their school life ceases while the sons of the ruling classes continue their studies in high schools (another invention of Napoleon) and the University (or attualmenti in postgraduate courses).
- Differentiation of classes. Differentiation means that the school is organized in degrees and orders that reflect the division of society into classes. The main division is between those who are assigned to perform manual work (running), and those who are destined to intellectual (direction). Differentiation begins in the early school grades when the children of the wealthy and ruling elite attend better schools (sometimes state schools in selected areas), schools abroad or even Catholic schools run by religious or if they are considered di qualità superiore. Le altre scuole di stato, molte delle quali sovraffollate e gestite in maniera burocratica, sono per i figli della massa uniforme ed essi dovrebbero essere felici e riconoscenti per il fatto che sia loro concesso di andare a scuola, apparentemente gratis.
A questo punto è necessario mettere in luce i tratti principali caratterizzanti la scuola di stato che i figli e le figlie della gente comune (ma non solo loro) devono frequentare.
Le caratteristiche della scuola di stato ( ^ )
Una conferma riguardo alle funzioni effettive della scuola di stato si ha osservando i tratti that even today, in many cases, essentially characterized, namely:
- general mandatory funding (taxes). The state school is a service provided under monopolistic practices must be considered which is funded by all, not only without distinction between those who have or not have children but most importantly, not taking into account if the taxpayer is taxed in favor of the state school or refuses to use it, investing time and resources in alternative educational experiences for his children (teaching at home, community schools, use of experts, special courses, purchase of educational materials, etc.)..
- compulsory attendance generalized (Up to a certain age). School attendance is mandatory required by law (teaching in the family is only allowed in some countries) and the boys are forced to go to school otherwise the state intervenes with the police and the judiciary.
- regimentation of teachers (teacher training and teaching practices). Teachers are being trained under the supervision of the state and must convey concepts that are provided in a curriculum prepared by the state, using manual approved by the state, according to the more conventional techniques of instruction (usually academic lessons) approved by the state.
- regimentation of students. Gli studenti sono suddivisi in base alla loro età cronologica (le loro capacità mentali o gli interessi personali non vengono minimamente presi in considerazione) e, in alcuni casi, in base al sesso, e sono collocati in gruppi di dimensioni variabili (secondo l'ammontare delle risorse disponibili) sotto il controllo e le direttive di uno o più insegnanti. Tutti gli studenti sono tenuti a seguire con attenzione, memorizzare e ripetere le nozioni trasmesse loro dagli insegnanti, senza mettere in discussione né la forma né il contenuto del processo di istruzione.
- Apprendimento a base nazionale . Le nozioni trasmesse fanno riferimento principalmente, inparticolare nel caso delle scienze umane, alla cultura dell'élite and what the dominant national elites deemed worthy of being absorbed and passed on. The creativity and cosmopolitanism are not, in general, the school's educational agenda of the state.
- CERIF statutory qualifications . If students have shown satisfactorily docile and sufficiently capable in their effort of attention, memorization and repetition of what has been presented to them, they can expect to receive a legal document (a certificate) that (hopefully) will open a lot of their careers in the state or in areas related to state or state-regulated professions. That piece of paper is a magic key that unfortunately does not always reflect what that people are actually able to do. In that case, they will learn on the job, in the course of their professional activities. In this regard, "American economist, Professor George J. Stigler, who calculated the type of education that leads to an increase in the wage bargaining power of the individual, it is concluded that up to two thirds of That ability was not acquired in college or school, but through experience and apprenticeship in the factory or office. " (1965, EGWest, Education and the State. A study in political economy). If it is still the case, then it is as if we returned to the starting point when learning took place through life experiences. The only difference from the past, and is not something to be proud of, is now a huge amount of personal time and social resources are squandered without valid reason and with no results worth mentioning.
fact. if there is anything certain is that the schooling was absorbs enormous resources, which are directed mainly towards the employees to the system. It is therefore necessary to consider briefly the professionals upon which the state school.
The protagonists of the state school ( ^ )
When education was brought life experiences, all those who, inside or outside the home, were equipped with special skills became teachers (speakers of knowledge) in an informal way.
Subsequently, people of letters, mostly belonging to religious congregations, devoted their efforts to teach in a structured way, by serving the poor or rich families in becoming tutors.
With the birth of the modern school, ladies belonging to aristocratic families were engaged in charitable educational institutions. At the same time, individuals, often of humble origins, who had learned to read and write, began to offer their educational services, becoming the first nucleus of what will be the host of teachers, they were paid by parents and were under the watchful eye of the local community or of the clergy from which they were employed.
The financial uncertainties of the profession at the mercy of parents and local groups, and dependence on the Church, which controlled most of the educational institutions are the main reasons why, over time an increasingly large number of teachers promoted and agreed to willingly interventom the state in education. For them this meant:
- a regular remuneration paid by the state through the tax levy instead of the person concerned to collect contributions from individual parents.
- un padrone distante sotto forma del Ministero dell'istruzione avente la sua sede nella capitale, al posto del controllo continuo esercitato localmente dai genitori e dall'intera comunità.
- un curriculum più aggiornato che avrebbe eliminato una componente di pedante religiosità sostituendola con temi più concreti.
- una migliore considerazione personale presso la comunità locale e la società nel suo complesso in quanto rappresentanti educativi di un potere in ascesa (lo stato nazionale) a cui era stata assegnata una missione da compiere (la educazione/nazionalizzazione delle nuove generazioni).
Non c'è quindi da stupirsi che gli insegnanti abbiano avuto un forte interesse personale alla diffusione della state school and becoming a kind of educational agents of the state. One justification was that, in doing so, they are released, in many cases by the suffocating protection of the Church. What was not revealed was that, in exchange for economic security, they were laying in a different protection, the state, which became, over time, not less oppressive and demeaning. From that moment on they became the spokesman for the power transmission belt statist ideology that is made of a mixture of welfare and corrupter of heavy-handed authoritarianism.
In this regard it is noteworthy that teachers in state schools are members of a category including many who were and are the instigators and propagators of the direct role of the state personified by their pupils as concentration camp guards, torturers, assassins under the orders of the state. In the words of a contemporary historian, "the room for the torture and concentration camp just completed the work that the school had started." (1999, Martin van Creveld, The Rise and Decline of the State). And the bureaucratic superstructure autoriataria of the state still holds today atteraverso especially the work of propaganda and manipulation (conscious or not) of most inseganti of state schools.
Other categories of people who have willingly accepted the rise and spread of the school status were all those who have found employment in bureaucratic roles as school inspectors and administrators in schools that are inside a giant apparatus, center, should lead and shape the educational machine.
Currently, some states, the Department of Education is the top provider of jobs in the country, so the amount of vested interests who are working for the perpetuation of the system is huge even when and where the results are poor or completely insignificant compared with the amount of resources used.
Let us therefore briefly examine those who were and those who are at present the results of the Tax-diffusion of state school.
The effects of state school ( ^ )
The school was compulsory has received at least three negative results that were not foreseen by many of those who were favorable to state intervention in education:
- devalued parents . Based on the assumptions that underlie the intervention of the state, school attendance is to be charged to parents or they had no interest in their children. This generalization without foundation, even if true in reference to a small number of parents, been applied to all the parents with the result of eliminating their be actively responsible for the education of their children, attibuendo this task to a group of professionals and bureaucrats who take almost all decisions in this regard. It's no wonder that parents are now really irrelevant or marginal figures such as teaching, no longer a source of values \u200b\u200band of simple stimuli, but stewards of money for their children.
- devalued learning. Another basic premise of the compulsory state school model is the belief that learning should be imposed on children otherwise they would not show any interest and curiosity, and would remain forever pigri e ignoranti. Questa è, ancora una volta, una generalizzazione priva di fondamenta, non presa nemmeno in considerazione dalla quasi totalità dei pedagogisti; in maniera paradossale, essa è valida solo laddove la motivazione personale ad apprendere è stata eliminata e rimpiazzata dalla costrizione. In tal caso, come in tutti i casi in cui si introduce la coercizione, qualsiasi esperienza che si suppone educativa perde del tutto il suo potere di attrazione e diventa una fatica noiosa da evitare per quanto possibile. L'apprendimento creativo cede il posto ad una memorizzazione forzata, subita solo per ottenere il necessario pezzo di carta chiamato diploma.
- Ha svalutato l'attività . L'approccio di base della scuola di stato consiste nel radunare i ragazzi in un luogo specifico (l'aula scolastica all'interno dell'edificio scolastico) dove a qualcuno è stato affidato il compito di presentare talune nozioni. In questo modo, il legame stretto (se non addirittura l'unione) tra apprendere e fare è spezzata del tutto. L'apprendimento appare come un qualcosa completamente staccato dall'agire, un lungo intervallo di tempo trascorso al di fuori della vita reale che riprenderà il suo corso una volta terminato il periodo scolastico. Questo modello deriva da una visione della società divisa tra attività manuali e attività intellettuali che dà origine alla divisione di classe tra governati e governanti. E la scuola di stato, attraverso il suo modo di operare, perpetuates this social division.
In general, the school has been failed and still fails in what many naively believe to be its essential function, namely to develop and promote a knowledge that will allow to address new realities. This is not possible because the school was privileged:
- the repetition of the past instead of building the future;
- the transmission of knowledge-based national respect to the exploration of a universal science;
- the study compared to conventional theories testing of original hypotheses.
The results in terms of social and psychological impact of all this appear very clearly if we examine only the ideas cultivated and transmitted during most of the twentieth century, namely:
- nationalism, chauvinism and the abandonment of cosmopolitanism;
- imperialism, militarism and contempt of pacifism.
think that the school status has nothing to do with what it means to be mentally and morally blind, a zombie degenerate with a degree in idiocy.
Based on these results, the state school may be included, quite appropriately, among the total state institutions such as prisons, psychiatric hospital, the barracks, sharing with them, albeit in more nuanced and subtle features of :
- prison (prison)
- regimentation (barracks)
- repression (psychiatric hospital).
The state school is the perfect example of a mass society in which even the education process becomes a uniform pre-packaged and the students are like machines on the assembly line. Or, to give a more appropriate image of the entire sequence, the boys are like chickens in cages, force fed to produce animals suitable for the pan of the state bureaucracy, in the role of docile workers and alienated consumers.
Beyond that, the schools have also become centers of anger, violence, illiteracy and apathy to the point where not only education does not take place but spreads quickly and miseducation ampiamente, con uno spreco immane di risorse, soprattutto di risorse umane.
Molti avevano previsto fin dall'inizio gli effetti nefasti del fatto che lo stato assumesse il controllo dell'educazione. Per cui le obiezioni al monopolio scolastico statale sono state numerose soprattutto da parte di coloro che erano cresciuti in un ambiente e in un tempo in cui il peso dello stato era ridotto (XIX secolo); ulteriori obiezioni sono riapparse nella seconda metà del secolo XX e stanno crescendo a valanga all'inizio del secolo XXI.
Le obiezioni alla scuola di stato ( ^ )
Le obiezioni all'intervento state education emerged during the nineteenth century in both England and France.
thinkers like John Stuart Mill warned, not always coherently, about the risks associated with education in the reliable hands of the state. In the essay "On Liberty" (1859) he wrote: "A general state education is only a ploy to make people equal one another" and "the extent to which this is accomplished effectively and successfully, it generates a despotism over the mind that leads to natural tendency to despotism on individuals. " ["A general State education is a mere contrivance for molding people to be like Exactly One Another" and "in it as Proportion is efficient and successful, it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body. "]
In" Principles of Political Economy "(1848) in a very peremptory Mill said that" it is unacceptable that a government has, by law or in fact, a total control on the education of people. Being in possession of such examinations, and practical exercises, equivalent to a state of despotism. A government that can form the opinions and sentiments of the people from their youth onwards, they can do what he wants. "[" It is not endurable That Should a government, de jure or de facto Either Have a complete control over the education of the people. To Possess Such a control, Actually and exert it, is to be dispotic. A government Which can mold the opinions and sentiments of the people from Their youth upwards, can do whatever it pleases with Them. "]
similar objections were expressed by Karl Marx when, criticizing the program of the German Social Democratic Party (Program Gotha) wrote: "The education of the people by the state is a bee that is criticized in a very vigorous." "The Government and the Church should be both excluded from exercising any influence on the school." (1875, Karl Marx )
In France, Frederic Bastiat, among others, opposed to the principle of education was that: "The state, or more precisely party, faction, sect, the politician who takes hold in a given time, even in a legal manner, the power to influence the government, can give the direction it wants to teach, and shape at will all minds only through the mechanism of diplomas. "[" L'Etat, ou pour mieux say the parties, the faction, the sect, here was filled momentanément l'homme, et de même très légalement The influence gouvernementale, peut donner à l'enseignement the direction here he plaît, et à son gré façonner tous les Intelligences par le seul mécanisme des grades. "(1850, Baccalauréat et Socialisme)
In Italy, Piero Gobetti, inverting the logic flawed of those who want to impose a secular education to all under the control of the state wrote that "Only a theocratic state can claim the right of the school monopoly." (1924, Liberal Revolution)
Other criticisms were directed all'irregimentazione and the constrictive nature of educational practice in schools, where children are treated as empty barrels to be filled with notions that they like it or not.
Despite all this, the respect he inspired, at least in the past, the professional teacher, supported by the Church or, in more recent times, the state has meant that the objections were less incisive and able to make a change in educational practices. The only remaining option was to leave school if this is possible and practicable.
One of the most famous cases of refusal of the school has to do with in 1854 a seven year old boy named Thomas Alva Edison. After an animated discussion with the school's director, disapproving of the rigid teaching methods, her mother thought it appropriate to bring up the child at home. Thanks to this courageous decision, the head of a small Edison was saved from conformity and one of the most brilliant minds of all time was allowed to flourish.
not so fortunate with regard to school attendance was another genius like Albert Einstein, who, looking back with la memoria ai suoi trascorsi scolastici, scrisse le seguenti parole: "Uno doveva immagazzinare tutte quelle nozioni nel proprio cervello, che lo volesse o no. Questa costrizione ebbe un tale effetto deterrente che, dopo aver superato l'esame finale, per un anno intero provai un rigetto nell'affrontare qualsiasi problema di natura scientifica."
Se questo è l'effetto che la scuola ha avuto su una mente curiosa e brillante come quella di Einstein, dovremmo essere terrorizzati dal pensiero di ciò che essa produce su studenti meno geniali. Purtroppo vi sono molti ragazzi bravi e accomodanti che sono incapaci di mettere in pratica la risoluzione di Mark Twain che dichiarò "Non ho mai permesso che la scuola interferisse con la mia educazione" ["I Never Let Schooling Interfere with My Education "] and why they are marked forever by a distaste even against real learning experience.
For many critics of school educational attainment appeared more daunting to the point that, starting by the year 1960, a series of books were published with titles such as very enlightening "The compulsory miseducation" ["Compulsory Miseducation"] (1962, Paul Goodman) and "How to fail the education of children" ["How Children Fail"] (1964, John Holt).
These essays are followed in the early 1970, even more radical texts that supported the need to put an end to the school. Their titles were not less explicit: "The school is dead" ["School Is Dead"] (1971, Everett Reimer) and "Deschooling society" ["Deschooling society"] (1971, Ivan Illich).
The analysis and diagnosis were all very similar: the learning can not be based on the acquisition and repetition compulsion and mnemonic, but is developed through the freedom of the individual and the natural curiosity inherent in him which leads him to observe and discover and then learn.
Based on these ideas and as a reaction to the failure of the school system dominated by the state, new experiences have appeared especially during the years 1980 and 1990 and are increasing at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Alternatives to school was ( ^ )
During the rule of the state school and even within the public school sector, some projects have taken place that place position contrary to the dictates from the center.
While the state school was / is
- focused on the teacher
- based subsidiary
and academic lessons - compulsory and regimented
the progressive education was / is
- learner-centered (Maria Montessori)
- focused on ' through learning activities (John Dewey)
- free from and dall'irregimentazione (AS Neill's Summerhill and experience).
But these experiences have been, or islands in a sea of \u200b\u200bconformism and acquiescence with the directives of state or a splash of novelty in a bureaucratic approach formulated in general terms.
The inadequacy of the public school system have thus remained and were exacerbated by a dynamic social and technological innovation that is making the school appear more insignificant and far from the real needs of those who want to learn.
Currently, many feel the need to move from a small number of test cases in a growing variety of experiences. And this is what is happening in some parts of the world.
There are three ideas that at the same time, begin to be accepted by an increasing number of individuals and push the implementation of alternatives to the present situation:
- the end of the school's identification with the state school . The decline of state schools in terms of teaching, made even more visible and acute episodes of violence and bad behavior, has stimulated some individuals and groups to intervene entering or expanding their presence in education. In the United States end the criminalization of the state made to learning at home (homeschooling) has allowed the flourishing of many experiences in which parents have assumed direct responsibility for the education of their children. The number of students learning at home in the United States rose from 350,000 in 1990 to 1 million and 300 thousand in 1998.
Another area of \u200b\u200bgrowth in non-state schools is represented by schools sponsored by religious institutions that seek to convey a strong moral teaching. This type of schools are chosen by those who attach special importance to education and ethics to the transmission of certain basic values. We therefore Protestant schools, Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, Quaker, Mennonite and Amish, to name the best known. (1997, Ronald E. Koetzsch, The Parent's Guide to Alternatives in Education)
addition to the footprint of religious schools in many countries there have always been non-state schools (In England called "public schools" and elsewhere "private schools") promoted by individuals and groups and funded through fees paid by parents and voluntary contributions. At this stage, the financial crisis in the country that is unable to cover with its presence all social sectors, means that these initiatives are even more necessary. To cite just one case in Poland after the fall of communism was to have opened nearly 300 new private universities, attended by half the current population of university students.
All these are just examples among others that show that the mental association that operates by agreement between the state and school as a necessary and indispensable elements is becoming increasingly less valid.
- the end of the identification of learning with schooling . In addition to new schools, there are also educational experiences designed to measure the individual and the individual learning tools that can be used for a process of self-teaching. Hypertext in the computer courses introduce the students to a growing number of topics of interest for understanding and allow you to make personalized study paths, choosing the time and the pace of learning. In general, the high circulation of information and the significant amount of resources and educational opportunities available beyond the school, make the environment itself in its entirety a place of learning and schools become just one of many centers (and even the most important) that deal with knowledge.
- the end of the identification of learning with a specific period of life (school years) or a specific place (the school building). Learning is, and always has been, a process that lasts a lifetime. This is especially true now given the pace of technological and social change. The idea that the cognitive process is limited to the school year within the school building and the absorption of a curriculum imposed from the center and updated after many years, puts individuals into a situation of disadvantage. They become unable to cope with new situations, as human beings obsolete notions whose absorption has been imposed on them.
To remedy this situation, courses (short, long, remote, introductory, advanced, specialized, etc.). On almost every topic of interest, held by experts, are or should be available and affordable for all in any time during the life offered by a variety of new and old leaders (think tanks, local associations, manufacturing and distribution businesses, professionals and specialists, etc.).. This reality is, in most cases, very different from the formal school and is addressed to meet the specific needs and current the student, and this is what, in the first and last instance, is the motivation to develop a real educational process.
All these experiences lead to a new paradigm of learning beyond the school and especially beyond the state school. On this new educational paradigm is necessary to dwell a bit 'deeper.
from schooling to learning ( ^ )
Overcoming conceptual identifications of the three previously highlighted a necessary condition to free the mind from a series of false ideas which were forwarded for generations.
The more of these wrong ideas, relayed by the state and certainly not by scholars of education is that learning is inevitable that a penalty should be imposed as an obligation, as it is, in fact, natural and pleasant experience.
What is really a punishment is being confined in a classroom, for many hours a day, many days of the year, and for many years during what is the most active period of life of a human being, listen and absorb second-hand experiences and knowledge to be memorized and repeated parrot in order to pass an exam that allows you to begin to ascend the social ladder. Since many parents are gone forced through this path, they have been prepared (ie, manipulated) to accept that their children do the same painful and tedious journey because there is (or hopefully there is) a bonus at the end of suffering: economic security and material rewards.
In fact, this reality is nothing but the revival of the old conception of the Church that had life on earth as punishment rewarded with eternal happiness after death. Under statism school years are a long preparation for a life of tension and tedium in order to achieve material wealth described as the real source of happiness.
Clearly this has nothing to do with learning. Certainly some of the concepts are useful to reach the minds of young people during a long period of forced confinement in school so poor but these results are certainly not sufficient to justify either the methods used or the amount of allocated resources.
Learning is something completely different from school today because his features are antithetical to it. In fact, a learning process is characterized by being:
- free unforced
- pleasant not painful
- creative non-repetitive
- motivated by the interests of the individual is not a direct outside
- spontaneous
not regimented - not mass-customized
- that lasts a lifetime is not limited in time
- common in space is not restricted in one place.
For these reasons, instead of devoting more energy and resources to the old school system, we should support projects and activities that promote:
- self-learning (learning as a personal exploration)
- learning environments (learning as social experience).
learning self ( ^ )
The central aspect of learning is that it is an exploration staff that leads to personal development. For this reason, learning is essentially self and the person characterized by the following dynamics:
- personal reasons. Learning is initiated by the individual who finds in it a way to satisfy some natural inclinations. Curiosity and a desire for discovery activities represent basic traits of all human beings.
- Personal Commitment. Curiosity and the desire to bring discoveries necessarily the individual to engage in active personally rich of satisfactions and meanings that become learning experiences. Living and Learning represent a unique situation.
- personal development. What emerges from the motivation and commitment is, in all probability, the development of new personal qualities (attitudes, skills, views, etc...) This fact stimulates and motivates the individual to engage in additional learning experiences, in an infinite process in which the person can always find more satisfaction and fulfillment as it proceeds in its exploration of the world.
This dynamic learning is spontaneous and self-generating and takes place within a framework characterized by:
- primary quality: the individual becomes capable of learning to learn;
- place / time: there are no physical boundaries or limits temporal learning;
- arguments: there is no fragmentation or separation of fields of learning.
Since the learning process focused on the individual and his needs, particular attention should be given freedom on the following aspects:
- Themes learning. The term learning issues, reference is made to the content of the individual selected on the basis of their interests and needs. Different individuals will approach different issues that intersect and reinforce one another, all being characterized by the fact that significant, relevant and life of the individual.
- types of learning. The term types of learning experiences we refer to the individual selected to get in touch with the themes of learning. Different themes require different learning experiences that focus on different qualities (eg. Visual, motor, logic, etc..) Through different routes of learning.
- learning styles. The term learning style refers to the learner and the way it deals with the learning experience. Individuals differ (motivation, interests, knowledge, etc..) Which are reflected in differences in their learning styles of individuals (eg, greater emphasis on an approach intuitivo rispetto ad un approccio analitico o viceversa).
Nel complesso, al fine di soddisfare tutti questi aspetti e tutte queste esigenze, un processo educativo deovrebbe basarsi su:
- Individualizzazione : l'apprendimento è in stretta relazione con i bisogni, gli interessi e le motivazioni della persona;
- Personalizzazione : colui che apprende seleziona il percorso esporativo, l'ambiente e il ritmo che più gli si adattano;
- Integrazione : i materiali oggetto di esplorazione non solo si legano l'uno all'altro ma anche si integrano con la precedente base conoscitiva dell'individuo e la allargano/approfondiscono.
Un curriculum di studi, nel caso in cui esso esista come sequenza di apprendimento, è dettato/modellato dai temi, tipi e stili di apprendimento che sono strettamente connessi alla personalità dell'individuo; non può essere imposto dall'alto uniformemente da parte di un potere burocratico. Come sottolineato dallo psicologo Carl Rogers "l'apprendimento messo in moto dall'individuo e che coinvolge l'intero suo essere - le emozioni come pure l'intelletto - è quello che produce i risultati più duraturi e più profondi." ["self-initiated learning which involves the whole person of the learner - feelings as well as intellect - is the most lasting and pervasive."] (1969, Carl Rogers, Freedom to Learn).
L'apprendimento, benché sia una esperienza e uno personal development takes place through a continuous series and a dense network of interactions, and these require the existence of learning environments.
learning environments ( ^ )
learning environments are made up of community (individuals interconnected), space (resource centers) and activities (significant experience) through which every human being can satisfy the innate desire to learn. Within each learning environments, on different occasions, give and receive according to the specific knowledge that the person has mastered. The more
higher the quality and the wider the variety of educational environments, the more learning opportunities. Be a part (as a promoter and user) of a network of learning environments providing the conditions for a valid cognitive exponential multiplication of the knowledge base of everyone involved.
personal and interpersonal learning becomes what it was and what should have been more, namely a commitment and a stake in
- Troubleshooting (Research)
- Design Solutions (Design)
- Implementation of decisions (Planning)
about the total experience of life, in which each stage is contained in altre.
Il nuovo paradigma educativo (nuovo rispetto alle attuali pratiche convenzionali della maggior parte delle scuole statali) tende a far sì che ogni essere umano possa diventare un risolutore di problemi e un attuatore di soluzioni invece di essere una sorta di registratore che ripete il passato nel presente e in un futuro immutabile.
All'inizio del XXI secolo la maggior parte delle scuole (statali o certificate dallo stato) producono ancora un numero considerevole di individui insoddisfatti, cloni sociali di un mondo in decadimento, docili macchine pronte per la scalata sociale o gente rabbiosa e aggressive, disgustata da quella che è stata loro presentata come istruzione: irregimentazione, omogeneizzazione, subordinazione, in una parola, pura e semplice alienazione.
Gli individui e le comunità devono ripendere nelle loro mani il processo di apprendimento, abolendo il ruolo monopolistico dello stato sostenuto da una tassazione coatta, da una frequenza scolastica obbligatoria e da tutto un armamentario di gradi e diplomi come esche micidiali che aprono la via verso il denaro ed il potere.
La separazione tra stato ed educazione è necessaria adesso come era necessaria ai suoi tempi la separazione tra stato e religione. Quest'ultima ebbe l'effetto di porre fine alle guerre di religione e introdusse la tolleranza nelle questioni religiose; l'altra, e cioè la separazione tra stato ed educazione, potrebbe mettere la parola fine alle guerre nazionali/tribali e di certo farebbe cessare le lotte politiche, introducendo non solo la tolleranza ma anche la saggezza.
Noi dovremmo sostituire le scuole di stato con un insieme scintillante di esperimenti e di esperienze. Non vi sono limiti all'apprendimento e non vi dovrebbero essere limiti a ciò che può essere fatto nel campo dell'apprendimento.
La scuola di stato, vale a dire la manipolazione statale delle masse, non ha futuro come la società di massa di cui la scuola rappresenta il prodotto peggiore. Focalizziamo la nostra attenzione, di nuovo e per davvero, sull'apprendimento iniziato e gestito dalla persona.
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