Introduction
The philosopher John Dewey once commented, “I believe that education is a process of living and not a preparation for future living” (78). In the same article, he wrote extensively on the role of education in a healthy society and claimed that education should not only teach students about social change but also spark social change. When Dewey discussed this issue in the early twentieth century, people had heated debates about whether teachers should prepare students to conform or fight for societal progress.
Such debates continue today. In the twenty-first century, a range of societal and cultural developments, including globalization, increasing social inequality, and in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have urged people to reconsider the relationship between social change and education. Agreeing with Dewey, one of the clearest voices on the importance of classrooms, I argue that the theory and practice of education should address human complexity and serve as an essential locus of social change in the interrelated individual, cultural, and social contexts.
This essay will explain two major problems in our current practices of education and illustrate my argument from two aspects. First, human complexity should be fully addressed but our current educational practices don’t allow enough freedom to engage with it. Second, the mission of education is to enhance the ability to respond adaptively and creatively to challenges and contribute to shaping future lives, both individual and collective. I will also draw from my past experiences and give some suggestions of what we could do to improve the current educational situation. Through my exploration, I hope to apply Dewey’s belief of education as living to current educational problems and open a way out of our classrooms to worlds beyond ourselves. I suggest that it is essential to help students initiate and sustain meaningful connections between the classroom and the outside world, which would help them achieve integration and freedom.
Human Complexity and Individual Freedom
In the 2022 Sino-Japanese Youth Conference (SJYC), I participated in the discussion of the history textbooks of Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. I learned that the Sino-Japanese War was portrayed differently in these textbooks. While the mainland China and Hong Kong emphasize the “anti-Japanese” nature of the war and the resistance nature of Chinese people's active defense, Taiwan’s version sounds more “objective,” portraying the war as “a conflict with China in the context of fascist ideology and the interests of Japan.” Moreover, the Sino-Japanese War is passed over in many Japanese textbooks. Though history is always written and taught from some point of view, I began to question how our school selectively reduces historical complexity to fulfill a certain agenda.
Humans are complex, and the complexities in human society should be addressed from an educational standpoint. Yet, one of the major problems our pedagogical practices have is now allowing the students enough opportunities to discover the nuances and variances of various issues and free interpretations of them.
Within the confines of rigid pedagogy, instruction is restricted to ensuring that students achieve a thorough understanding of “the knowledge” in question, while neglecting the vital process involved. If, however, students were granted the freedom to think critically, and to unleash their creative faculties when exploring “a series of knowledge,” the folly of exclusive concentration on the present, as posited by Edward F. Waldron, would be exposed. Educators should never lose sight of “the general direction of the highway while handling each immediate situation” (Waldron 445). Only in this way could students develop their learning capacity with freedom.
Traditional education can result in limited information and perspective, while perpetuating a specific and singular educational methodology over a prolonged period can stifle dissent and even lead to a degree of indoctrination. In educational environments that neglect the cultivation of critical thinking and multidimensional analysis, individuals may be subject to objectification and reduced to mere cogs in the machinery of societal norms, ultimately resulting in a pressing humanitarian crisis. This concept is reminiscent of the insights gleaned by Marjane Satrapi in her creation of Persepolis, wherein she declares: “The state taught us to use weapons, to understand the supreme religious mission, and then put us on the battlefield; the Islamic method of education, which aims to raise patriotic militants, is absurdly proven because they create nothing but countless deaths of foolhardy and blind soldiers, leaving only accusations from humanitarianism” (Letcher 96).
In the 2020 Soyin's Boyer Summer Camp, where I got my first true exposure to liberal arts education, other members and I examined China’s internet censorship and “hush” policy in a roundtable discussion. We freely discussed topics like “What kind of control can maximize public welfare?”, “How to define fairness and justice on the Internet?” and “How to use Internet-based learning to develop critical thinking?". These questions enlightened me on the constraints imposed by mainland education and urged me to break away from the entrenched belief that “it is better for young people not to make political statements.” I began to consciously broaden my horizons, actively think about current affairs, and cultivate my critical and political thinking. Through this experience, I deepened my understanding of what education should be like and how liberal arts education provides a platform for mutual connections, free speech, and humanistic concern.
Education and Social Change
Viewing education as a process of living also helps achieve a more wholesome and inspiring picture of education in the context of, and as a context for, ongoing change to guide policy and practice. The purpose of education is not to transmit knowledge but rather to prepare students to engage creatively with existing structures and to actively push for progress and improvement where they are necessary.
As John Donn’s famous line says, “No man is an island entirely of itself.” An important way leading to individual growth and development is for people to change their worlds as well as themselves. One’s personal life, academic or otherwise, only means something when put in broader contexts of life. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire vigorously criticized the dominant model of education and proposes problem-posing education where “men and women develop their power to perceive critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which they find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality but as a reality in the process of transformation” (12). Deeply inspired by Freire’s struggling with his cultural identity, I learned about the critical tools to reflect on the relationship between education and all the struggles of the oppressed and disadvantaged.
Education is a powerful tool for promoting social justice and addressing inequality. It can provide opportunities for marginalized individuals to access knowledge and skills that can enable them to break out of cycles of poverty and discrimination. However, education can also reproduce and perpetuate social inequalities, as students from disadvantaged backgrounds are often excluded from higher education due to financial and social barriers (Crosnoe 22). Through my experience of teaching in remote mountainous areas of China, Africa, and areas with migrant children, I have also realized that this phenomenon inevitably leads to regional and quality differences in education, weakening the rights and opportunities of some students to engage in existing structures and promote social change. Therefore, it is essential for educators to be aware of how education can challenge and reinforce existing power structures and actively work toward creating more equitable and inclusive educational environments.
In order to achieve social justice through education, it is important to recognize that the classroom is not a neutral space. Rather, it is shaped by social, cultural, and political forces that influence what is taught and how it is taught (Giroux 62). Therefore, educators must take an intentional approach to their teaching, and strive to create learning environments that are responsive to the needs of all students. This includes integrating diverse perspectives and experiences into the curriculum, providing students with opportunities to engage in critical thinking and social action, and working collaboratively with students to co-construct knowledge (Freire, 2000). By doing so, we can create educational environments that promote social justice and empower students to become agents of change in their communities.
What Could We Do?
Seeing education as an essential process to address human complexity and an important locus of social change, how could we create an environment the embodies such views? I believe that by providing appropriate guidance, we can develop an environment that fosters open and free communication and build classrooms that exemplify Dewey’s ideals for education.
First, it is important to encourage students to speak up and share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns while actively listening to others’ views to create a safe space where everyone feels heard and valued. As a Pen Pal with the Student from Yongzhou City Ku Zhi Yucai School, I asked the children to think about whom they wish to become. Instead of leading them to certain answers that our society deems “proper,” I invited them to freely talk about their ideas. I also showed them the film “The Little Prince,” discussed the protagonist’s journey of maturing, and encouraged them to explore themselves.
Second, to add more speculative discussion to the teaching process and guide students to explore and think for themselves, educators can encourage critical thinking and open-ended inquiry. Rather than providing students with a set of answers, teachers can ask thought-provoking questions that encourage students to consider alternative perspectives and come up with their own conclusions. During my online teaching for 7th grade students from Dandelion organization in Beijing, I initiated an activity of “Writing a Letter to Your Future Self.” Without outright stating the theme, I first introduced the basic format and writing requirements before inviting the children to freely share their personal inclinations in utilizing the medium of letters. The children proposed integrating multimodal elements into their exhibits - such as reciting their letters on video or incorporating them into thematic posters or theatrical productions. This communicative process stimulates their creativity, fostering a process of self-exploration and reflection.
Third, as Dewey mentioned, it is important to set up democracy as a central “frame of reference” in our education systems (78). Thus, we should remember that our classroom and other educational environments are where our students learn and develop their skills to participate in a democracy. It is high time for us to change our classrooms from being authoritarian to democratic. By allowing ideas to clash and welcoming opposing views of an issue, we could lead the students to learn that their ideas count, which can be used to benefit the bigger community.
Conclusion
Etymologically, the meaning of the word “education” is derived from the Latin word “educere,” which means “to lead out” or “to bring up.” Nowadays, education has evolved to encompass more than just acquiring knowledge and skills. Through addressing two major problems in current educational practices— limited freedom to engage with human complexity and the neglect of the social responsibility of educational practices, I hope that this essay has provided some help in the understanding of Dewey’s description of education as a process of living and its relevance for contemporary challenges in our educational systems. Instead of viewing education as a preparation for living, we should see it as an evolving process of discovering and creating forms of living, both individually and collectively. Through our individual and group efforts, I believe that we will break down education walls, look beyond ourselves, and make the classroom a part of human life. By addressing social injustice and empowering our students to become agents of change, we will create a more equitable and inclusive society together.
References:
Crosnoe, R. (2015). “The intersection of social context and education over the life course.”
Research in the Sociology of Education, 18, 1-23. doi: 10.1108/S1479
353920150000018001.
Dewey, John (1897). “My pedagogic creed.” School Journal, vol. 54, pp. 77-80.
Freire, Paulo (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 30th ed. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Giroux, Henry. "On Critical Pedagogy." The Education Digest, vol. 62, no. 5, Jan. 1997, pp. 4-7.
Letcher, Mark. “Off the Shelves: Graphically Speaking: Graphic Novels with Appeal for Teens
and Teachers.” The English Journal, vol. 98, no. 1, 2008, pp. 93–97. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40503218. Accessed 15 Apr. 2023.
Waldron, Edward F. “How Shall We Educate? The Unitary Aim of Education.” The Journal of
Educational Sociology, vol. 4, no. 7, 1931, pp. 443–49. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/2961834. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.