EDUCATION AS STATESMANSHIP The historical record shows that education is always a function of time, place, and circumstance . In its basic philosophy, its social objective, and its program of instruction, it inevitably reflects in varying proportion the experiences, the condition, and the hopes, fears, and aspirations of a particular people or cultural group at a particular point in history . In actuality it is never organized and conducted with sole reference to absolute and universal terms. While the biological inheritance of the race presumably remains practically unchanged from age to age and thus gives a certain stability to the learning process, education as a whole is always relative, at least in fundamental parts, to some concrete and evolving social situation . It possesses no inner logic or empirical structure of its own that dictates either its method or its content. In both its theoretical and practical aspects it expresses the ideals of some given society at some given period in time, either consciously with clear design or half-consciously with hidden and confused purpose . There can be no all-embracing educational philosophy, policy, or program suited to all cultures and all ages . Hence the problem of education assumes one form in ancient Athens in the time of Pericles, another in China during the Tang dynasty, another in Medixval Saxony, another in modern Japan, still another in Russia under the Communists, and yet another in twentieth-century America. It is clear therefore that any group, charged with the task of shaping educational theory or practice for any people, should begin with an examination of the society to be served-its natural surroundings, its major trends and tensions, its controlling ideals, values, and interests. And when that group is composed of social scientists, such a procedure is peculiarly imperative, since the contribution of the social sciences to education is by no means confined to providing valuable materials of instruction . A far more fundamental contribution is the discharge of the responsibility here suggested . Along with the psychological disciplines they provide the primary data out of which educational philosophies, policies, and programs should be fashioned .
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 22:28:08 +0000
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