The mid-year holiday his finally concluded and a week of re-adjustment just flew by with a flurry of activities. I was tasked to perform a professional sharing during my departmental meeting. With the mind to let more people come into contact with the thoughts of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, I drew from his research on education and shared a small section on the history of education as well as the evolution of teachers to meet the times. The following summarized the 3 ages of education and schooling identified as well as the 4 stages of evolution of the roles of educators:
History of Schooling
- The Age of Specialized Education directed toward providing individuals with skills appropriate to their social class. Members of the aristocracy were taught the morality and literary skills expected of their status, warriors were trained in chivalry and martial arts, and merchants in business and bookkeeping skills.
- The Age of General Education common to all classes as necessary to round out individual life. In this stage education is seen primary as a means to one’s own gain; individual existence is the central concern, and the importance and needs of social life are largely unrecognized.
- The Age of Total Education in conscious acknowledgement of individuals as constituents in the overall body and life of the society. The true realization of complete social well-being is seen as the greatest good. Members of a society, educated in this condition no longer perceive education as the means to their own individual ends but offer their contributive learning efforts to meet the needs of society.
Evolution of Teachers
- The Stage of Direct Transmission of knowledge. In oral cultures, the three qualifications of the perfect teacher are extensive knowledge of what is to be taught, ability to transmit that knowledge, and exemplary personal character as a model for children.
- The Stage of Experiment where trial-and-error improvements towards transmitting knowledge in more readily absorbable form were made. At first, the choice and arrangement of lessons is left up to the teacher. Then, the boom in student population and the growth of printing industries leads to the use of backup texts, although many skills must still be acquired through trial and error. Much practical experience is lost because information is passed on only in the form of raw notes.
- The Stage of Specialization. Further increases in student numbers resulted in higher demands for teachers. The government joins the search for more efficient means of teaching. Isolating one qualification of the teacher – the knowledge of lessons to be taught – from the total person of the teacher brings greater focus upon experience and command of teaching methods. In this division of labor, scholars devote their time to the compilation of texts, away from the actual task of teaching. Teachers need not be expert in the subjects to be covered to be effective as long as the text is authoritative and they are practiced in getting the message across.
- The Stage of Guided Studies. Natural and social phenomena of the immediate living environment are studied through direct observation, with text only as related reference material. The advancement of the Internet and public libraries are also key factors in this stage of evolution.
With the perspective from the above, we can understand that many of the frustrations and challenges facing educators today are due to the fact that we are in the transition state from the 3rd stage to the 4th. But the change is inevitable and teachers are trying their best to cope. I pray sincerely that I would be about to adapt according and play a part in propelling education in Singapore towards such a development. I further highlight the distinction in the roles of teachers in the 2 stages concerned
- Organizer of information (3rd Stage)
Educational Institutions are designed based on the concept that Education is to prepare children for adult lives. But the idea that satisfaction from learning is postponed till a successful career is attained caused much frustration to students. It focused on self-mastery and competition which feeds a materialistic society where wealth and status is the measure of success. - Arousers of Interest and Curiosity (4th Stage)
To recognize that learning on its own is a source of Happiness. Happiness from Education is not the shallow, ego-centered hedonism but the development within each person of a social consciousness that enables understanding and appreciation of the extent to which all humans are indebted to the society in which they live.
