Modernity: has helped the education ?

This essay pretends to analyze modernity through a holistic perspective in order to understand what influences of modernity are presented in Education, but first we have to make a simple question: what is “Modernity?”

Modernity is essentially or exclusively a European phenomenon (Dussel, 1993). Modernity appears as consequence of the Renaissance and also emerges due to the new way to understand the world and how to control it. For that reason modernity is a Historic process which has economical, political, social, artistic and educational repercussions. In other words, it has inevitable corollaries in all the aspects of the western world.

Modernity brought promises, such as infinite progress in science and the rational thinking, democracy, freedom; all those promises reflected the future. In that way, the reason increases its power in the modern world. And the human beings realized that they have the power over the world.

Furthermore, when Europe affirms itself as the center of a world History that it inaugurates; the periphery that surrounds this center is consequently part of it self- definition. (Dussel, 1993).That kind of thought is related with education because when a teacher states that he is the center of knowledge, he is looking his students as the periphery. Definitely this way of teaching is the traditional teacher- centered language classroom where the teacher establishes goals for the learners, initiates, organizes and conducts practice and monitors progress and evaluates achievement (Bassano, 1995 ). Teachers tend to think that they have all the responsibility inside the classroom, from motivate students to decorate the classroom. After all they are trying to manifest their power as center to the periphery.

It is important to mention that Modernity imposed dominant cultures, which are American and European cultures. In some cases we are forced to learn their culture, their language and their traditions. English is more important than our mother tongue, or than Mapuches’ language. We are learning English as the only language that can validate our social condition. And we also are forgetting our culture because society tends to think that American’s culture it is better than ours.

English is a tool which teachers can teach our Latin American culture, and being be more specific, our Chilean culture. For example, if in some books appear American or British traditions, the teacher have to explain those traditions and then they have to ask to their students about their own traditions. Teachers can not ignore the cultural diversity and they have to be aware of the different cultures that their students have.

Sometimes some English teachers do not give the importance to our culture. They tend to think as they are teaching English they have to impose that culture. It is good that teachers teach a foreign culture but they have to take into consideration their student’s culture.

Nowadays school is seen with mercantile purposes. In other words, it is seen as a company. That happens because economical capitalism has been dominating and controlling all the aspect of the Western world.

If we have that kind of conception of school, it is not working well because the main goal of the school is money and it is not education, in that way it is very individualistic, there is not a collaborative work and teachers do not assume their mistakes and the government blames private companies and private companies blame the government for the bad education. In order to change those kinds of thoughts, we have to see the school as community that learns (Prieto, 2001), where teachers do not have all the responsibility in the education, in fact their share their responsibility with the students, they construct their knowledge because they are aware of their learning process and the family supports the students in those process. Society has to be aware that education is not a company where the money moves all the aspects of education

Schools look to their students like money, the more students they have, the more money they will earn. In that way education is always seen as business because our society supports that kind of mercantile education. If you have money to pay to go to a good school you could have a good education. On the other hand, if you do not have enough money. Probably you could have an inefficient education.

In conclusion modernity affects in a negative way education because the modern thought give us the idea of teacher- center class which teachers try to validate their authority in their students, they do not give them the chance to express their ideas, feelings and beliefs. Learners do not have voice inside the classroom and they also are passive students because they do not construct their knowledge because they are not aware of their learning process. Besides, teachers force students to learn foreign cultures, they do not give the importance to their native culture and they do not consider their student’s culture. Capitalism imposed to the society the mercantile education where education is a business that its main goal is money.

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References:

1. Bassano, Sharon y Christion, (1995) Community Spirit, California, USA, Alta Book Publishers.

2. Dussel, Enrique (1993) the Postmodernism debate in Latin America, Boundary 2, Vol.20, No.3, Duke university Press.

3. Prieto, Marcia (2001) Mejorando la calidad de la educación. Ediciones Universitarias de Valparaíso de la Universidad Católica de Valparaíso.