Is 'problem posing' education another paper tiger? It seems during 1970s and 1980s, this model was truly liberative. But with the disappearace of socialist dream, has the problem posing education lost its charm? http://www.marxists.org/subject/education/index.htm
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It’s true that Problem posing was truly liberative in 1970s and 1980s. And the part of society that was involved into this is already liberated to certain extent that is the erstwhile Middleclass. Now the focus should be shifted to another section of the society which is still suffering. And it is there it would still be really contextual.
The socialist approach to education was "constructivist" and emphasized learning by activity and collaboration. But today things have changed.The attitude towards learning has changed considerably and we have resorted to the "banking model of education" which signifies lack of "critical thinking" among students and ultimately leads to a state of "oppression." which is highly detrimental for the society in the long run.
There is Certainly a loss of charm with regard to the problem posing education due to the lack of believe in socialism in the 1970s and 1980s . The dream to make world 'a better place' made education focused to new ideas and supported liberty of individuals. Construction of various institutions also happened along the same period but today monetaralisation of education has killed the instinct of questioning the obvious and made individuals focus on their individual benefits.
Problem posing education is formulated through the dialogue between teacher and student. This model of education is similar to the Marxist approach to education i.e.; constructivist which emphasis on activity, collaboration and critique. It takes time for an idea to get penetrate into an existing system. Especially when the persisting one's base is so strong. There should be proper follow up for a new idea. It seems that the problem posing education lacked this follow up.
In my opinion problem posing pedagogy in itself has a distinctive feature of embedding critical thinking into our minds and that can never be taken away. However, capitalistic belief in private ownership, profit and efficiency which regained strength after the decline of socialism restricted education to become a tool for developing work force which could obey but not question. The few knowledge owners, “critical thinkers”, kept on reaping the benefits while banking form of education manufactured many myopic-visionaries and blind-followers. The huge divide between rich and poor, despite the middle class growth, is mind boggling.
Marx emphasised that “Education under socialist conditions would produce men and women, not machines”. ‘Problem posing’ education is an alternative solution to the present education banking model. It is not yet another paper tiger. Friere’s philosophy on education which centres on critical consciousness is being followed by some development organizations not only in Brazil but also in India. With the disappearance of socialist dream, ‘problem posing’ education has suffered a set-back but it is still one of the best means to achieve a desired change in the society.
During earlier time, socialist society was the main driving force for problem posing education which gave rise to advent of "critical consciousness" among the people. With time, the ideology has changed. Education has become a tool of imposing knowledge on to other where deposition of knowledge takes place rather than having it in a sharing or representative mode in which both the parties are not involved in dialogue. It has lost its essence of liberation with time.
Problem posing pedagogy involved a critical dialog between teacher and student in which both of them contributed for the critical thinking.Both of them learned more and were open to idea.After the decline of socialism now pedagogy has resorted to only delivery of knowledge,and the program content isn't written considering those in mind for whom it is directed.
The form of education has changed wit the changing times.Which was once focussed on developing critical thinking and increasing the knowledge base constructively has now become limited to just feeding the knowlegde into empty wells. The Marx approach of education has lost its relevance in the present times with the loss of the socialist dream.
"problem posing" education is always liberative and it is always needed till inequality persists. The capitalist forces are able to shine for some period but they will not continue as they are creating newer threats and need of problem posing education with changed context will be needed desperately.
The socialist approach to education was one of collaboration and critique where both the teachers and students participated equally. This helped during the 70s and 80s but with the disappearance of the socialist dream, the problem posing education has been confined to passive knowledge absorption and has become more of teacher centred. Unless and until the education becomes more of student centred or both are active recipients in the process, the problem posing would become just another paper tiger and would be of no use in the development process of the individuals and the society at large.
Problem posing education recognized the fact that knowledge is transmitted between a student and teacher theorugh dialogue between the two. I think it has lost its charm . There are places where it is followed and other places banking education has been imposed.But, if we take society as a whole,lack of critical thinking is generally seen, and that has led to reinforcement of oppression.
We are in an age and time where systems are standardized and so are people. Goals and targets are set which we are expected to achieve. We are not taught to question these goals. We are expected to be solution providers rather than problem seekers. But has problem posing lost its relevance?
Problem posing approach has more relevance now than before. In this dynamic environment, skills like problem identification and resolution through dialogue has become critical.
Certainly this seems to be the case in contemporary world where a lot of emphasis is given to grades and marks. Grades and marks scored determines the parents behaviour, college of admission and ultimately the the job that a person gets. The major reson for this shift can be the huge competition prevaling and the high expectations that a person has to go through.
Marx always believed in true learning rather than just assimilating various subjects for a better degree or to equal somebody or as to be acceptable to all. The education system now a day may yield you more financial benefits but on the broader picture, it is powerless and ineffective. i.e. He paid more attention towards knowledge and learning.
Probelm posing approach might make you efficient(doing things rightly) but only at the cost of effectiveness(doing the right thing).This slight change in paradigm can turn the entire problem on its head offer us newer insights.Every paradigm has an expiry date ('problem posing' education in this case).Furthur this change in approach would give chance to those people who were referred as "dumbhead" under old system to analyze their cpabilities with repect to newer parameters of measurement .
Problem posing education asks for a lot of patience from both the teacher and the student. Education system today assumes that all the answers are with the teachers, with student being an empty slate. The primary reason why problem posing education has lost its charm is because of the convenience of the banking education and the emergence of standards and rigid parameters in every walk of life. It is far easier for a teacher to complete a prescribed number of chapters, students to get a certain grade than interacting with each other so that the learning goes both ways.
Problem posing education is relevant even today and I think it is needed more in today's world when education has become a monologue where teacher gives a discourse without the student using his thinking to critically analyze and question what is he being taught and merely recording the teacher’s views like a robot being programmed. Socialist ideals might have disappeared but in today’s capitalist world, to develop the ability to see through the capitalist’s actions and to identify the pros and cons, to discover the social costs and exploitations vs the social benefits, one needs problem posing education…
The absence of 'problem posing' or student-centric education has indeed lost its charm for both teachers and students. For teachers, it is a matter of bolstering their ego by assuming greater power in student-teacher relation. They are able to exert their viewpoints more effectively in a teacher centric approach. For students, the purpose of education is more monetary than learning. Everyone is competing for better positions and almost everywhere their competence is evaluated by what has been taught to them, not about what they have learnt.Thus the drive for critical thinking has diluted.
With the disappearance of the socialist dream and the coming of the market forces having a dominating influence, money is perceived to be the final goal of any pursuit and the only way to measure success. Education as a result is seen only as a means to get a high paying job but not an end in itself which is when it could have been liberating. In this scenario, only a banking model of education fits in, with readymade solutions for custom-designed problems, where dialogue is seen as a waste of time.
Education is the constructive part of the society. Marx also says that the education is the constructive activity. It helps in cooperation and collectiveness. The socialism was for all the members of the society. It helps in solving the entire problem the collectively faced by the people. The education and society talked by Paul is present in different parts of the country. The problem posing education also does not fulfil the basic aspects of society.
Today's education system is lacking in critical thinking process...more so it emphasises what is called 'banking model'. We talk of learning of Marx and other socialists but we forget to analyze or reflect on it. The realm of socialism is shadowed by capitalism and it widens further as the divide between middle class and poor widens. Earlier middleclass and poor had more or lesss similar condition and they together fought capitalist forces...but growing disparity has made it textbook issue and not 'liberative' in spirit.
Breaking away from traditions has never been easy especially in a society which abhors changes. education is the most effective way to systematically create disturbances in the not so satisfying status Quo. India stopped thinking critically as the nationalistic fervor died after independence.We moved towards capitalism and started creating professionals who do not question just mugged up and wrote the exams.we wanted technicians not innovators. So, here we are with more and more colleges opening up every year but not many of them worth paying for, with decreasing enrollments, with uninterested students moving ahead aimlessly.
When we look at the problem posing technique of education, a communist approach,it had certainly the advantage that it forced the students to think and develop their own mindset based on their own learning rather than what has been imposed on them as per the capitalist approach which just has produced an army of robots who follow the given instructions without seeing the implications and benefit the so called critical analysts who have devised even the education for the shallow profit making business.
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