Addressing Culture in Education

We may have overlooked the role culture plays as an agent of change. We often look at what is logical but what is logical may not  work. Culture is so complex in its various manifestations in social roles, interactions, relationships, values and aspirations.

But all these are crucial in education. For education to effect change and development in a person or in a culture, it needs to address these components of a person's life or that of society. Most often, education no longer speaks to the ones being educated. And we all complain that kids no longer listen or that education systems are no longer effective.

Cultural practices many times educate more effectively the young as they are integrated into a national identity, an appreciation of their own heritage.

I have to say, there are things I am learning now that I wish I had learned earlier in school. Things that not only adults can learn. In fact, children can learn very well during their school age although in developing countries, we usually substitute memorizing for learning.

I still remember studying William Wordsworth's poem, "And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils." Our teacher was really good but just never thought about what a daffodil meant to South-east Asian students! In our girls school we thought they might be poncy little boys in pink shorts making the usual rude smells! The teacher kept asking us how the author felt. We just invented the answer based on our images and assumed the daffodils were as messy and smelly as most little boys and old William was a bit of an odd lad but we were clueless as to the depth of his experience. I only got a sense of the Wordsworthian joy when I moved to North America and was over powered by the daffodils in Ottawa's magic spring gardens.

Try to understand anything about King Lear when still a 12 year old!

Still, some would say, "but you were not learning about daffodils but about great poetry". But I would have appreciated the greatness of the poem if it was part of my experience. This example is very simple. But other cases are disastrous. The parachuted systems were and in some cases still are meaningless and many students would rather not have school. This does not mean they don't like to learn. They are learning many things: how to play a video game, how to upload movies to Youtube, how to edit their pictures and how to apply a computer, how to fix their bicycle and moto and so much more.

Designers and advisors to designers of education systems, as well as teachers in systems where teachers have any influence must be very sensitive to the changing ocean in which the students are swimming. Technical educators would not be teaching the car engines of 1950. Yet, many academic classrooms are halls of history, of what used to be or of what never was except in Latin scholars tired old minds. Academic research on culture and social antropology should not be ignored as design inputs. To education specialists, do your homework on culture BEFORE you develop your grand design.