In the midst of national elections entire life seems muffled under the noise of politics. The overall environment is heated with emotional slogans. It literally feels as if we are inhaling, smelling and chugging politics these days.
Being an educationist I felt compelled to explore the perceptions and beliefs of general people about the relationship between education and politics. I asked few colleagues and college students about their views about possible connection between education and politics, surprisingly the first reaction to this question was a straight forward no. It was difficult for them to digest that there could possibly be any relation between education and politics. When I tried to dig down deep it surfaced that mostly their responses were based on the negative connotation being associated with politics.
This led me to explore further into the meaning of politics. It is worth noting that we frequently use the term Politics, yet its mental representation or understanding is as different as there are experiences. People having different experiences interpret politics differently. For example an emotional political worker, a peasant and a government servant might have different generalizations relating politics. These generalizations also reflect in their thought process, emotions and behaviors.
Literary speaking politics is defined as use of power by a person or group of people to influence others. Politics is characterized by control, power and authority. Maybe this is the reason that politics is usually conceptualized as something negative or demonizing. It is considered a symbol of power, authority, unjust resource distribution and social segregation.
Education on the other hand is a constructive process of bringing up future generations. Different schools of thought associate explicit objectives with the process of education such as discovering the innate talents, inculcating critical thinking skills, developing empathy, nurturing scientific outlook or imparting useful knowledge and skills. Despite the various and varied views about the goals and objectives of education, there is a general consensus that it is a constructive and positive process. It plays a crucial role in the development of individual as well as of society at large.
If politics is something that initiates conflicts and education is a process of positive development, then it becomes quite difficult to conceptualize a positive relationship between the both. On the contrary to this assumption the educational research suggests that education and politics are closely interconnected, in fact both enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Christina Boswell, professor of politics at Edinburgh University is of the view that politics is not just about resource allocation or power, it is also about affiliation and recognition. This explanation brings another perspective on the table highlighting the importance of affiliating and emotional engagement with a group. In prevailing situation it is not difficult to imagine the power and influence of group affiliations on one’s behavior.
Education is said to be a social process because educational experts have always emphasized the importance of personality development and character building through education. Langeveld considered every social interaction between teacher and child as education, while Dewey thought that education does not has any final destination rather it happens as we grow. It means that every social event, even the political activities and socio political situation of country have an impact on our personality and character.
Literary speaking politics is defined as use of power by a person or group of people to influence others.
Education has socio-political basis because a society develops this institute to transmit its culture, knowledge and skills to the next generation. Every society has a politically defined roles associated with good citizens, and education sector is a vehicle that fulfils this requirement by
Education policies are often considered political agenda of the ruling party, as it is the most important means of developing desired set of beliefs and skills in the country. Political powers not only influence the goals and objectives of education, they also set direction for the type of content, teaching activities, materials, environment, and assessment mechanisms to be used. Govt. promoting certain type of education e.g. technical, science, arts etc. also effects the way education develops in a country.
Every initiative requires financial resources. Budget allocation and provision of funds is also in the hands of the state, therefore they control the way education is shaped in the country. We can see clear depiction of this political agenda being imposed through education in communist and socialist countries. Even in our country the type of books, medium of instruction, historical facts to be presented, type of diversity to be included, nomenclature, and courses all are determined by the political powers.
Zooming in to the educational institutions it becomes evident that the individuals involved in teaching learning process have their own political ideals and associations. The question arises what role an academic institution has to play in political awareness and maturity of the student. David Easton, professor of political science in Chicago University says that even from the times of Aristotle and Plato educationists have been concerned about the political role of education. The focus although has been quite different from that of the politicians.
Education plays and should play an important role in political awareness of the students in multiple ways. It should develop critical and analytical thinking skills in them so they can evaluate different views based on credibility, significance and factual knowledge. Character building is one of the main objectives of education in Pakistan, so the virtues like honesty, truthfulness, impartiality and empathy should be inculcated into the students through education process. Education should enable them to tolerate and accept different views.
According to a recent research published by European center for research, the increase in cognitive abilities enables the individual to process complex political information. This ability has direct impact on the decision making and raising voice against impediments to civic participation. In common language more educated and empowered individuals are able to process information critically and make better political judgments.
The most important role of educational institutions in prevailing situation is to ingrain critical outlook in the students and expose them to unbiased information. We can hope that through education they will not stay mere followers rather they will be able to make intelligent and informed decisions about their vote. They will make better choices for the bright future of their country.
The writer is a freelance columnist.