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Un panel y un concierto de rock



Para mi hijo Juan Fernando y para Tercermundo,
con admiración y cariño

En el mismo día asistí en Quito a un panel y a un concierto: un panel sobre reforma curricular en la tarde y un concierto de rock en la noche. En el panel participé como panelista, junto con otros tres de mi especie, un moderador, y unas 200 personas dispuestas a escucharnos. En el concierto participé como espectadora, rodeada de 6 mil adolescentes y jóvenes que, durante tres horas, cantaron y bailaron sin parar.

El panel


Un evento formal, soso. Auditorio cerrado, plataforma para los panelistas arriba, asientos acolchonados para el público, abajo. El usual rosario de exposiciones individuales, coronadas con aplausos. Cada expositor con su vaso de agua y su rollo desenrrollado sin compromiso, incluso sin emoción. Ninguna coordinación previa entre los panelistas, ni siquiera para saber lo que piensa decir cada uno. Moderador-guardián del reloj, serruchando ideas en aras del tiempo. Al final, el consabido ping-pong de preguntas-respuestas en el que unos juegan a preguntar y otros a responder.

Profunda incomunicación entre panelistas y público evidencian varias preguntas de este último. Uno de los panelistas, atento a los bostezos propios y ajenos, advierte que se viola un derecho humano cuando se somete a la gente al asiento por mucho tiempo. Al cabo de tres horas se da por terminado el evento. Siempre me quedará la duda, como me queda en cada evento académico, de si hubo realmente diálogo, comunicación, intercambio, aprendizaje.

El concierto


Un espectáculo vivo, todos los sentidos en acción. El poder inconmensurable de la música. Una plaza de toros convertida en auditorio, graderío de cemento y ruedo de arena rebosante de jóvenes. Tercermundo - cinco jóvenes ecuatorianos auto-organizados como grupo mientras eran compañeros en el colegio - compone sus canciones y ha ensayado, obviamente, el concierto. La magia no está en la suma de individualidades sino en el talento colectivo. No solo tocan y cantan; perseguidos por las luces, se mueven, brincan, suben y bajan, corren de un lado para otro, saludan a las manos que se abren paso en la multitud. El público no solo escucha: interactúa, vibra, grita, baila, corea las canciones, las pide, las canta cuando los artistas le ceden la voz.

Prendas de vestir, pulseras, flores vuelan sobre el escenario. Son parte del diálogo. No hay preguntas ni respuestas: todo el evento es un gran acto de comunicación, una puesta en escena de la mejor pedagogía. Al final, el público no quiere irse y pide más.

Tres horas ha durado el concierto y yo no he dejado de preguntarme por qué no hay música o hay tan poca música en el sistema escolar, no solo como asignatura sino como elemento esencial de la cultura escolar.

Mis colegas panelistas y yo, con nuestros títulos y nuestra sarta de exposiciones en fila india, logramos reunir a no más de 200 personas. Mi hijo de 19 años y sus compañeros de rock, con su concierto lograron convocar y movilizar a seis mil jóvenes. Los jóvenes destinatarios de la reforma educativa de la que hablamos en el panel, los jóvenes cuya motivación y emoción serían indispensables para que la reforma salga de los paneles, los auditorios y los documentos, invada las aulas, los parques, las plazas y todos aquellos lugares donde los jóvenes se dan cita para ser jóvenes.

* Publicado en El Comercio, Quito, 14/05/1991

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Social Education and Popular Education: A View from the South


Spider Art by Claire

Rosa-María Torres
 
Closing conference AIEJI XVII World Congress
“The Social Educator in a Globalised World”
Copenhagen, Denmark, 4–7 May 2009
(edited transcript of original presentation)

Introduction

When I was invited by AIEJI (International Association of Social Educators) to be a keynote speaker of this world conference, I had only vague ideas of Social Education. I thought of it as a foreign, European concept and movement, distant from the realities, thinking and practices in the South (“developing countries”). Accepting this invitation was therefore for me both an honour and a research and learning opportunity.

I learned that this is an evolving European construct, with specificities in each country, with an ongoing internal debate about its nature, dimensions and purposes, and with growing presence in countries in the South. There is no European consensus on the denomination and definition of Social Education and on social professions in general. Socialpædagogen, the biweekly magazine of the Danish National Federation of Social Educators circulated at this congress, highlights diverse Social Education experiences throughout the world "working with children, young people and adults who need special care due to physical or mental disabilities, or social problems." One distinctive feature of Social Education is that it deals with vulnerable groups and with the entire lifespan.

It was not easy to find references to Social Education programmes in Africa and Asia. References were also scarce in Latin America and the Caribbean, beyond the hub created by AIEJI’s world conference held in Montevideo-Uruguay in November 2005. In Latin America, Uruguay is the country that has embraced Social Education in the most visible manner, taking the French model as initial source of inspiration. ADESU - Asociación de Educadores Sociales del Uruguay
is an active national association. Nearly 300 professional Social Educators have been trained over the past few years. Many of them are working in diverse intersections between government and non-government, academic and action-oriented programmes. Last week I was in Uruguay invited by the Ministry of Education and happened to meet some of them. There must be something good in this profession that is able to attract such bright, critical and socially committed young people.


There are activities in Brazil associated to the Popular Education movement. The Department of Education of the University of Sao Paulo, for example, has organized a series of International Encounters on Social Pedagogy, with the idea of institutionalizing it in Brazil as a profession linked to non-formal education, NGOs, and social programmes (See Portal de la Pedagogía Social . See also Associação dos Educadores e Educadoras Sociais do Estado de São Paulo - Aees SP). Through informal conversations with Latin American participants in this congress, other activities have surfaced: a Social Pedagogy programme started by a private university in Argentina; a small group operating in Chile; in Nicaragua, an institution that trained social educators for over two decades is not operating any more but there are ongoing activities linked to institutions in Spain. In general, it becomes apparent that initiatives termed Social Education in Latin America still have little visibility.

Social Education and Social Pedagogy

The term Social has come to be added, in several fields, to mean different or alternative

- The World Social Forum (WSF), organized by progressive forces in the South and in the North, was launched in 2001 and was held for the first time in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Since then, the WSF is run in parallel to the World Economic Forum held in Davos.
- Social Economy is expanding as an international movement with roots and practices in the South. It proposes an alternative economic model to the neoliberal model. Social/Solidarity Economy is a work-centred economy that places people at the centre, is concerned with solving the needs of all and with preserving ecological and social equilibrium, promotes human solidarity, collaboration and networking rather than individual or corporate accumulation of profit or power. (See for example RILESS, Red de Investigadores Latinoamericanos en Economía Social y SolidariaNetwork of Latin American Researchers in Social and Solidarity Economy). In some cases, a Social and Solidarity Pedagogy is associated to such alternative economic initiatives ( See, for example, the Programa Pedagogía Social y Solidaria organised by the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de la Economía Solidaria - DANSOCIAL in Colombia).
- Social movements have emerged in many countries as a new important social and political actor, especially in Latin America.

As for Social Education, the term in Germany and in the Nordic Countries continues to be Social Pedagogy, a tradition of progressive thinking and practice, often associated to, or translated as, "community education." Here is an explanation of the differences between both concepts, found in a leaflet available at a stand of this conference:

’Social Education’ is the official translation of the Danish term ‘Socialpædagogik’. In this module we will use the term ‘Social Pedagogy’ as it indicates the fact that social pedagogical care work embraces much more than what is usually conceived as ‘Social Education’. ‘Social Pedagogy’ provides a unifying concept of work with people in many formal and informal institutional settings.” (Social Education and Pedagogy in Denmark”, VIA University College, Peter Sabroe, Department for Social Education, leaflet).

In other contexts, differences are made between Social Education and Social Pedagogy. Again, there is no consensus on the use of these two terms in Europe.

Social Education and Popular Education

While the term Social Education is not familiar in most countries in the South, its practice is widely extended. In fact, in every region in the world we may find specific and endogenous emancipatory education movements. In Latin America, Educación Popular - Popular Education - is rooted especially among civil society organizations. Just like with Social Education, there is not one single definition and there are various trends within the Popular Education movement. Many associate it with Paulo Freire; others consider it a development that preceded and surpassed Freire, and that is nurtured by many sources. Many link it to adult and non-formal education; others consider Popular Education an embracing category applied to children, youth and adult education, in and out of school.

The term popular refers to the socio-economic status of learners/participants, to the context and to the purpose: promoting awareness, social participation and organization for people’s empowerment and social transformation. What defines the popular educator is his/her social and political commitment, not his or her educational and professional background. Popular educators often work as volunteers or with very little remuneration, and with some short training. Training and professionalization of popular educators are old requests.

The table below is an attempt to compare Social Education and Popular Education in their respective contexts. 


Comparison between Social Education and Popular Education


Social Education
(Europe/Denmark)
Popular Education
(Latin America)
Historical context
1940s – wake of World War II
AIEJI (International Association for Social Educators). Original name Association Internationale des Éducateurs des Jeunes Inadaptés - created in 1951.

“From charity, assistencialism and philanthropy to social wellbeing as a human right.”
1960s-1970s – wake of Latin American military governments and dictatorships.

Brazil, Paulo Freire’s ideas and work.

Human liberation and emancipation.

Religious groups and churches involved.
Original target population
Homeless and orphaned children in the wake of World War II.
Illiterate adults (by 1950s half of the adult population in the region were illiterate).
Current target population (historical perspective)
Children
Adolescents
Youth
Adults (disabled)
Third age
Adults
Youth
Adolescents
Children
Families
Communities
Social movements
Characterisation of target populations
Ill-adjusted, maladjusted or poorly adjusted
Troubled
Disabled
Homeless
Marginalised
Excluded
At risk
With special needs
Poor
Marginalised
Illiterate
Semiliterate
Low schooling
Characteristics of educators
- Emphasis on professionalization and on continuous education and training.
- Defence of employment and of working conditions.

- Little attention to professionalisation or career development.
- Diverse training opportunities offered, often short. A few universities and NGOs offer university degrees.
- Often work on voluntary basis.
Organisation of educators
Organised in unions and/or professional associations.
National, European and international organizations.
- Not organised in unions or professional associations, sometimes organised in local associations.
- Local, sometimes national and also international organisations (i.e. CEAAL - Consejo de Educación de Adultos de América Latina, NGO network).
- Social movements have their own Popular Education bodies and programmes.
Identified similar occupations
Social workers, teachers, nurses, psychologists, therapists.
Teachers, social workers, extension workers, community agents, community leaders, cultural animators.
Work environments
Mainly non-formal education, non-school environments
Areas of work
Specialised education
Conflict mediation
Sociocultural animation
Adult education
School education
Environmental education
Leisure education
All potential areas
Purposes
Adaptation
Participation
Citizenship
Social change
Social justice
Awareness (Conscientisation)
Participation
Organisation
Empowerment
Social change
Political change
Social justice
Culture of rights
Principles
Dialogue
Respect
Participation
Learners' voices
Dialogue
Respect
Participation
Learners' voices
Dimensions of work
Pedagogical, social, political and ethical




   Elaborated by Rosa-María Torres

In the South most educators are ‘social educators’

The majority of educators in ‘developing countries’, within and outside the school system, deal with problematic socio-economic contexts and with major challenges facing individuals, families, groups, local communities and national societies.

The situation of rights denied to the a large portion to the population in many countries in the South presses the public school system, and educators working in it and on its margins, to deal with unsatisfied basic needs of the school population (i.e. food, health, affection, security, etc.), whose satisfaction would normally correspond to the State and to the family. This erodes the school’s main teaching-learning mission and further jeopardises the quality of educational provision. Thus, the borders between social workers and educators as well as between social action and political action, tend to be thin and blurred. 

When poverty affects the majority of the population, economic and social exclusion/inclusion imply massive phenomena that go beyond well-intentioned small-scale interventions or focused ‘alleviating poverty’ policies. Poverty is a structural condition that, as such, requires major changes in the current economic, social and political model that leads to massive exclusion and poverty. Such model and its change is no longer national in scope; it has been deepened and globalised, thus requiring global alternative thinking and concerted action. Social educators and other progressive forces in the North and in the South need to work together in the building of a new global ethics that fights social injustice and promotes equality at local, national, regional and global level. Democratizing global awareness, global protest and global solidarity vis à vis the most vulnerable majorities and minorities in the world is at the very heart of the efforts towards global social networking.

The objective is not only good quality education for all, but good quality of life for all

However, the notions of ‘quality of life’, ‘welbeing’ or ‘prosperity’ are not universal. The traditional ‘developed’/’non-developed’ or ‘less developed’ dichotomy used to classify countries, is being revised. ‘Human development’ and human satisfaction and realization are not linear categories defined between more or less and measurable by universal quantitative indicators; they are cultural, social and political constructions shaped in concrete historical circumstances.

The notions of ‘quality of life’ and ‘personal satisfaction’ adopted by the Gallup Worldwide Quality of Life Survey are not necessarily perceived as such in countries in the South. Gallup’s ‘quality of life’ places consumption
at the centre. The question asked in the survey is: “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your standard of living, that is, with all the things you can buy and do?.” On the other hand, the concept of Buen Vivir (‘Good Living’, Sumak Kawsay in Quechua indigenous language) in the Andean countries in Latin America places harmony at the center and is defined by three relational dimensions: harmony with nature, with oneself, and with others.

Global networks, global solidarity

In a globalised world, the role of agents of social change acquires also a global dimension, a global dimension that honours diversity, equality, inter- and multi-culturality, and rejects universal models, homogenous policies and perpetual hegemonic North/South relationships and ‘cooperation’ patterns. The wider the scope and the territories reached throughout the world, the greater the need to acknowledge and incorporate diversity to vision and to practice in all spheres.

The new challenges posed by the many world crises – the development crisis, the financial crisis, the food crisis, the energy crisis, the ecology crisis, the work crisis, the education crisis – call for radical rethinking, reshaping and re-articulation of education and learning systems worldwide. They also create new opportunities and urgencies for networking and solidarity, configuring new frontiers that challenge conventional ‘developed’/’less developed’ and North/South distinctions. The time is ripe for stronger multidisciplinary, trans-sectoral and inter-institutional linkages as well as for more and better-coordinated work with organized groups, families and communities rather than with isolated individuals.

There are conditions for effectively adopting Lifelong Learning (LLL) as a new global paradigm for education and learning, overcoming the dual educational agenda -- LLL for the North and primary education for the South. Social Education is well positioned in this endeavor: learning beyond the family and the school system, an ageless category and a continuum.

The alternative and alterative nature of Social Education

The world has become a hostile and uncertain place to live for the majority of the world’s population. Inequality within and between countries is growing. In many regions and countries (both developing and developed), the battles against poverty, unemployment, hunger, school dropout, and others are not making progress. For millions of people, and especially for the most disadvantaged, the word future does not entail hope anymore.

In this context, the room for Social Educators is likely to expand. Many will view it as a damage-control device, ready to fill in the holes left by education and learning systems that are not doing their job properly -- the family, the school system, mass media, politics. Not accepting such remedial and compensatory role implies among others assuming an explicit political role vis a vis the need for systemic and structural change at local, national, regional and world level.

In fact, all education should be social, empathetic, relevant, contextualised, differentiated, responsive to specific needs and cultures, aimed at enhancing learners’ critical thinking, empowerment, autonomy, participation and organisation for personal and social transformation. Being alternative is not enough; the real challenge is becoming also alterative -- a social, political, pedagogical and ethical force that pushes others towards major changes in all these spheres.

Learning Anytime, Anywhere (WISE Summit, Doha, 2011)


Jaume Piensa

Rosa María Torres
 
"Learning Anytime, Anywhere"
session at the World Summit on Innovation in Education (WISE 2011)
Doha, Qatar, 1-3 Nov. 2011

The format adopted for the debates required no presentations by the speakers but individual questions posed by the Chair of the session and questions coming from the audience and through Twitter. This format favors flexibility and dynamism, but it also limits a more contextualized and holistic understanding of the speakers' viewpoints and backgrounds.

The text below is a reconstruction of my intervention.

Four people participated in this #WISED34 debate:

▸ Graham Brown-Martin, Chair (Learning Without Frontiers, UK) @GrahamBM
▸ François Taddei (Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity at Paris Descartes University, France) @FrancoisTaddei
▸ Rosa-María Torres (Fronesis, Ecuador) @rosamariatorres
▸ Ruth Wallace (Centre for Social Partnerships in Lifelong Learning, Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia) @RuthwallaceNT

What is Lifelong Learning (LLL)

Most people continue to associate LLL with adult education or to use it as equivalent to lifelong education or continuing education. The term, however, is selfdescriptive and should provide no room for confusion: Lifelong Learning means learning throughout life, "from cradle to grave." This is a fact of life in the first place: learning is a continuum, lifelong and lifewide. Adopting LLL as a principle for policy formulation implies introducing major changes to the conventional education and training paradigms.

Awareness on LLL challenges the school-centered mentality. It looks beyond the school system and acknowledges the other learning systems where we learn throughout life: home, community, media, play, work, arts, sports, social participation, the Internet and the virtual world, etc.

LLL also challenges the traditional focus on education and on teaching. Learning is the main concern, in and out of school. The main failure of the school system is precisely that there is lots of teaching but little learning taking place.

▸ Rosa María Torres, Lifelong Learning in the South: Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education, Sida Studies 11, Sida, Stockholm, 2004.

What do international agencies understand as LLL? 

Most of the agencies that use this term continue to associate LLL with adults and adult education, rather than with a life-cycle perspective.

In OECD countries, and specifically in Europe, LLL emerged as an education and training strategy to ensure the necessary "human resources" for economic development.

Beyond definitions and glossaries, it is important to look at the content of policies and programmes labelled LLL. In the case of the European Commission, for example, in spite of the rhetoric on informal learning, four out of the five benchmarks established in the LLL Programme 2000-2010 (see below) were related to formal education, from early childhood to higher education. "The decreasing levels of low-achieving 15-year olds in reading and falling levels of adult participation in learning are among the largest concerns."

The goals were not met, as acknowledged by the
evaluation released in Sep. 2011. Not only "developing" countries (the global South) but also "developed" ones (the global North) have problems to accomplish agreed education and learning agendas.




European Union: Lifelong Learning benchmarks for 2010

1. EU average rate of early school leavers to be no more than 10%;
2. Total number of graduates in mathematics, science and technology in the EU to increase by at least 15% (achieved in 2004), with a decreased gender imbalance in these fields;
3. At least 85% of 22-year-olds to have completed upper secondary education;
4. Percentage of 15-year-olds who are low-achieving in reading to have decreased by at least 20% compared to the year 2000;
5. Average participation in lifelong learning to be at least 12.5% of the adult working age population (age group of 25–64 year).

European Commission: Interim Evaluation of the Lifelong Learning Programme (Sep.18, 2011)
European Report on the Future of Learning by Tony Bates (Nov. 11, 2011)



Poverty, creativity and innovation 

There is lots of talk about innovation, creativity and problem-solving as qualities and skills of the 21st century. Currently, innovation in education tends to be strongly associated with modern technologies -- as if there was no innovation before the emergence of ICTs! Visions of innovation are rather futuristic and sophisticated, requiring specialists, experts, etc.

However, the most creative and innovative people in the world are the poor. They are born problem-solvers. Otherwise, they would not be able to survive. Surprisingly, we do not see this mentioned. If we want to learn about innovation and creativity, we should get out there, observe and live with the poor for a while.

The challenge is how to make schools and other learning institutions places where the poor can enhance - rather than inhibit - their innovativeness, creativity and problem-solving skills and expand them to other domains beyond survival and daily life.

▸ Rosa María Torres, On Innovation and Education


Testing does not necessarily reflect learning


T
ests and testing are not necessarily the best ways to capture learning. Additionally, standardized tests deny diversity, assume the classical "one-size-fits-all" approach.

PISA
(Programme for International Student Assessment) tests, proposed by OECD and for OECD countries, do not match the realities, needs and aspirations of most young people in the South. Often, these and other tests tell us what our children and youth don´t know rather than what they know and are able to do.


"Developing countries" are very diverse and face very different realities than "developed countries", also heterogeneous. If PISA tests were prepared in non-OECD countries, reflecting our cultures and realities, how would 15-year-olds in OECD  countries do in such tests? Underprivileged children and youth develop strong survival skills - essential for life and increasingly important in today's world - that wealthy children and youth often do not need to develop, at least at an early age.


The "global banking education model"

Paulo Freire characterized the conventional school system as "banking education": learners who are considered to know nothing and teachers who think they know everything, and who deposit knowledge in their heads like checks in a bank.

That banking education model has now become global, among others thanks to the expansion of ICTs. Global teachers located in the North and eager learners located in the South, mere consumers of information and knowledge produced elsewhere and whose only knowledge credited is "local wisdom".

Since it decided to become a "Knowledge Bank", the World Bank acts as a global teacher offering ready-to-use knowledge and strategies for "development". All we have to do in the South is get trained and assimilate that information.

The global banking model is such because it reproduces the traditional teaching model at a global scale - the world as a global classroom is a usual metaphor - but also because it is incarnated by a bank and its international partners.

▸ Rosa María Torres, About "good practice" in international co-operation in education

Neuroscience and pro-age education and learning

Over the past years, neuroscience is contributing key new knowledge on topics we had only vague ideas of. A better understanding on how the brain works, at different ages and in different circumstances, shows the need to review many conventional stereotypes on education and learning.

Now we are confirming that all ages are good to learn, and that each age has its own cognitive possibilities and limitations.

Within a LLL framework, and based on ongoing results from neuroscience research, I am developing the concept of "pro-age education and learning": let us allow each person - children, young people, adults, the elderly - to learn according to their age, rather than fighting against their age.

Unfortunately, neuroscience research and results are not reaching the population at large, not even teacher education institutions, policy makers, journalists, etc. 

Rosa María Torres, Child learning and adult learning revisited 

The Basarwa in Botswana

I would like to tell you a story from Botswana. While working there with the Ministry of Education, back in the 1990s, I heard about an indigenous group called the Basarwa. They were well known because they rejected schooling. I got interested in understanding why. The explanation was simple: the Basarwa have seen or heard that schools punish children. In their culture, children's punishment does not exist. Adults relate to children through dialogue, not through fear. Parents love, take care and respect their children. Basarwa parents may be unschooled, but they are wise.

Rosa María Torres, Children of the Basarwa Niños Basarwa

Related texts
Rosa María Torres, Over two decades of 'Education for All' ▸ Más de dos décadas de 'Educación para Todos'


Lifelong Learning for the North, Education for All for the South


Rosa-María Torres

Abstract of the presentation at the International Conference on Lifelong Learning “Global Perspectives in Education
(Beijing, China, 1-3 July 2001)

Texto en español: ¿Aprendizaje a lo Largo de la Vida para el Norte y Educación Primaria para el Sur?

This conference was delivered at an event on lifelong learning in China in 2001. Education for All (EFA) had just been expanded for 15 more years, until 2015, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had just been approved (2000-2015). I had started to promote Lifelong Learning as a paradigm not only for the North ('developed countries') but also for the South ('developing countries'), and was annoyed with the Millennium Development Goals' narrow goal for education - complete primary education (4 years) - at a time when the North was moving towards lifelong learning. Today, MDGs are history; the education goal was not reached worldwide and four years of school proved insufficient, anyway. Today, its successors, the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030), want pre-school, primary, secondary, higher, technical, vocational, and lifelong learning for all, in the South and in the North ... So, why am I not happy?




































At the beginning of the 21st century we are witnessing an expansion, rather than reduction, of the gap between the North ('developed countries') and the South ('developing countries') in terms of education and learning. 


In the context of the emerging 'Knowledge Society', Lifelong Learning - "from the cradle to the grave" - has been adopted in the North as a key political, societal and educational organizing principle for the  21st century. At the same time, basic education – often narrowly understood as primary education - is prescribed for the South. The deficit ideology behind North-South relationships and aid seems to ignore the heterogeneity of so-called 'developing countries', where high illiteracy rates and low schooling may coexist with sophisticated education, training, research, intellectual production, scientific and technological development.

The World Conference on Education for All – EFA (Jomtien, March 1990) adopted an 'expanded vision' of basic education understood as the foundation for lifelong learning. Such 'expanded vision' comprises children, youth and adults learning in and out of school, and a broad understanding of their basic learning needs. Jomtien’s vision, however, was never translated into practice. EFA international partners themselves – UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP,  the World Bank and UNFPA - as well as other international agencies did not follow this approach. Education recommendations and policies for 'developing countries' continued to replicate a restricted notion of basic education - focused on children, schooling and primary school - and a restricted notion of basic learning needs where basic ended up being understood as minimum.

The World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000) acknowledged that EFA goals had not been met and extended the deadline until 2015. Jomtien’s goals were ratified but the  'expanded vision' of basic education was no longer central to the overall framework. Primary education became the ceiling in the Millennium Development Goals - MDG adopted in 2000 by the United Nations system, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The term "Universal primary education" was used to mean completing four years of school ("survival to grade 5" is the indicator for this MDG goal). Furthermore, the emphasis on children shifted to an emphasis on girls in the education agendas of most international agencies. 

The EFA agenda lacks a holistic vision of education and learning, and of the formal school system as such – pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary education - in relation to basic education goals and to meeting the basic learning needs of the population. Youth and adult education continue to be viewed as remedial and compensatory, addressed to the poor, and focused on literacy rather than on wider adult basic education. Obviously, this is not the appropriate framework for the development of Lifelong Learning, both in concept and in practice.

Globalization and Knowledge Society for All means Lifelong Learning for All. The North knows it and acknowledges it for its nations. The South must strive for it, fighting against double standards and global inequities, hopefully with the collaboration -- rather than against the will and advice -- of the North and the international community.


Some of these ideas have been developed in other publications by the author:

Lifelong Learning in the South: Critical Issues and Opportunities for Adult Education (ABLE) in the South A study commissioned by Sida (Swedish International Development Agency). Stockholm: Sida, 2002.

▸ "What happened at the World Education Forum?", in: Adult Education and Development, N° 55. Bonn: IIZ-DVV, 2001.

"Knowledge-based international aid: Do we need it, do we want it?", in: Gmelin, W.; King, K.; McGrath, S. (editors), Knowledge, Research and International Cooperation, University of Edinburgh, Centre of African Studies, 2001.

“Cooperación internacional” en educación en América Latina: ¿parte de la solución o parte del problema?, en: Cuadernos de Pedagogía, Nº 308, Barcelona, diciembre 2001. Monográfico sobre “La educación en Latinoamérica”.

▸ "Learning Communities: Re-thinking education from the local level and through learning." Paper presented at the International Symposium on Learning Communities, Barcelona Forum 2004 (Barcelona, 5-6 October 2001).

One Decade of "Education for All": The Challenge Ahead. Buenos Aires: IIPE UNESCO, 2000.

▸ "Improving the Quality of Basic Education? The Strategies of the World Bank", in: Stromquist, N.; Basile, M. (ed.). 1999. Politics of Educational Innovations in Developing Countries, An Analysis of Knowledge and Power. NewYork-London: Falmer Press, 1999.

La educación según el Banco Mundial. Un análisis de sus propuestas y métodos. Buenos Aires: Miño y Dávila / CEM, 1997. (with José Luis Coraggio)

Una escuela amiga de los niños y de los pobres


Frato - Francesco Tonucci

(Los alumnos pobres son primero niños y luego pobres)


El evento, en Colombia, no incluye en el título ni dice ser un seminario centrado en el tema “Educación y Pobreza”; la convocatoria y la agenda anuncian que el tema a tratarse será “Educación y Calidad”. No obstante, la pobreza y los pobres son los grandes protagonistas. 

Conferencistas, paneles y ponencias hablan de la educación pero, en verdad, no se refieren a la educación en general sino únicamente a la educación escolar, y no a toda la educación escolar sino únicamente a la educación pública, y, más allá de eso y en definitiva, a la educación de y para los pobres. Como si escuela pública fuese sinónimo de escuela, como si el tema de la calidad y su mejoría fuesen consignas exclusivamente para la escuela pública y, en particular, para los sectores más pobres.

La “focalización en la pobreza”, recomendada como agua bendita por los bancos y las agencias internacionales a los "países en desarrollo", al cruzarse con la educación, ha terminado reduciendo la educación, sus problemas y soluciones, al mundo de los pobres e, incluso, al de los más pobres entre los pobres. Como si los problemas de la educación tuvieran únicamente que ver con la pobreza. Como si la enseñanza privada no tuviese problemas. Como si solo los niños pobres tuviesen problemas en el sistema escolar. Como si los niños pobres tuviesen problemas únicamente por ser pobres y no,
también
, por ser niños. 

En verdad, el modelo escolar que hemos heredado y que conocemos es inadecuado no solo para los niños pobres sino para todos los niños. Ciertamente, los que provenienen de familias pobres son particular y doblemente afectados, en tanto niños y en tanto pobres. Pero los niños pobres no son los únicos que sufren, son objeto de discriminación y no aprenden en la escuela: el modelo escolar vigente atormenta y anula la motivación y las posibilidades de aprender también de los niños de sectores medios y altos, de aquellos que prefieren y pueden pagar para educar a sus hijos. 

La diferencia entre la mala escuela pública y la mala escuela privada puede estar en el costo y, quizás, la mejor infraestructura y equipamiento de la segunda, pero la cultura escolar - modelos de organización y gestión, relación y supuestos pedagógicos, métodos de enseñanza, concepciones del niño, parámetros curriculares y de evaluación - es esencialmente compartida entre ambas y, en verdad, a lo largo y ancho del sistema escolar. La diferencia  fundamental radica, en todo caso, en las posibilidades o no de los padres de familia y el contexto para suplir a los alumnos con las condiciones esenciales para el estudio (nutrición, afecto, estabilidad emocional, descanso, etc.) y para compensar aquello que el sistema escolar no les ofrece (ambiente letrado, acceso a libros y a computadora, ayuda en casa, tutor o instructor privado, etc.).

La incomprensión y el irrespeto hacia los niños son parte de la cultura adulta, en la familia, en el sistema escolar, en la sociedad. Para la sociedad adulta, el niño es un adulto subdesarrollado (niño-en-proceso-de-convertirse-en-adulto), alguien que no sabe, no piensa, no tiene opinión ni propuesta, no discrimina entre lo que es bueno o malo, no merece atención y no tiene nada que decir sobre su propia educación. 

La escuela, instituida en una época anterior al desarrollo del conocimiento en torno a los niños y al aprendizaje, no ha hecho sino reproducir este pre-concepto de niño instalado en la sociedad. El enorme caudal de conocimiento generado en las últimas décadas en torno a la infancia, fundamentalmente desde la psicología y la pedagogía infantiles, no ha permeado la cultura escolar, ni siquiera ha llegado en muchos casos a institutos y centros de formación docente, o bien ha llegado con un retraso de décadas y en versiones simplificadas, esquemáticas, a través de apuntes y versiones de terceros.  

En realidad, la inadecuación fundamental del sistema escolar, y la fuente de los mayores problemas de enseñanza y aprendizaje, deriva de su radical negación e incomprensión del sujeto que aprende: el niño. Este ha sido el leit motiv de educadores y pedagogos renovadores y progresistas a lo largo de la historia de la educación: la denuncia y la crítica a una escuela diseñada por adultos, con mentalidad adulta, desde las necesidades y los intereses de los adultos (tomadores de decisiones, administradores, profesores, padres de familia) y la insistencia en la consideración del punto de vista de los niños, en la importancia del juego, del movimiento, de los aspectos lúdicos, del saber de los niños como punto de partida para la enseñanza, del descubrimiento y respeto a sus modos de ser y de pensar, a sus motivaciones y ritmos.  

Emilia Ferreiro es, en América Latina, una de las personas que más ha contribuido en las tres últimas décadas a desentrañar e instalar el punto de vista infantil en el campo educativo, en un dominio especialmente crítico como es el de la adquisición de la lectura y la escritura, aliado número uno de la repetición en el medio escolar y terreno minado de concepciones y estereotipos añejos, aunque vigentes y ampliamente compartidos, en torno a los niños, la lengua, la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. La revolución epistemológica y pedagógica que se desprendede sus investigaciones y, en general, de las nuevas concepciones en el campo de la alfabetización infantil, es válida no únicamente para la escuela pública sino también para la privada, y no únicamente - aunque principalmente - para la alfabetización de los niños pobres sino para la de todos los niños.

Quino desde Argentina y Francesco Tonucci (Frato, en su identidad de dibujante) desde Italia, entre otros dibujantes y caricaturistas, han hecho una contribución importantísima al meterse en la cabeza de los niños y dejarnos entrever, a través del dibujo, la ironía y el humor, el mundo visto con ojos de niño, los objetos, las relaciones, la familia, la escuela, los libros, la televisión, los esfuerzos adultos por “educarlo”.

El acento depositado sobre la relación educación-pobreza, calidad-pobreza, bajos rendimientos escolares-pobreza, si bien importante desde el punto de vista estratégico y del diseño de políticas, ha empañado y está contribuyendo a reforzar - equivocadamente - la idea de que el tema de la calidad es un tema de la escuela pública y de los sectores pobres, y no del modelo escolar en su conjunto. La escuela que conocemos es inadecuada para los niños en general, y particularmente inadecuada para los niños pobres, porque en su caso se juntan y operan en contra dos prejuicios y dos discriminaciones: la infancia y la pobreza, el ser niño y el ser pobre. Por eso, la primera gran batalla, la de una escuela amiga de los niños, sensible a las necesidades y posibilidades de la infancia, requiere complementarse con la otra gran batalla, inseparable de la anterior: la de una escuela sensible a la problemática de la pobreza.

Textos relacionados en OTRAƎDUCACION
- Por qué las y los maestros están llamados a ser los primeros defensores de los derechos de los niños
https://otra-educacion.blogspot.com/2011/06/por-que-los-maestros-estan-llamados-ser.html

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