W2A-016 Education principles-0.txt
Miche&/al Mac Gr&/eil, S.J. The Social Tasks of Education *

Miche&/al Mac Gr&/eil, S.J. lectures in Sociology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth

Introduction - Definition and Functions of Education

Like most concepts in wide public use, education means different things to different people. In the context of this paper, I accept that education is: That formal part of the process of socialization through which the culture of the people is transmitted to the young and they (the young) are taught the necessary (technical and social) skills for the pursuit of an occupation and the living of a full adult life in the community The addition of 'equipping the young to adapt to social change' might be added by those who would focus on change.

It is clear from the above definition that there are three main functions of education, i.e. 1) the personal development of the young person; 2) the provision of necessary occupational skills; 3) socialization in the basic domestic and social skills.

1. Personal Development of the Young Person:

This is primarily achieved through the transmission of the convictions, values, norms and symbolic systems of the people's culture. The young adult needs a broad cultural education to become a critical and rationally self-conscious human being capable of having a spiritual and aesthetic life. Languages and humanities are invaluable in this regard. Of course, the domestic environment of the young person influences the proper disposition for such an education. The value of philosophy, theology, creative arts and literature - classical and modern - could hardly be over-rated for the rich development of a young adult.

Socialization in what is best of one's own culture is important. Not to be educated in one's own culture 'deradicalises' young people and cuts them off from their own people, with inevitable problems for their self-worth. We have seen the evidence of damage done to people who have been socialized out of their people's culture in Ireland, in Africa and elsewhere.

Unfortunately, in Ireland, we tend to neglect to educate people reared in rural and working-class sub-cultures in their own culture. One of the reasons for the disappointing levels of working-class and the so-called 'lower class' participation in our senior second level and third level programmes may be the cultural alienation which arises from the imposition of exclusively 'middle-class' subcultural ideas, values, norms and symbolic systems in our schools system.

With the emphasis on materialism and individualism today we are in danger of neglecting the personal and cultural development of the person. A society that neglects this aspect of education may well pay the price in the creation of an intellectually under-developed and socially and politically uncritical population.
2. Transmission of Occupational Skills:
This is the second important function of education. Such skills equip the young person to perform a job that is socially useful and personally satisfying. In past times, most of the occupational skills required were handed on informally from one generation to the next. With the advance of literacy and technology and the changes in the range of occupational opportunities, there have been two significant changes or developments, i.e. (a) a shift from manual skills to non-manual and semi-automated and robotic skills; (b) a relatively drastic decline in agricultural-type and manual work and a growth in the demand and sophistication of the'services sector'.

Over the past twenty-five years in Ireland, there has been substantial decline in the proportion of people engaged in blue-collar manual skilled and semi-skilled work, and in what were defined as 'routine non-manual workers'," e.g. typists and clerks. (The present audience has witnessed this change close at hand). The automation of formerly labour-intensive work (including skilled work), e.g. the printing trade, and of routine non-manual work, e.g. bank clerks and typing pools, has had serious consequences for the education system.

The continuing change in the skills required raises the question of early specialization. Retaining will be required within industry as the requisite technological skills change. This has implications for the training in skills within the formal educational system. Many of the skilled occupations today have almost an in-built obsolescence in them.

There is a second area of occupational skills which modern Irish society requires of its workers, namely the necessary 'organizational skills' required of managers, supervisors and shop stewards. Most serious work in society is performed by groups of workers working in some degree of 'organic' inter-dependence. It is said that over 50 per cent of qualified accountants end up in managerial roles in companies and businesses, with workforces made up of diverse skills, trades and professions. The days of exclusively technological curricula are numbered for the main body of students. The choice of occupations and professions should be largely determined by the needs of Irish society and of the students'local communities in the first instance. Otherwise, Irish society will end up educating and training its young people for stronger and more developed communities. The range of skills transmitted to the young in our less developed areas should equip them to become involved in the development of these areas.

The Irish educational system has tended to work against the best interests of our weaker urban and rural communities. As a result those with greatest talent were syphoned away from their local communities without a commensurate inward migration of talent. This is evident in the West of Ireland. It is true internationally. It would not be unreasonable to discourage laissez-faire geographic mobility of talent. This may mean taking a stand against the EU policy of free mobility of labour. Laissez-faire geographic mobility is an example of the immediate advantages (in monetary terms) of the individual talented person being diametrically opposed to the social advantages of his or her community of origin.

In Ireland expensive third level resources are spent on many young people whose productive lives will be spent to the advantage of an already strong society overseas! It is common to learn of whole university classes of highly qualified engineers and scientists being employed abroad.

3. Social and Domestic Skills:

The third principal function of education is the transmission of the social and domestic skills required by adults live full lives in the community and participate in the maintenance of a high quality of social life. These include an ability to take part in the political and voluntary organizations which enrich local communities. Serious social problems are due to the lack of involvement of people in a constructive manner in their local communities. This is particularly true of urban societies.

Social and domestic problems are increasing in Ireland. Coping with unemployment, poor housing planning, substance abuse, family problems, minority discrimination, environmental pollution, and so forth, are major concerns for many citizens. What has our education system done to help prevent or alleviate these problems? Not as much as it should, as far as I can see.

While it would be unreasonable to expect the educational system to solve these problems, we should, at least, equip our young citizens to cope with them a little better. The social change necessary to solve some of these problems must be, at the end of the day, a political and socio-economic issue or a decision involving radical transfers of resources and structural changes which may impinge on the privileges of the most powerful groups in our society.

A truly comprehensive education today, therefore, must devote greater attention to the transmission of domestic, social and political skills to those entering young adulthood. Many experienced social workers will say that the lack of domestic organizational skills to cope with family demands frequently leads to marital and family breakdown. I am not saying that the school should replace the home as the place of primary domestic socialization. Rather it must supplement it.

The role of adult education in making up for the deficiency in the transmission of domestic, social and political skills, over recent years, especially through concerned local women's groups, has been a most welcome development. I would like to see this compensatory role being developed further to include the involvement of more men in the various community programmes. There should be a 'feedback' from adult and community groups into the second and tertiary levels in this area.

4. Education and Social Change:

Many sociologists of education see'social change' as a primary function of education. Some see education as our primary instrument of social change while others would see it as the means of adapting to change.

The sociologist Talcott Parsons and others view education's main function as 'pattern maintenance', in other words, the reproduction and continuity of the social system. Can the same institution therefore be expected to serve two apparently contradictory functions in the one society?

While in a sense both aspects are served, the primary function for education seems to be more continuity than change. This is not to say that when change emerges from sources external to the educational institution, schools and colleges are not used to promote such changes, e.g. when the industrial/commercial and business lobbies want to use the schools systems as ideological and technological agencies to provide producers and consumers deemed necessary for industrial and commercial success. The present emphasis on the production of an 'enterprise culture' could be interpreted as reorientation of education in Ireland away from the broader personal, social and cultural objectives heretofore accepted as constituting the aim and purpose of education.

Access to Education

1. Higher Education

Since the introduction of the 'free second-level education' scheme in the late 1960s there has been a significant increase in participation in senior second and third level education in Ireland. In addition to increasing participation, there has been an increase in the variety of schools, colleges and institutes, especially at the third level. The introduction of 'Distance Education' degrees (in Information Technology and in Humanities) in recent years as well as widespread availability of the British 'Open University' should, in time, increase third-level participation. Table 1 shows the impact of 'free education', i.e., those under 35 years of age would have benefited from the 'O'Malley Scheme'.

The figures and predictions published in the Green Paper show the extent of growth in third-level participation. The numbers have increased from 21,000 in 1965 to 70,000 in 1991, i.e. an increase of 333 per cent. In 1991/92 it was estimated that some 40 per cent of the age cohort attended a third-level course, half of whom are pursuing degree programmes. It is further predicted that some 45 per cent of the cohort will be third-level students in the short to medium term.

The multiplication of third-level colleges is a 'growth industry'. Validation comes generally from three sources, i.e. the N.C.E.A., the traditional universities and an arrangement with some foreign university. If current trends continue, we might see competition for students and also a change in the role of the established Universities. These Universities may become 'fourth-level' institutions.

A significant development is the growth of post-Leaving 'tertiary tops' and senior colleges, where mature students can re-enter the formal third-level system. It would greatly improve our participation levels and the community relevance of the curriculum if the 'tertiary top' became the national norm. By 'tertiary top' I mean that the first two years of third level studies would be organized locally, i.e. within commuter distance from all students. Every major town would have one and, in co-operation with the county library system, build up an appropriate library for the general demands of the staff and students. The curriculum of the post-Leaving courses should contain a balanced mix of humanities, general science and technology, organizational skills such as industrial relations and social and community studies.

Access to third level education is a serious issue. Despite the increase in participation in second and third level education, the different social classes do not participate equally in third level education. The very high student fees add to this inequality. Participation in third level, although a financial issue, is also related to curriculum and second level background. With the likely increase of jobs in the community services, the whole area of applied social science and community studies should elicit broader participation. While the more privatized third level institutions deal with the demands of the wealthier sections, the State (with EU funding) will be the main agent of spreading equality of participation. One danger of having the sons and daughters of the rich in one set of institutions is the 'old school tie' informal support network, which would militate against the poor even reaping the occupational advantages of third level participation. 'Separate but equal' in third-level education may prove to be an illusion.
