The national schooling programs such as “No child left behind” and international ones like Erasmus have mainly contributed to integrate more learners belonging to different socioeconomic classes into educational systems and bridging various cultures by giving more educational opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students respectively. It seems that two perspectives have not been given sufficient attention to in both national schooling , especially curriculum design and its development, and policy making outlines by educational scientists.
Presumably the time has come to mull over these two philosophical points of view which are:
- Historiography of individuals through their social and educational decisions and historical philosophy of learners from the beginning of pre-modern to this era. By drawing a history of learners from primary to high schools and also their social, familial lives’ ups and downs in fabric of societies and communities, it seems that a more transparent form of knowledge would be extracted so that the historiographical patterns, some of them inevitable, may emerge to recognize and predict the future educational, individual obstacles and consequently protection measures may be taken for counseling students. Nevertheless, recording learners socioeconomic histories must not be used for other purposes except helping and counseling them. This historiographical knowledge could also be used to, statistically, for other purposes such as educational management and economical structures. The gathered knowledge could be dichotomized or even categorized in forms of social groups related to cosmopolitan, urbanized, small cities or even villages. Rural life is completely different from city life so is the historiography of learners and educational policy.
- Considering an individual’s being and its relation with “ what-ness” of the wild nature ( the rules and regularities which are dominant on the nature and beings of individuals) and figuring out the causality of learners’ behavior in order to make a theoretical framework to be used for different social and psychological aims such as prevention of any form of abuse and to create practical philosophical tools for educating pupils.
It should be mentioned that there is a form of (un)avoidable historical , inescapable familial conditions in which pupils find themselves. Simply to declare, children, whichever socio-economic situations they are born in, are in front of unknown world, “the other” . Therefore educational systems have to try their best, scientifically, sociologically, ethically, emotionally, and psychologically, to help them understand themselves , others and the world. This may be one of the ultimate roles of teachers. In parallel to or against the mentioned historical conditioning condemnation or exposure, education , claiming not having an absolute answer which internet-based glossy educational advertisement claim to have, at least implicitly and in a subliminal manner, should have responsible answer, an emotional compromise with learners. Nonetheless , it is a fact that educational systems have been configured as part of cities and made into a big chunk of historical lives of individuals. Educational systems should not be considered apart from history itself, they are parts of historical, political economical movements. History of education begins with history of man. They are interrelated and have a mutual effect on each other. Education has always had an answer, a selection, a curriculum for generations. History and education are two parts of reality but not bigger than reality itself. The paradox is given a birth when a child finds himself or herslef dependent on the long history of their parents while he or she has no history. Child’s being is put in front of “ the other” , is related to already-built-in edifice of history. Historical dependence tries to manipulate child’s psyche. Finally, It may be claimed that historiography of education would be impossible without utilizing the tools, whether empirical or theoretical, found in sociology, economy and psychology .