Chapter 4 of Experience and Education

The latest entry discusses the importance of educators.

Chapter 4

Social Control

The title of this chapter is a little intimidating: Social Control.  Wow!  At first blush one may worry that Dewey is going to delve into the intricacies of schools as they relate to societal control.  Fortunately, this is not what Dewey discusses in this chapter.  This chapter places the educator (learning facilitator, teacher, etc..) at the forefront of education and says, “Go ahead, you are in charge, you change the course of learning”…or at least that is what I took away from the chapter!

Educators must expand their beliefs about their role in educating children. In the dominant, top-down bureaucratic world many educators believe that their planning for their work (whether it is the classroom teacher making their lesson plans, or the school administrator leading the organization) is foundationally based on two rules. These are the two rules in a  “Command and Control” educational world. The first rule is control.  Keep the classroom (or school) in “order” and keep the kids under control.  The second rule is (at all costs) present the information to the students that will be on the State mandated tests…period. The way in which this information is presented to the students can, theoretically, be in various forms from lecturing to engagement of the students.  Unfortunately, because of the first rule of “order”, a command and control view of curriculum and instruction dominates the education landscape and engagement is not the norm.  The responsibility to change these two rules of planning fall squarely on educators.

In my career I have conducted hundreds of meetings/workshops with teachers and administrators.  In the vast majority of these meetings I have experienced educators who are turning themselves inside out for their students and their schools.  The dedication and passion that I have seen is inspiring both personally and professionally.  I try to engage educators in the “why” of their practice.  Why are they in education?  Why is education important for their community and society?  These questions are important and we spend a lot of time talking about them.  I have discovered that educators are not conditioned to engage in conversations that ask these types of questions.  Rather, they are so used to being told what to do and when to do it that it takes work on my part to fight through the indoctrination of the “Command and Control” ethos that our educators have been exposed to in their careers. The educators work in an environment where social control is reflected in the norms of their professional life: teach your kids this way; lead your school that way; wait for the State to tell you what, how and when to teach.  This is the social control of the system and it is something that Dewey believes can be changed:

“The educator is responsible for a knowledge of individuals and for a knowledge of subject-matter that will enable activities to be selected which lend themselves to social organization, an organization in which all individuals have an opportunity to contribute something, and in which the activities in which all participate are the chief carrier of control.” (56)

Learning for our children is in a state of flux.  The options for students to engage in meaningful curricula and innovative instruction is a result of the technological revolution that we are experiencing.  As true as that statement is, if educators are not empowered or if they do not have the courage to recognize their complicity in accepting the social control of the system, then our education system will not reach its potential. Educators can create learning experiences that transcend the social control of the system. By doing so, educators will create the conditions of freedom in their schools and classrooms…but it will require a different mindset.  Educators will have to “see” that there are conditions within the system in which they operate that indoctrinate control. By placing the student and the learning experience at the center of everything that we do in education then the rules of “Command and Control” will dissipate. If educators choose to take responsibility for changing this dynamic (and I believe most will) they can plan differently and introduce freedom in learning opportunities into their schools which will create outstanding learning experiences.