The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Alger J. C. Libby

Considering the curricula that are currently available to Alberta’s public education students, it seems almost impossible to suggest that education might have one central goal. While epistemologists might disagree about just how the world of knowledge should be classified, it is safe to conclude that nearly all the major branches of knowledge, gained through both education and experience, are now represented in publicly funded schools.

Knowledge gained through education includes the humanities, which are divided into history, theology, philosophy, communications (technology), the study of languages and literature, and the arts (visual and performing); the social sciences, which include psychology, sociology, the study of law and political science; the natural sciences, represented through the study of astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology; and the world of mathematics, which, as Alberta’s new curriculum demonstrates, can be explored from a variety of personal perspectives.

Knowledge gained through experience, considered to be the more useful kind of knowledge, includes mechanics and the other trades, aesthetics, health and physical fitness, and life management. Moreover, in Edmonton at least, public school students may attend a school focused on any educational subject or theme that elicits enough interest. For example, students can enrol in a hockey school, a military school, an arts school, a religious school (Christian, Jewish and Islamic schools are available) or a language school (French, Arabic, Ukrainian and Mandarin are some examples), and the list goes on. How often do we stop to ponder that Alberta’s students can feast at a virtual smorgasbord of knowledge? Who would presume to say that one central objective could be pulled out of such a universe? Nevertheless, despite the apparent impossibility of the task, I would suggest that there is indeed a central focus of public education.

If I had a dime for every time a student or a parent told me that what I was teaching was "useless knowledge that nobody uses when they reach adulthood," I’d be a rich man. In fact, fielding complaints about the uselessness of certain educational objectives is a common theme in a teacher’s world. I remember a parent who came to see me, exasperated after spending an evening helping her daughter with a homework assignment that had her sorting numbers onto a Venn diagram. "This is insane!" the mother insisted. "There’s not a job in the world that requires employees to do this kind of work. Why don’t you teach things that my daughter will really need once she grows up? Spending time on silly stuff like this is wasting the taxpayers’ money!"

I could understand her frustration, but I have never been prepared to conclude that anything we teach is useless. An accusation of uselessness could be made about any type of knowledge that is non-utilitarian: Why should a future neurosurgeon study Macbeth? What possible connection is there between electrical engineering and the Magna Carta? When will a lawyer ever need to recall what was taught in an astronomy class? But while an academic exercise may not appear to have an immediate and didactic purpose, we must not be quick to label it as irrelevant or futile. Any exercise that requires us to use mental resources hones the mind and expands its capabilities. Just as physical exercise tones the body and lengthens the tenure of its agility, so do mental exercises equip the mind to handle life’s complexities with greater ease and less frustration for the long haul. The mind is a wondrous tool with great capacity, and the more and varied knowledge it has, the more stretched and malleable it will be to think critically about the important choices that it will have to make. The mind is fed, not burdened, by all of that knowledge that, at one time or another, has been accused of being useless. It is true that most employers will probably never ask their employees to sort numbers onto a Venn diagram, but employees will always be expected to solve problems that require them to use the same type of logic and reasoning that prompted them to put the 3 on the correct area of those converging circles.

Modern teachers are not the first educators to feel the pull between traditional curricula and the need to produce a competent work force. In ancient Greece, for example, Plato’s educational theory was at odds with the viewpoint of an emerging bourgeoisie, who believed that education should primarily serve commerce. We can agree that, much later in history, children in Industrial Revolution England should have been in school instead of working long hours in the factories. What we really need to consider, though, is whether or not education should serve only utilitarian purposes. Throughout history, the answer has been "no." Concurrent with practical education has always been the liberal arts approach, which proposes that students need to tackle abstract concepts in order to think critically and develop sound judgment. In short, we don’t want students to learn only about using their hands, because life is so much more complex than that. They must learn also to use their minds.

Critical thought is a precursor to action. Critical thought discerns, evaluates and measures before it forms a defendable mental position that justifies action. The more knowledge and experience that are available to the mind, the more capable it will be to make decisions that reconcile that knowledge and experience to common sense. Critical thought is necessary to make good and responsible decisions in the face of life’s biggest choices: What kind of political views will I hold? With whom will I build a lifelong relationship? Should I have children? Will I adhere to a religion? What constitutes poor morality?

A simple look around our world reveals a stunning absence of critical thought, and educators know that they have their work cut out for them. The divorce rate is high, people kill one another over opposing political views, social agencies and laws must be created to protect children, religion is often a source of confusion or fanaticism, and moral relativism appears to have compromised the rule of law. People rush to form opinions and beliefs that have not been purged by critical thought and the actions that ensue are controversial and divisive. Issues and matters of debate in our society are immensely complex and often too little time is spent researching the juxtaposing views before conclusions are made. We are more apt to jump on a bandwagon than thoroughly study an issue. "Scientia potentia est (Knowledge is power)," said Sir Francis Bacon. To truly understand the issues is to be truly empowered to make decisions that lead to authentic problem solving.

The critical thought that is the central goal of education, then, is equally individual and collective. In general, most people continue to see education as something that empowers individuals and not cultures. Most parents are still primarily concerned with equipping their children with the tools needed for successful employment in an increasingly competitive workforce. But sometimes we need to focus on what education can do for us all, even for those whom we would label uneducated. In order for public education to reach its full potential, it must be recognized for its innate power to make the world a better place, for better societies spring from people who refuse to embrace the status quo. If society were to truly perceive education in this light, perhaps we could solve some of its problems—the high school dropout rate might decline, and inadequately funded classrooms and programs might become a thing of the past.

An education system that reaches into every branch of knowledge is not knowledge for knowledge’s sake, nor is it a cacophony of curricula designed to expose students to as many experiences as possible so that each may choose his or her area of interest. Although this inevitably happens, the beauty of the symphony is in the harmony of the whole, and not in the single instrument. Teachers want each student to master a particular instrument, but the most beautiful music always comes when that instrument joins the rest of the orchestra. And the player isn’t supposed to only enjoy the sound of his own instrument. He is meant to play his part while appreciating the entire effect. An education rooted in global curricula has implications for the entire globe.

And so, I know I speak for all teachers everywhere when I say that no educational objective in any discipline is useless. Each piece of knowledge is a part of the jigsaw. In the introduction to the Alberta K–12 social studies program of studies, we read that students need to "… become engaged, active, informed and responsible citizens," and that

Minds that have been expanded and enriched by education will build a better world, and that is why the central goal of public education is so important. Society needs critical thinkers who can solve problems and make good decisions on behalf of us all. Public education seeks to provide these critical thinkers, one learner at a time.

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