Where anarchy gets real

As a thoughtful teenager I was aware of hypocrites in hats on Presbyterian pews. The unca guid exhorted the youth to do as they said and not as they did. It was the roller coaster 60s. Many of the eternal verities were crumbling in urban centres but not so much in rural areas. It was tough trying to figure what to do and how to be. Which reality ruled?

At a technical level there were rules that had to be obeyed eg drive on the left, stop at red lights and pay your taxes. Hard science and engineering were resolutely rational and evidence based wherever possible and, when not, were governed by the best working hypotheses currently available. I was schooled in that hard nosed tradition. Politics, economics, the social sciences, and the humanities were emotional and subjective. I was fascinated by their soft, wet mode of thinking but in my formative years I felt that 'reality' was with the scientists.

As a science teacher in the 1970s in Scotland and Jamaica my bible was the Scottish Education Department Curriculum Paper 7. Despite its liberal and progressive methodology (stage managed heurism) I saw my job as chalk and talk. Get as many kids as possible up to speed about what we have discovered in the hope that some will be fascinated and become lifelong learners sitting on giants' shoulders.

When I became a teacher trainer and curriculum developer I forsook teaching for the promotion of lifelong learning. I saw this involving (a) research into what was happening in many other countries with a view to intelligently choosing from a wide range of options, and (b) sometimes being original. In Belize we developed new curricula for social studies and for home room; and, in Lesotho, there was a lot of stuff about education leadership, management and administration.

BUT – I began to realise that, while formal education is useful for reproducing society ( Ref the “hidden curriculum”) it is not a good tool for transforming it. (Ref Bourdieu and Passeron). Given my awareness of the hegemonic and oppressive establishment, my interest shifted to non-formal, adult education. The goal was to use plain language to inform large chunks of civil society, especially non-government organisations. They could thus more meaningfully participate in masterminding and implementing their development in an increasingly globalised world.

For the ten years or so before retirement I worked with civil society organisations on (a) plain language versions of many Tanzanian poverty reduction texts (Ref hakikazi.org) and (b) various aspects of social development in Scotland (Ref CCSD.co.uk and the Banffshire Partnership Ltd). I also served as advisor and plain language editor for several International Labour Office (ILO) publications.

SO – natal enculturation had me noticing the nae sae guid Presbyterian hypocrites; professional training biased me to hard dry thinking although there was a passing affection for the soft wet variety; life made me realise that in changing minds (ie education) teaching had to be balanced with facilitation of lifelong learning; and both informal and formal education systems need plain language materials.

The formal education system is part of the hegemony that reproduces society. The informal system holds the potential to transform society by giving power back to the people in civil society.

AFTERWORD: there is new thinking due to (a) advances in neurology and evolutionary psychology, (b) the rapid growth of the internet, (c) the effectiveness of bottom up social networks with crowd funding, and (d) the increasing popularity of mindfulness meditation.

And that is where anarchy gets real.