Reducing Education to Indoctrination; a Literature Review

A summary of R. G. Oliver’s The Ideological Reduction of Education, to encourage thoughtfulness regarding the direction and very meaning of this thing we call education. What is it to actually receive a good education? Do we place too much emphasis on rigorous “factory line” types of education?

Oliver’s Main Argument

The main argument that Oliver makes in his discussion is that education has been ideologically reduced to only equate to state schooling, which he implies is more a form of indoctrination than education. By this, he means that while the totality of education encompasses so much more, the view held by popular culture, educational infrastructure and western discourse only focuses on a very small portion of education; in particular state schooling. He also makes a secondary point that adds to this argument, that any educational sources outside of school are only viewed as relevant in terms of their relation to the schooling system. This secondary point is described using a heliocentric model which will be explained later in this essay.

In his introduction, Oliver uses a quote from John Kleinig that states “…so deeply entrenched has the identification of education with schooling become, that for many people the school and its teaching function have bounded the inquiry.” Basically, when we think and speak of education, we immediately refer to schooling systems rather than education as a whole, failing to even consider other routes to learning as being feasible outside of this entrenched belief that school is the total representation of education.

He follows this with a quote from J. Muir about the definition of education in the Anglo-American model of education studies, which says education came to be “defined in terms of a single, proportionately very small aspect of the subject as a whole, namely, [state] schooling.” One explanation for how this entrenchment is reinforced can come from considering the importance of schooling in society. Success in school has a lot of influence on an individual’s life after they leave. The career that you get and your acceptance into a good university is based on what marks you obtained. A multitude of possibilities are either opened or closed depending on your schooling performance, illustrating the power that the schooling system has over an individual’s future.

Reinforcing The “School is Education” Narrative

The view that school is the encompassment of education is also reinforced while participating at school. Oliver states “while at school we are constantly in an environment which presupposes that schooling is what education is mostly about… this connection has been made particularly strong by the rise of state compulsory schooling, together with the powerful connection between schooling and careers”. Yet schooling doesn’t just affect the students, as a sizable amount of people involved in the study of education come from teaching backgrounds. The interests of teachers (as well as ex-pupils) that transition into the study of education would have beliefs influenced by their experiences that schools are about education. Their training focuses on schooling methodologies, and funding agencies that back the study of education would have schooling and teaching as their principal educational agendas, which in turn influences the direction that educational studies move towards. Oliver, in his discussion, describes these influences to account for how education has been reduced to only refer to state schooling. He draws our attention not only to ways the student is influenced, but also how those who are making the decisions and studying education as a practice have been influenced to perpetuate this ideological reduction.

What are some other effects of this reduction? Oliver’s second point (that any educational sources outside of school are only viewed as relevant in terms of their relation to the schooling system) outlines how the reduction of education generates a deep prejudice towards other styles of education.

Using a heliocentric model where the schooling system is represented as the sun, and other forms of education revolve around it, the perceived relevance of other systems and approaches to education is based on their proximity to the schooling system. The closer an educational system is to state schooling, the greater its perceived relevance and educational effectiveness. This model acts to dismiss any and all other alternatives to learning, and the very definition of education becomes monopolized.

This approach refuses to acknowledge other models which would be represented as other solar systems and clusters in the heliocentric model. Indigenous (or simply non-western or non-conforming) epistemologies, practices and philosophies on education and “knowing” are automatically dismissed. The knowledge held by people who exist outside of the state schooling culture are perceived as “not relevant” or simply “uneducated”. It must be stated again that the heliocentric model is a metaphor that describes the entrenched belief that state schooling is the full encompassment of education.

This model helps to show how this prejudice affects people’s views of education outside of schooling. Rather than acknowledging that the relevance of different sources of education comes independently of the mainstream style, with the perpetuated view that schooling is education, people are predispositioned to view alternatives as ineffective (or even non-educative), only seeing particular schooling characteristics in these and overlooking the education styles that lie outside of schooling. Oliver also demonstrates (with the heliocentric model) how this prejudice can create a barrier in addressing the issue of educational reduction. He states in his discussion that “Part of the problem is that many of those involved already believe they know that there is more to education than schooling.” When people say they know that there is more to education than schooling, they misinterpret the statement. Rather than interpreting that there are other forms of education outside of school, they understand that there are different places in which schooling is performed. This goes on to highlight how the prejudice is acted out, because if you believe that schooling constitutes education rather than being a small part of it, you won’t look outside of the schooling boundaries and anything considered educational would constitute a form of schooling.

So how does this actually play out?

Take a moment to think about common perceptions regarding homeschooling or alternatives to state schooling. It can be noted that many alternatives to state schooling are still driven by an indoctrinatory agenda like with religion-based schools, and so cannot be placed on a pedestal, however there are many forms of education such as the Steiner/Waldorf method that are just as, if not more valid than state schooling. The Hellenic Greeks had a good method too if you wish to look it up. There are a multitude of indigenous approaches to learning and knowledge itself, and there is literally thousands of years of human tradition and approaches to learning that exist outside of the schooling model which was only developed during the industrial revolution. In common practice however, should one mention in a job interview or to colleagues that they were home-schooled, attended a Steiner school or any other alternative, they are more likely to suffer negative consequences compared to saying they attended a state school like most others. This reflects the deeply entrenched belief that schooling equates to education in its entirety, where other systems are seen as being inferior or only offering a small portion of what state schooling does.

So why does this reduction exist in the first place? In the discussion, it is outlined that the reduction is a form of ghetto-izing education. This makes it easier for state authorities to control and regulate education, as state/commercial interests benefit from the outcome. By creating an educational prejudice, the general public is given a narrow view of what really constitutes education, as Oliver states “It suffices that they (schools) be seen as the only arena in which educational or indoctrinatory control can really be exercised; the outside world remaining as ‘nature’ (rather like the weather) while in fact being left to powerful human forces which the State covertly assists”. The effect of having this control is that leading authorities are able to choose what people learn about, influencing not only their ideas about society but also the way in which they lead their lives, the values they hold and the way that they will in turn educate the next generation. The ideological nature of the reduction makes this issue difficult to discuss since people are not even aware of its existence because it exists outside of their taught understanding of what constitutes education.

By analyzing the nature of this reduction, the cycle in which it exists in society, the outcomes and effects of its continual use and the way it evades open understanding and discussion, Oliver has successfully outlined his argument and presented his ideas. However, while the focus of the discussion was based on education as schooling, Oliver did not give any iterations as to what other forms of education may take precedence over schooling. In doing this, we are left asking what else constitutes education? What are the alternatives and how effective are they compared to the current system? Perhaps this was intentional on behalf of the writer, but I would postulate that a criticism is best made when followed up by an effective recommendation.

It must also be stated that this argument does not propose that the state schooling method is “evil” or “bad”, since such judgements are not useful when describing the specific function of anything. The schooling system was designed with a purpose in mind, to create standardized, uniform individuals who may perform well in and perpetuate the growing political and economic systems that now dominate the globe. It is our beliefs in this system, our beliefs of what constitutes education and the way in which our prejudices for this system and against others that must be questioned and reformed. It is through diversity that we flourish, learn and remain honest with ourselves. Homogenization in education ultimately leads to a reduction in perspective, a reduction in creativity, a reduction in understanding and an increase in prejudice. Homogenization and the inability to celebrate or accept diversity comes with the ideological reduction of education, heading in the opposite direction of what it is to know.

References:
Oliver, R. G. (1998) Educational Philosophy and Theory. Department of Education Studies, University of Waikato, New Zealand.