Power, Class, Race and Gender
In the four readings that deal with the
issues of power, class, race and gender in the educational process, I found one
central theme that appears common to all discussions. This theme is the view
that the educational process is directed toward a predominately Eurocentric,
masculine history and ideology. Individuals who become a part of the educational
process, and who adhere to its structure of recognition and rewards, are forced
to efface their hereditary and cultural views and values. Lewis describes the
process as one in which the student is constantly reinforced to obtain a social
identity that does not incorporate cultural differences. Newman describes the
educational process as one in which the student struggles to adopt the language
of the dominant white power groups. In this struggle, individuals are ranked by
how well they adopt this language. This theme is further amplified by Sleeter,
Gutierrez, New and Takata in their paper on race and education. Miller expresses
how she became a willing participant in the educational process and denied many
of the aspirations and stories that were of meaning to her.
In accepting
these viewpoints, I am forced to ask more fundamental questions. If the
Eurocentric and masculine focus of education is the cause of alienation and
denial, does this signify that this focus is superior to other ideologies?
Inherent in any educational focus is a presumptuous view that the knowledge that
is most superior is what will be equally liberating to all who are exposed.
Thus, in theory, the ideas and values that are inherent in traditional forms of
education are those that will benefit all. From the writers' point of view, this
assumption is exposed as false and, furthermore, the current focus causes
individuals to become alienated rather than liberated. If this is accepted, I
must ask whether there exists or ever has existed a curriculum of study that
could possibly incorporate all who are exposed? A review of values and ideas
that any educational system posits seems to reveal that education has always
served the powerful and strives to maintain the status quo. Thus a more basic
question comes to mind. What are the purposes and goals of education?
It
appears to me that the idea of a universal curriculum that is of equal benefit
to all is an illusion. This being the case, the educational process adopts those
values and ideas that appear to benefit the majority. By necessity, this
suggests that minorities or misfits will occur within the educational system. In
this scenario, education becomes the tool by which individuals are socialized
into the dominant social ideology. If this is the goal of education, then those
who do not achieve this socialization are viewed as backward or retarded. They
become necessary casualties to the upward mobility of those who aspire to be
accepted. Since it appears that this has been the goal of education in America,
alienation and rejection have been the experience of the minority. That
individuals have begun to speak out about this perceived injustice only forces a
critical analysis of what the goals of education should be.
Any attempt
to analyze the goals of education requires an analysis of the language and
values inherent in the educational process. In the American tradition, the
language and values that predominate are those that serve the capitalist and
democratic goals of the Western world. The question becomes, are these goals
inherently evil and wrong? Are there superior ideologies and values that can
replace those of the Western world? If so, what are they? The weaknesses of the
educational process, its alienation and rejection of minorities and misfits, are
a natural consequence of any educational process that attempts to universalize
truth and knowledge. To correct these "injustices" requires a thorough
rethinking of educational goals and the structure of the educational system.
Whether this rethinking has occurred at the center of school reform discussions
is debatable.
Another fundamental question is related to how the
education process evolves in the structure of society. Is it possible for a
society to exist in which stratification is non-existent? Will there ever exist
a society in which everyone obtains the same economic and social status?
Education has always had an alienating and divisive effect on society. The
structures of social organization, whether capitalist, socialist, communist,
democratic, monarchical, or tyrannical all have an effect on the goals and
values of education. Equally, all of these social organizations produce
different types of alienation and rejection. Whatever the nature, the alienation
and rejection accepted in the larger social organization is reflected in its
educational process. Thus it seems to me, the question of how to resolve the
injustices of the educational process requires the positing of a social
organization that truly holds all citizens as equal and offers equal access into
all the hierarchical arrangements. Whether such a social organization has ever
been envisioned is debatable.
© CopyRight 2002 Scott R. Simpson