GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR TRANSFORMING EDUCATION
"To proclaim and promote a vision of education that fosters
personal empowerment, social justice and a sustainable development."
This
vision statement was borne out of a meeting attended by eighty educators
from seven countries who met in Chicago 1990 .
*****
GATE supporters -- we need to reconvene. Please contact Mary
Beth regarding a gathering . email: fourwindsfarmgb@aol.com*****
Education
2000: A Holistic Perspective
There
is no copyright on this document. Please acknowledge the source
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The Global
Alliance for Transforming Education (GATE) offers it to the world
as a new foundation for education.
The
Vision Statement
Preamble
We are
educators, parents, and citizens from diverse backgrounds and educational
movements who share a common concern for the future of humanity
and all life on Earth. We believe that the serious problems affecting
modern educational systems reflect a deeper crisis in our culture:
the inability of the predominant industrial/technological world
view to address, in a humane and life-affirming manner, the social
and planetary challenges that we face today.
We believe
that our dominant cultural values and practices, including emphasis
on competition over cooperation, consumption over sustainable resource
use, and bureaucracy over authentic human interaction have been
destructive to the health of the ecosystem and to optimal human
development as well.
As we
examine this culture-in-crisis, we also see that our systems of
education are anachronistic and dysfunctional.In sharp contrast
to the conventional use of the word education, we believe that our
culture must restore the original meaning of the word, which is
"to draw forth." In this context, education means caring
enough to draw forth the greatness that is within each unique person.
The purpose
of this Statement is to proclaim an alternative vision of education
- one which is a life-affirming and democratic response to the challenges
of the 1990's and beyond. Because we value diversity and encourage
a wide variety of methods, applications and practices, it is a vision
toward which educators may strive in their various ways. There is
not complete unanimity, even among those of us who endorse this
document, on all of the statements presented here. The vision transcends
our differences and points us in a direction that offers a humane
resolution to the crisis of modern education.
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Principle
I. Educating for Human Development
We assert
that the primary - indeed the fundamental - purpose of education
is to nourish the inherent possibilities of human development. Schools
must be places that facilitate the learning and whole development
of all learners. Learning must involve the enrichment and deepening
of relationships to self, to family and community members, to the
global community, to the planet, and to the cosmos. These ideas
have been expressed eloquently and put into practice by great educational
pioneers such as Pestalozzi, Froebel, Dewey, Montessori, Steiner,
and many others.
Unfortunately,
public education has never had optimal human development as its
primary purpose. Historical literature makes it clear that school
systems were organized to increase national productivity by inculcating
habits of obedience, loyalty, and discipline. The "restructuring"
and "excellence" literature of the 1980's and 1990's continues
to be permeated with a concern for the productivity and competitiveness
of the national economy, and seeks to harness the abilities and
dreams of the next generation to the goal of economic development.
We believe that human development must be served before economic
development.
We call
for a renewed recognition of human values which have been eroded
in modern culture - harmony, peace, cooperation, community, honesty,
justice, equality, compassion, understanding and love. The human
being is more complex, more whole, than his or her roles as worker
or citizen. If a nation - through its schools, its child welfare
policies, and its competitiveness - fails to nurture self-understanding,
emotional health, and democratic values, then ultimately economic
success will be undermined by a moral collapse of society.
Indeed,
this is happening already, as is made clear by the drug epidemic
and the pressing problems of crime, alcoholism, child abuse, political
and corporate corruption, teen alienation and suicide, and violence
in the schools. We must nurture healthy human beings in order to
have a healthy society and a healthy economy. The economic system
surely requires a skilled, dependable work force.
We can
best secure this work force by treating young people as human beings
first and future workers secondarily. Only people who live full,
healthy, meaningful lives can be truly productive. We call for a
greater balance between the needs of economic life and these human
ideals which transcend economics and which are necessary for responsible
action.
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Principle
II. Honouring Students as Individuals
We call
for each learner - young and old - to be recognized as unique and
valuable. This means welcoming personal differences and fostering
in each student a sense of tolerance, respect and appreciation for
human diversity. Each individual is inherently creative, has unique
physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs and abilities,
and possesses an unlimited capacity to learn.
We call
for a thorough rethinking of grading, assessment, and standardized
examinations. We believe that the primary function of evaluation
is to provide feedback to the student and teacher in order to facilitate
the learning process. We suggest that "objective" scores
do not truly serve the learning or optimal development of students.
We have been so busy measuring the measurables that we have neglected
those aspects of human development which are immeasurably more important.
Besides
neglecting important dimensions of all learners, standardized tests
also serve to eliminate those who cannot be standardized. In successful
innovative schools around the world, grades and standardized tests
have been replaced by personalized assessments which enable students
to become inner directed. The natural result of this practice is
the development of self-knowledge, self-discipline and genuine enthusiasm
for learning.
We call
for an expanded application of the tremendous knowledge we now have
about learning styles, multiple intelligences, and the psychological
bases of learning. There is no longer any excuse to impose learning
tasks, methods, and materials en masse when we know that any group
of students will need to learn in different ways, through different
strategies and activities. The work being done on multiple intelligences
demonstrates that an area of strength such as bodily kinesthetic,
musical, or visual spatial can be tapped to build an area of weakness
such as linguistic or logical-mathematical.
We question
the value of educational categories such as "gifted,"
"learning disabled," and "at-risk." Students
of all ages differ greatly across a full spectrum of abilities,
talents, inclinations, and backgrounds. Assigning these labels does
not describe a learner's personal potentials, it simply defines
one in relation to the arbitrary expectations of the system.
The term
"at-risk" is especially pernicious: It serves to uphold
the competitive, homogeneous goals of the educational system by
ignoring the personal experiences and perceptions which lie behind
a particular student's difficulties.
We suggest,
instead, that schooling should be transformed so as to respect the
individuality of every person - that we can build a true learning
community in which people learn from each other's differences, are
taught to value their own personal strengths, and are empowered
to help one another. As a result, each learner's individual needs
will be met.
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Principle
III. The Central Role of Experience
We affirm
what the most perceptive educators have argued for centuries:education
is a matter of experience. Learning is an active, multisensory engagement
between an individual and the world, a mutual contact which empowers
the learner and reveals the rich meaningfulness of the world. Experience
is dynamic and ever growing. The goal of education must be to nurture
natural, healthy growth through experience, and not to present a
limited, fragmented, predigested "curriculum" as the path
to knowledge and wisdom.
We believe
that education should link the learner to the wonders of the natural
world through experiential approaches that immerse the student in
life and nature. Education should connect the learner to the workings
of the social world through real-life contact with the economic
and social life of the community. And education should acquaint
the learner with the realm of his or her own inner world through
the arts, honest dialogue, and times of quiet reflection - for without
this knowledge of the inner self, all outward knowledge is shallow
and without purpose.
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Principle
IV. Holistic Education
We call
for wholeness in the educational process, and for the transformation
of educational institutions and policies required to attain this
aim. Wholeness implies that each academic discipline provides merely
a different perspective on the rich, complex, integrated phenomenon
of life. Holistic education celebrates and makes constructive use
of evolving, alternate views of reality and multiple ways of knowing.
It is not only the intellectual and vocational aspects of human
development that need guidance and nurturance, but also the physical,
social, moral, aesthetic, creative, and - in a nonsectarian sense
- spiritual aspects. Holistic education takes into account the numinous
mystery of life and the universe in addition to the experiential
reality.
Holism
is a re-emerging paradigm, based on a rich heritage from many scholarly
fields. Holism affirms the inherent interdependence of evolving
theory, research, and practice. Holism is rooted in the assumption
that the universe is an integrated whole in which everything is
connected. This assumption of wholeness and unity is in direct opposition
to the paradigm of separation and fragmentation that prevails in
the contemporary world.
Holism
corrects the imbalance of reductionistic approaches through its
emphasis on an expanded conception of science and human possibility.
Holism carries significant implications for human and planetary
ecology and evolution. These implications are discussed throughout
this document.
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Principle
V. New Role of Educators
We call
for a new understanding of the role of the teacher. We believe that
teaching is essentially a vocation or calling, requiring a blend
of artistic sensitivity and scientifically grounded practice. Many
of today's educators have become caught in the trappings of competitive
professionalism: tightly controlled credentials and certification,
jargon and special techniques, and a professional aloofness from
the spiritual, moral and emotional issues inevitably involved in
the process of human growth.
We hold,
rather, that educators ought to be facilitators of learning, which
is an organic, natural process and not a product that can be turned
out on demand. Teachers require the autonomy to design and implement
learning environments that are appropriate to the needs of their
particular students.
We call
for new models of teacher education which include the cultivation
of the educator's own inner growth and creative awakening. When
educators are open to their own inner being, they invite a co-learning,
co-creating process with the learner. In this process, the teacher
is learner, the learner is teacher. What teaching requires is an
exquisite sensitivity to the challenges of human development, not
a pre-packaged kit of methods and materials.
We call
for learner-centered educators who display a reverence and a respect
for the individual. Educators should be aware of and attentive to
each learner's needs, differences and abilities and be able to respond
to those needs on all levels. Educators must always consider each
individual in the contexts of family, school, society, the global
community and the cosmos.
We call
for the debureaucratization of school systems, so that schools (as
well as homes, parks, the natural world, the workplace, and all
places of learning) can be places of genuine human encounter. Today's
restructuring literature emphasizes "accountability,"
placing the teacher at the service of administrators and policy
makers.
We hold
instead that the educator is accountable, above all, to the young
people who seek a meaningful understanding of the world they will
someday inherit.
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Principle
VI. Freedom of Choice
We call
for meaningful opportunities for real choice at every stage of the
learning process. Genuine education can only take place in an atmosphere
of freedom. Freedom of inquiry, of expression, and of personal growth
are all required. In general, students should be allowed authentic
choices in their learning. They should have a significant voice
in determining the curriculum and disciplinary procedures, according
to their ability to assume such responsibility.
However,
we recognize that some instructional approaches will remain largely
adult-guided due to philosophical convictions or because they serve
special student populations. The point is that families and students
need to be free to choose such approaches, and free not to.
Families
should have access to a diverse range of educational options in
the public school systems. In place of the current system which
offers a handful of "alternatives," public education should
be comprised of numerous alternatives. It must no longer be the
mission of public education to impose a homogenized culture on a
diverse society.
There
is still a need for non-public schools, which tend to be more receptive
to far-reaching innovations, and which are more capable of embodying
the values of particular religious or other closely knit communities.
Families should have freedom to educate their children at home,
without undue interference from public authorities. Home schooling
has proven to be educationally, socially, and morally nourishing
for many children and families.
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Principle
VII. Educating for a Participatory Democracy
We call
for a truly democratic model of education to empower all citizens
to participate in meaningful ways in the life of the community and
the planet. The building of a truly democratic society means far
more than allowing people to vote for their leaders -- it means
empowering individuals to take an active part in the affairs of
their community. A truly democratic society is more than the "rule
of the majority" - it is a community in which disparate voices
are heard and genuine human concerns are addressed. It is a society
open to constructive change when social or cultural change is required.
In order
to maintain such a community, a society must be grounded in a spirit
of empathy on the part of its citizens - a willingness to understand
and experience compassion for the needs of others. There must be
a recognition of the common human needs which bind people together
into neighbourhoods, nations, and the planetary community. Out of
this recognition there must be a concern for justice.
In order
to secure these high ideals, citizens must be enabled to think critically
and independently. True democracy depends on a populace able to
discern truth from propaganda, common interests from partisan slogans.
In an age when politics are conducted via "sound bytes"
and deceptive public relations, critical inquiry is more vital than
ever to the survival of democracy.
These
are all educational tasks. Yet the teaching/learning process cannot
foster these values unless it embodies them. The learning environment
must itself revolve around empathy, shared human needs, justice,
and the encouragement of original, critical thinking. Indeed, this
is the essence of true education; it is the Socratic ideal, which
has rarely been realized in educational systems.
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Principle
VIII. Educating for Global Citizenship
We believe
that each of us - whether we realize it or not - is a global citizen.
Human experience is vastly wider than any single culture's values
or ways of thinking. In the emerging global community, we are being
brought into contact with diverse cultures and world views as never
before in history.
We believe
that it is time for education to nurture an appreciation for the
magnificent diversity of human experience, and for the lost or still
uncharted potentials within human beings. Education in a global
age needs to address what is most fully, most universally human
in the young generation of all cultures.
Global
education is based on an ecological approach, which emphasizes the
connectedness and interdependence of nature and human life and culture.
Global education facilitates the awareness of an individual's role
in the global ecology, which includes the human family and all other
systems of the earth and universe. A goal of global education is
to open minds. This is accomplished through interdisciplinary studies,
experiences which foster understanding, reflection and critical
thinking, and creative response.
Global
education reminds us that all education and all human activity needs
to rest on principles which govern successful ecological systems.
These principles include the usefulness of diversity, the value
of cooperation and balance, the needs and rights of participants,
and the need for sustainability within the system.
Other
important components of global education include understanding causes
of conflict and experiencing the methods of conflict resolution.
At the same time, exploring social issues such as human rights,
justice, population pressures, and development is essential to an
accurate understanding of the causes of war and conditions for peace.
Since
the world's religions and spiritual traditions have such enormous
impact, global education encourages understanding and appreciation
of them and of the universal values they proclaim, including the
search for meaning, love, compassion, wisdom, truth, and harmony.
Thus, education in a global age addresses what is most fully and
universally human.
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Principle
IX. Educating for Earth Literacy
We believe
that education must spring organically from a profound reverence
for life in all its forms. We must rekindle a relationship between
the human and the natural world that is nurturing, not exploitive.
This is at the very core of our vision for the twenty-first century.
The planet Earth is a vastly complex, but fundamentally unitary
living system, an oasis of life in the dark void of space.
Post-Newtonian
science, systems theory, and other recent advances in modern thought
have recognized what some ancient spiritual and mythological traditions
have taught for centuries: The planet, and all life upon it, form
an interdependent whole.
Economic,
social, and political institutions must engender a deep respect
for this interdependence. All must recognize the imperative need
for global cooperation and ecological sensitivity, if humankind
is to survive on this planet. Our children require a healthy planet
on which to live and learn and grow. They need pure air and water
and sunlight and fruitful soil and all the other living forms that
comprise Earth's ecosystem. A sick planet does not support healthy
children.
We call
for education that promotes earth literacy to include an awareness
of planetary interdepenence, the congruence of personal and global
well-being, and the individual's role and scope of responsibility.
Education needs to be rooted in a global and ecological perspective,
in order to cultivate in younger generations an appreciation for
the profound interconnectedness of all life.
Earth
education involves a holistic assessment of our planet and the processes
that sustain all life. Central to this study are knowledge of basic
support systems for life, energy flows, cycles, interrelationships
and change. Earth education is an integrative field including politics,
economics, culture, history, personal and societal change processes.
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Principle
X. Spirituality and Education
We believe
that all people are spiritual beings in human form who express their
individuality through their talents, abilities, intuition and intelligence.
Just as the individual develops physically, emotionally and intellectually,
each person also develops spiritually.
Spiritual
experience and development manifest as a deep connection to self
and others, a sense of meaning and purpose in daily life, an experience
of the wholeness and interdependence of life, a respite from the
frenetic activity, pressure and over-stimulation of contemporary
life, the fullness of creative experience, and a profound respect
for the numinous mystery of life. The most important, most valuable
part of the person is his or her inner, subjective life--the self
or the soul.
The absence
of the spiritual dimension is a crucial factor in self-destructive
behaviour. Drug and alcohol abuse, empty sexuality, crime and family
breakdown all spring from a misguided search for connection, mystery
and meaning and an escape from the pain of not having a genuine
source of fulfilment.
We believe
that education must nourish the healthy growth of the spiritual
life, not do violence to it through constant evaluation and competition.
One of the functions of education is to help individuals become
aware of the connectedness of all life. Fundamental to this awareness
of wholeness and connectedness is the ethic expressed in all of
the world's great traditions: "What I do to others I do to
myself."
Equally
fundamental to the concept of connectedness is the empowerment of
the individual. If everyone is connected to everyone and everything
else, then the individual can and does make a difference.
By fostering
a deep sense of connection to others and to the Earth in all its
dimensions, holistic education encourages a sense of responsibility
to self, to others and to the planet. We believe that this responsibility
is not a burden, but rather arises out of a sense of connection
and empowerment. Individual, group and global responsibility is
developed by fostering the compassion that causes individuals to
want to alleviate the suffering of others, by instilling the conviction
that change is possible and by offering the tools to make those
changes possible.
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There
is no copyright on this document.
GATE
(The Global Alliance for Transforming Education) offered it to the
world as a new foundation for education. We only ask that you acknowledge
its source so that people can reach us to further the vision.
Call
Four Winds at 413.528.4262 for further information about GATE.
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*Mary Beth Merritt, Ph.D. served on the Steering Committee
in the early 1990's and continues her enthusiastic support and endorsement
of the GATE Vision.
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