TOWARDS DEMOCRACY IN TEACHER EDUCATION.Malgorzata Karwowska-Struczk

University of Warsaw,Poland.

****,1<>11."'.Dans eet artiete, I'auteur presente ses renexions sur les valeurs democratiques dans la formation desenseignants, renexions emanant d'une personne qui n'a pas jusqu'a present evolue dans un systemedemonatique mais qui vivait jusqu'a il y a peu dans un pays totalitaire communiste, par consequent quiavait une connaissance imprecise des droits et des devoirs des citoyens dans un systeme democratique. Cesremarques pourraient paraitre trop generales voire meme vagues, insuffisamment situees dans un contextelegal, politique et social de democratie. Elles renetent Ies doutes et les manques d'information a un certainniveau intellectuel et emotionnel qui peut etre defini comme une decouverte, un apprentissage, une recoltede connaissances sur la democratie et Ie developpement des capacites a utiliser eette connaissance dansla vie. L'education ici signifie une relation et non ses resultats. L'education par Ie dialogue donne commeconclusion que la democratie seeiale peut etre une relation - un dialogue entre des personnes - entre leur"MOl" Ie plus profond, une relation de valeurs eemme I'amour, Ie bien, Ie vrai, la liberte et laresponsabilite, la justice. Ce dialogue devient I'essentiel dans la formation des enseignants.

En esto articulo, el autor presenta sus renexiones sobre el papel que desempeiian los valores demecratieesen la formacion de los profesores, esta estan marcadas por la historia de esta persona que basta bace poco,aI vivir en un regimen comunista totalitario, tenia un contacto escaso con la realidad de un sistemademocratico, 10 que implica un conocimiento insufidente de los derecbos y deberes de un ciudadano endemocrada. Estas renexiones pueden parecer demaisiado generales, imprecisas tal vez, inadequadas dentrodel contexto legal, politico y social de un reaimen democratico. Renejan las dudas e incertidumbres delque ba lIegado a un nivel intelectual y emotivo que puede ser definido como proximo a un descubrimiento,un aprendizaje, una adquisidon de saber sobre la democracia y el desarrollo de capaeidades neeesariaspara emplear este sabre en fa vida. La educacion, en este ease, significa una relacion y no una finalidad.La educacion para el diailogo muestra, en ultima instancia, que la democracia social puede ser unarelacion- un diailogo entre personas sus mas profundos "Yo", una relacion de algunos valores como elamor, el bien, la verdad, la libertad, la responsabilidad, la justicia. La educacion para el dililogo entre lagente y la educacion por el dialogo se transforman en el elemento esencial de Ia formacion de losprofesores.•.

What is Democracy?The reflections on democratic values inteacher education presented here are thoseof a person who, so far, has not had muchto do with a democratic system, who untilrecently lived in a totalitarian communistcountry and therefore is a person who hasa rather inaccurate knowledge of the rightsand duties of a citizen in a democraticsystem. My remarks may seem too general,even vague, inadequately situated in thelegal, political and social context ofdemocracy. These reservations do notresult from a defensive attitude. Rather,they reflect my doubts and my awarenessof being at a certain intellectual andemotional stage that can be defined asdiscovery, learning, collecting knowledge

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about democracy and developing abilitiesto use the knowledge in life. Whenundertaking this attempt to discover theprinciples which govern democraticfunctioning in this specific sphere ofreality which is teacher education andtraining, I had a very obscure image ofwhat I could and would write. Mymeditations on the subject led me toembark on an intellectual journey.

I began my preparation for the article bylooking for information on the so-calleddemocratization in teacher education in theoffice of the educational authorities. Thiswas not because democracy is made byadministration. For democracy to bereflected in the life of a society, it must be

accepted and internalised In humanrelations, therefore its roots lie incommunication between people. My visitto the Ministry of Education was inducedby the conviction that democracy existsonly on the national level. - I am going toprove my point.

The Ministry of Education is still adominating decision-making power inteacher education in Poland. Althoughinstitutions training teachers are to someextent autonomous, they are financed bythe central budget, which strongly affectsall areas of teacher training, as theallocated means are constantly decreasing.This leads to the pauperisation ofuniversity teachers, insufficient investmentsin the didactic and methodologicalinfrastructures, the lack of motivation forinnovation in student education, etc. Butthese were not the only consequences offinancial centralisation. The Ministry ofEducation for instance confirms allcurricula for teacher training colleges, andcriteria for the admission of students.

At the beginning of my intellelectualjourney I determined only generally theareas of likely search, i.e. indications ofinstitutional and social democratisation,with the stress laid rather on the socialaspect as, on the national level, one canalready speak of a democratic system:the members of parliament are chosen inrepresentative general elections and eachcitizen is guaranteed passive and activeelectoral rights, freedom of choice, equalityand participation in the government of thecountry through the elected representativesand opposition.In spite of these phenomena, which testifyto the existence of a democratic (evenliberal) system, my own feelings about thedemocracy manifesting itself in everydaylife reflect what 1. Dewey said eighty yearsago "A democracy is more than a form ofgovernment: it is primarily a mode of

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associated living of conjoint communicatedexperience" THIS democracy is what we lack.

Before proceeding with remarks on the so­called indications of democracy in sociallife, I would like to define more or lessaccurately what I mean by democracy inorder to avoid criticism of voluntary lackof precision. Historical facts have provedhow important the notion is. Obviously itis burdened with various connotations ofideological origin. I remember from myown not so remote experience, referencesto socialist and capitalist democracies,without explanation of the difference. Thedifferences were fundamental: the latter wasa systemic or even social democracy; theformer did not exist. Therefore democracy isindependent of ideology.

Let us imagine democracy in a state witha totalitarian dictatorship, where there isrepression and depreciating of humandignity, where man's basic rights were notrespected and often violated - In the periodof Stalinist terror (i.e. up to 1953) whenthe Government was by majority, whichrepresented the so called 'working class' itwas not only political opponents whowere murdered, tortured or deprived ofdignity in the name of democracy. One ofthe Polish scholars once said that the moreone speaks about democracy, the less hehas in common with democracy.

In my opimon, democracy meansprimarily, respect for human dignity, andparticipation in creating the reality ofhuman and personal dimensions. In otherwords, democracy is a special relationshipbetween people. It can be said that it is therelation of democratic values betweenindividuals. The interrelationship betweendemocracy and education in the form ofmore precise notions and with regard tothe above definitions may be the following

These do not cover all primary notions, butdraw attention to basic values which Imean when I talk about relations betweenpeople/individuals and a person/individualand his own I. I also think that only amature personality - autonomous in hischoices, decisions, thinking and behaviour,not subject to self-deception mechanisms,understanding the motives of his ownbehaviour, allocentric in interactions withothers and treating each individual as aperson (i.e. as the greatest value and notmeans to reach a goal) realises thesevalues in social life and in everydaycontact with another person.

Democracyfreedom

truthgoodhuman dignitytoleranceparticipationcompromise

Educationrights and duties ofstudents, teachers andparentscooperationdouble subjectivityhuman dignitytoleranceresponsibilitycompromise.

another person. In the light of this, itmeans becoming a more mature personalityand the acceptance of these values in thelife of the society as a whole.

Some believe that contemporary trends inpsychology and pedagogy, focusing as theydo on autonomy, individuality, inde­pendence and personal freedom and in thesocial sphere, on liberalism, have created aconvenient basis for relativity andsubjectivity in the evaluation of thebehaviour of the individual. Therefore theyhave contested the existence offundamental, universal values and havegiven rise to egoism, intolerance andnationalism. Freedom thus interpreted doesnot go together with responsibility for thelife of another person, social group, nationor international community, because aperson limits him or herself to thinkingonly of themselves, their own needs andfreedom, without being responsible,tolerant of differences and accepting. Aperson's "I" becomes the major value.

When talking about moving towardsdemocracy and the realisation ofdemocratic values, we often fall into thestereotyping trap, e.g. we try to attain someideal, model, norm. Then a personbecomes an instrument to achieve that aimand may then be exploited in a morallyshameful way: "A worthy aim woulddetermine the rightness of behaviour and notthe moral evaluation ofactions leading to thegoal" (Rauman, 1993).

It is true that liberalism and democracygive a person a possibility to experiencehis or her free will and to make choices,but he or she does not always have controlover everything of concern. May he or shenot get lost in the pursuit of even thenoblest goal? That is why I would like usto live not for but with, democracy, whichmeans a laborious discovery of democraticvalues in day to day relationships with

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However on the other hand, all totalitariansystems have aimed at eliminating thedifferences between individuals, ethnicgroups and cultures. Of greatest value wasthat which was general, common, identical,repeatable. One can perceive the existenceof two parallel tendencies:individualistic and egotistical, and collectiveand egotistical.Neither of them tried to combine what isindividual and unique in a person orculture with that which is common or evencollective, i.e, a unifying element. It seemsthat such a fundamental value on a worldscale should be the unique existence ofindividuals, groups and cultures with acommon communication code. The codemay be democratic values or, even more,universally accepted non-ideologicalHuman Rights.

Although democracy is recognised as the

most perfect system as construed so far, itmeans (as with every other system) acertain dominance, in this case thedominance of the majority over theminority, which may cause discontent andfrustration of the latter, expressed by therefusal to participate, passive resistance oreven open struggle. Human Rights placeall of us on the same level and in thesame area of rights and duties towardsothers. Thus in our search for thedefinition of democracy we have reachedthe point where we should rejectdemocracy interpreted as a certain code ofhuman behaviour and accept democracy ascompulsory Human Rights.

What is currently happening to ourstruggle for democracy?In this field one can recognise two patternsof behaviour -- institutional or public;- social or interpersonal;An invitation to democracy in the sphereof public government and the election ofstate and community authorities has beenaccepted and is becoming a reality.However one evaluates the results of thelast parliamentary elections and theirethical aspect, they were certainlydemocratic, i.e. the ruling coalition waschosen by the majority of those voting.The liberalisation ofmany aspects ofsocialand political life on the institutional levelis a fact. Not long ago it was impossiblefor the opposition parties to express theiropinions freely or to publish their ownpress. However, does this democracy,tolerating differences and granting variousgroups the right to interpret and questionfacts cover all the connotations of the ideaof democracy which I accept? There areother connotations unimaginable now,when the Polish parliament is dominatedby two post-communist parties. We have asituation where the parliament andgovernment actually represent the post­communist minority, who regard

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themselves as representatives of the wholenation because they were chosen indemocratic elections in which little morethan 40% of the electorate voted, i.e. thosewho were most interested in political andsocial changes. The others simply do notcare. Frustrated and helpless, unhappyvictims of long years of pathological waysof social functioning, they were not able toavail themselves of the benefits of theirfreedom - the right given to them bydemocracy. Is it only their fault? Suchbehaviour may be interpreted in differentways.

Firstly, for about fifty years of atotalitarian state and authoritariangovernment at all levels of life, includingeducational institutions, where humanindividuals weretreated in such a way as toinculcate useful habits and were trainedlike animals instead of beingcommunicated with as human beings, whohave been active, self-oriented personssince birth, able to cope with theenvironment and to modify interactions,building up their knowledge of the worldand themselves from the very beginning oftheir lives. (Babska, Shugar, 1986)

Secondly, the public reaction to democracymay be the consequence of becomingintoxicated with freedom and the right torefuse to participate in the elections. In thetotalitarian state voting was anadministrative "obligation and nonpart­icipation was regarded as dangerous toone's status, property etc. Finally it is timeto choose, but the consequences of thischoice can be unforeseen.

It cannot be said that people did notchoose to make use of the nominallyobtained, legally guaranteed freedom. It isan ordinary situation. To enjoy freedom is,in other words to create and develop one'sown world and a common world, afterone's own idea (Krol 1989). But it could

be done without one's participation in life.Another example, this time connected witheducation (and education of teachers)shows how difficult it is. The President ofWarsaw University was himself obliged tohold individual Departmental headsresponsible for arranging the election forthe student self-governing board, as severalattempts to convene a general meeting ofthe student body failed to achieve therequired quorum.

That fact lead me to realise how arduous,long and complicated is the process oftransforming personalities to make us intocitizens. A people free without beingresponsible for their own and otherpeoples' actions, accepting democraticvalues only nominally, i.e. choosing theeasiest way - rights without duties,freedom without responsibility andparticipation - this is the image of manyPolish people who interpret democracyidealistically and intellectually as one moreideal or model of social functioning, whichhas nothing to do with real life.

I see the justification of this manner ofthinking in the conception ofeducation andpedagogy itself. Contemporary pedagogybases itself on the erroneous theory ofman, which should be abandoned, andwhich originates from the idealistic trendof philosophy according to which the goalof all educational work is a person - notthe creator of culture but its result. It couldbe said that socialisation is a mainmechanism of his or her life. Howeverpeople are persons of real existence(Gogacz, 1993) From birth he or she reactsto love and, later returns love, at the sametime expecting love and confidence inmutual contacts; he or she shows wisdomand possesses a sense of freedom.

Realistic pedagogy is concerned withconsolidating the relationship with all thatis true and good, therefore the relationships

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between a person and truth and good.Education here means a relationship andnot the effect. The relationship between aperson and truth and good means to pursuethem and to be guided by them. Byaccepting this assumption about the subjectof education, realistic pedagogy treats alleducational influence not as aiming at theanticipated model set of goals and values,but as a developing relationship based ontruth, good, wisdom, freedom andresponsibility .

Education for dialogue.So far in my reflections I have beenattempting to define the area of democraticfunctioning of a man or woman - a person.I have been trying to state precisely whatI mean by political democracy (that wasthe easiest task) and social democracy. Atthis point I came to the conclusion thatsocial democracy may be a relationship - adialogue between persons, between theirdeepest "I's" a relationship of such valuesas love, good, truth, freedom andresponsibility, justice. Education for sucha dialogue between people and educationby (in) dialogue becomes the way of socalled teacher education. Thus interpreteddialogue becomes a value to be striven forin education. It is also a carrier of thepreviously stated values.

The education of teachers is perceived tohave a double meaning;- as providing a future teacher with theopportunity to exploit fully his or her ownhuman character in a dialogue with anotherperson, through his or her own development,therefore in a dialogue with him-herself andanother penIOn,.- giving a partner in the dialogue a chance todiscover fully his or her humanity in theprocess of education.

The dialogue can take three forms on thelevel of teacher education and on the levelof education:

• factual dialogue which aims at truth andconcerns all that surrounds us;- personal dialogue, the goal of which is theauthentic discovery of one's own and anotherpersons "I". The subject ofpersonal dialogueis the unification ofpersons, which is possiblewhen the partners express their personalexperiences, preferences, feelings - theirdeepest "1".- existential dialogue, the aim of which is tooffer each other goods residing in eIIchperson. The subject of this dialogue isoffering oneself to another person.(Twardowski 1991) .

Until now pedagogical practice can be seenas an instructing and disciplining model inwhich a teacher guarded an ideology andbrought up functionaries of that ideology.Now, in the opinion of some, we shouldeducate functionaries ofcivilisation insteadof people who are just, good, authentic andopen to themselves and others. "The worldawaiting us is more interested in educatingfunctionaries of civilisation (banking,economy, technology) than educatingrlgkteens people. In Poland the reigningbelief is that the fate of the country dependson politics and economy..... There must appearthe third and maybe the most importanttransformation - the transformation ofa mancreated by education." (Twardowski, 1991)

The accent on dialogue in education andinstruction assumes the treatment ofanother person as a subject. Both partnersof the educational process are co-subjectsin an interaction which is a dialogue in itsthree forms."Education is the whole means and processeshelping a human being to realise hishumanity, particularly through interaction.Thus the main aim of education is gettingmore and more HUMAN beings. (Schaller1977).

Teacher education and democracy.In my first remarks - the beginning of myintellectual journey - I mentioned a visit tothe Ministry of Education. I am sorry to

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realise the fact of the totalitarian subjectionof my consciousness. To obtain theinformation on autonomous, independentinstitutions of teacher training, universitiesand pedagogical schools, I went to thegovernmental office. As it transpired, itwas a worthwhile action because manythings are happening there.The Ministry was preparing for aninternational conference on civic education.At the conference the first Polishprogramme of civic education for teachersand the parallel programme for students atsecondary schools, designed by Polishscholars was presented. (Twardowski1991).

The aim of the course is to provideprospective teachers with the knowledgeand skills necessary for establishingdemocratic relations in selected areas ofschool work. The course has both cognitiveand practical aims. Training in basic skillsconnected with democratic participation isan indispensable element of teachers'qualifications in a democratic society. Theareas of a teacher's functioning are seen as;- The status and role of a teacher/rights and

responsibilities.- The rights and responsibilities ofa student.- Parents participation in education.- School and the local community.- The allocation offinancial means in educ-

ation.- School as an organised community.- The role of the school in a democratic

society(Kurs et a1. 1993)Every student in teacher training will haveto follow the programme of civiceducation.

So far in Poland there have been severalother projects aiming at the enlargement ofknowledge on democracy and the trainingskills necessary for social communicationbased on democratic values. Nobodyknows what the effects of such actions will

be, but we will be able to see how thePolish school and Polish society havechanged.

Providing teachers with knowledge, andwhat is more important, with the abilitiesto function democratically in theirrelationships with students, teaching staff,parents and the local community, can helphim or her to perceive various situations ina new way - to become more open to new

experiences - to appreciate the autonomousvalue of a human being in relationship toother people.

••••••••REFERENCES.A full list of Polish sources can be obtained fromthe author.Dewey, 1. (1964) Democracy and EducationLondon. McMillan.

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XXI WORLD CONGRESS of OMEPXXI CONGRES MONDIAL de L'OMEP

XXI CONGRESO MUNDIAL de la OMEPYOKOHAMA, JAPAN.

AUGUST 1995

BRINGING UP HUMAN BEINGS IN A MODERN ENVIRONMENT.

The children of the world are innocent, vulnerable and dependent. They are also curios, active andfull of hope. Their time should be one ofjoy and peace, ofplaying, learning and growing. Theirfuture should be shaped in harmony and co-operation. Their lives should mature, as they broadentheir perspectives and gain new experiences. (From the World Declaration on the Survival,Protection and Development agreed at the World Summit for Children, United Nations, New York,Sept 1990)

The theme chosen for the XX Ist WorldCongress reflects the simplicity and theessential quality of the needs of children forliving and growing. Environments may differfrom family to family and country to country,

but each child needs adults to raise him or heras a whole person. The more complex andhazadous society becomes, more, personsworking with children must reaffirm theircommitment to meet the simple essential needs

Papers are invited under the three main topics:1. Modern Environment and Young Children. 2. Childhood:the Formative Years.

3. Quality of Care and Education.Keynote speakers, and seminars will exam ine the topics.Pre- and post -congress programmes of visits and tours.

DETAILS from :- REGISTRATION SECRETARIAT, 21st WORLD CONGRESS OMEP.C/O International Communications Specialists Inc.

Kasho Bldg. 2F, 2-14-9 Nihonbashi Chuo-ku,Tokyo 103, Japan.

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