No 2 Spring 2004 C E N T R E P O I N T Newsletter of the Presentation Centre for Policy and Systemic Change 37- 39 T erenure Road West, Dublin 6W. T el: 01 492 7097 Fax: 01 492 6423 Web: www.presentation.ie Email: presirl@iol.ie ‘New Learn in g Spaces’ to Target Edu cation al Disadvan tage Towards a Spiritu ality “The unequal distribution of educational benefits is of Social Con cern an unacceptable outcome of a system that purports to be for everyone”, stated Aileen Walsh. “Statistical and other evidence testifies to the fact that By Ber n adette Flan agan educational disadvantage persists. A fundamental cause is the unequal distribution of the outcomes of Society is not a mechanism, an assembly of various education. Whilst the majority of people engage with sections. And it is not because the mechanism is working what the system offers and benefits accordingly, a wrongly, that society is ill. significant minority persistently fails to benefit in an It is ill because of wounds to the soul, to the deep emotional equal way. self. And wounds to the soul take a long, long time, to heal. Only time can help and patience, and a certain difficult The related issue, as highlighted by many repentance, commentators, is the paradoxical power of Long difficult repentance, a realization of life's mistake, And the freeing of the self from the endless repetition of the education. By empowering those who benefit from mistake, its processes, the education system dis-empowers Which religion at large has chosen to sanctify. those who do not. For instance, relative to people with educational qualifications those without them Adapted from ‘Healing’- by D. H. Lawrence are disadvantaged in terms of their life chances”, said Ms Walsh. Why does so much injustice persist in our world? Who is responsible for creating the sickness of in human misery, the continuing ecological degradation and the growth The paper argues that the philosophical rationale injustice, and how can it be remedied? What needs Gr owin g in lear n in g at Ballygr iffin Or gan ic Far m, see page 3 of the gap between North and South. “It is as though we are that underpins the system must incorporate explicit healing? Is it realistic to dream of a society where determined to regress to the most primitive of conditions of existence thinking in relation to educational disadvantage. The The Presentation Centre is calling for an integrated approach to tackle each one experiences joy and fulfillment, where each in the animal world, of the survival of the fittest”. thinking process needs to be an inclusive one that educational disadvantage with the creation of a new type of integrated one is nourished in body, mind, soul, and spirit, involves those who are disadvantaged rather than learning space as a radical response to the problem. where the Reign of God is tangible? What does it Mbeki echoes a view that goes back as far as Aristotle whereby the one that is simply about them. Their voices and the require of us? human being has been defined as a rational animal. The products of voices of their advocates need to be taken seriously “We need to consider the untapped potential that is present in many of that reason are democracy, charters of rights, social analysis, and placed central to any debate about educational the existing learning spaces. Has the full potential of the school for DH Lawrence’s poem entitled ‘Healing’ opens up a declarations of ethical action, and much logical argument. But these are reform. In the interest of education in general and, instance, been recognised? It is arguably the most significant of all new vista for future trends in socially-engaged failing to move the soul of humanity to compassion. Developing a new the eradication of educational disadvantage in learning spaces, particularly at the beginning of the lifelong learning spirituality. We have, it suggests, become accustomed spirituality of social concern must take account of the alienation from particular, there needs to be serious thinking about journey. The wider community is another significant learning space to addressing issues of injustice in a mechanistic a creation mysticism by uncritical immersion in rapid urban the fundamental purposes of education. An where much more could be happening, not least of these a multi-agency fashion. ‘I am for the expansion, and alienation from mystery by reductionist unequivocal purpose must be to ensure that what approach to tackling the problems associated with educational abolition of international … the work of scientific thinking. the education system offers, benefits everyone in an disadvantage. In that regard, it is the space wherein a wealth of human debt’, ‘I am for the equal way, relative to their abilities. and professional expertise could co-exist. con n ectin g elimination of discrimination I concur with the view expressed by Philip Wexler in his book against women’, ‘I am for The policy paper is influenced by the work of Paolo Mystical Society: An Emerging Social Vision (2001) that the spiritu ality, social “The potential to eliminate, educational disadvantage is within our grasp. making peace, not war’ we Freire. “Essentially, educational power needs to be work of connecting spirituality, social transformation and It exists in people and it exists in a variety of places. The overall chant in our rallies and transformed in the manner advocated by education is only just beginning. Behind this challenge is a tran sformation challenge is to reconfigure the existing resources, network all of the marches. Do we throw paradigm shift in the understanding of success and the educationalist Paolo Freire. In this ideology people involved (those who target and those who are targeted) and ourselves into relentless an d edu cation is achievement of targets. Danah Zohar tells a story in her book education’s power is emancipation from create, through this type of integration, the cohesive and holistic activism and campaigning Spiritual Intelligence (282-283) that illustrates how much of disadvantage and its negative effects. Creating the response that could seriously tackle the problem of educational because we have lost our on ly ju st what drives the current economic model of development disadvantage”, said Aileen Walsh, researcher with the Presentation capacity to imagine another originates from a misplaced understanding of progress: .........con tin u ed to page 2 Centre. begin n in g. way? The American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal In a policy paper to be published later this year, the Presentation And yet we must face the futility of the ways that Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. In this issu e: Centre agues that the current education system continues to fail have been tried for so long. Eight years after the final Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American a significant number of people. New approaches to bastions of the apartheid regime in Pretoria were complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long ● education and new ways of thinking about learning are Learning Pilot, Cork p. 3 formally dismantled, South African President Thabo it took to catch them. required. It stresses that the fundamental basis of Mbeki warned of the spectre of another “global ● change must be a placing of the person at the centre Learning Networks p. 4 apartheid” looming over the earth as the most The Mexican replied only a little while. The American then asked why of the learning process. The person is multi- concerted effort yet by world leaders to place the didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had ● dimensional and thus has multi-dimensional Human Rights p. 5 planet on a sustainable path for the future got enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then needs. A one-size fits all approach will underway in Johannesburg. asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? ● not succeed in addressing Traveller Education p. 6 educational disadvantage. Addressing the opening session of the World Summit ● .........con tin u ed to page 7 Spirituality p. 8 on Sustainable Development (Aug/ Sept 2002), Mbeki detailed “tragic” but avoidable indices of the increase Page 8
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