The first post in this blog aligned education with culture. It is worthwhile dwelling a little on what we mean by culture in the context of education.
The principal understanding of culture in this blog revolves around the many processes and expressions of knowledge which have left their mark on communities. These ‘commanding heights’ of knowledge are reminders of the human person’s search for excellence, fulfillment and happiness. This search looks critically at the world around us while seeking to go beyond the merely material towards an ever greater understanding of the human person’s purpose on earth. What we call culture is the collective expression of these achievements.
To counter the obvious danger of fossilizing this collective knowledge and seeing culture as no more than a legacy from history, we need to ask ourselves what we can contribute to the ‘commanding heights’ of knowledge: this is a challenge for all educators.
Based on this broad definition, the place of culture in education would seem to be self-evident. Regrettably, this is not always the case. Much contemporary educational writing is rooted in the language of ‘innovation’ and undefined ‘relevance’ to the student: good education, on the other hand, introduces the student to what he or she does not know. Therein lies its beauty.
