This blog post focuses on three articles that motivated a constant debate: the corruption of the education system. The three articles are called: “An Introduction to the Study of Non-Western and Indigenous Educational Traditions: A Philosophical Starting Point,” “Toward a Postcolonial Comparative and International Education,” and “Reconstructing Local Knowledge.” These three articles had a same subject focus. This focus was education around the world. It also explains how knowledge is considered “irrelevant” in the eyes of the education system. The issue focuses on using methods, to decolonize the education system and the way that we think. However, each author was trying to fight for different purposes.
Reagan was advocating for change within the education system. However, his article provided a broader introduction on how including non-Western practices and education could be beneficial and necessary. Takayama et. al. focused on a similar issue with the education and practices of non-Western through the field of Comparative and International Education (CIE) and colonial entanglements of the production of knowledge and thought. Lastly, Canagarajah focused on the local knowledge of people within their own communities.
Reagan was advocating for change in the education system, by allowing knowledge to be incorporated. However, with the Western knowledge production, it considers knowledge to be meaningless, or irrelevant to the education system. The education system desires all its students to be the “same.” Basically, to not have a deviating opinion, and to just know that the education system is the hierarchy and is always considered an “expert.” However, the education system is brainwashing us to all be one in the same. We must challenge the education system to hear our opinions, to know what the future can hold, and to be regular people, besides just working to death (sorry I know that is kind of dark).
Takayama et. al. were advocating for the learning of colonial entanglements, which are not really spoken about. These authors are advocating for the readers to focus on the comparative and international education (CIE). This article was easier to read and grasp at a quicker pace, because of the handy highlighted notes. I believe that the education system became entangled within colonialism. However, it is not simple to decolonialize knowledge. During the Cold War, education systems were modernized and manipulated. However, it needs to be modernized again. It is as if the education system is still close-minded. The main thing that educational systems want out of their students is to be good workers. The education system does not teach us how to be homeowners, pay taxes, etc. The following quote hit me the hardest: “Within the US Cold War geopolitical strategy, comparative educationists were regarded as experts who could be sent out to reform education systems in developing countries” (Takayama et. al., S12). I believe that a country’s own people know what is best for their own. People who are deemed to be “experts” in the educational systems of foreign countries should not be. It is unjust for these “experts” to judge and manipulate other educational systems that are not their own.
The last article, written by Canagarajah described the knowledge of the people within their own communities. This author focuses on the distinct sectors of how local knowledge is broken down, by category. The types of local knowledge were described in was the anthropological sense, the social sense, the academic sense, and in the professional sense. This article is the most different than the other two. This is because it encourages for the people of its own communities to establish the way they want to run its own society. This society is known to not be approved by the “experts.” It is formed into their own society and way of life. From this own developed knowledge, the people can communicate with communities close by, and obtain knowledge from them, and give them knowledge as well.
I do believe that the education system is corrupt. I think this because it does not consider that some children learn at a slower pace or have disabilities. The education system seems to look down upon these students, as if they are not “good enough” as the other students. When I was a child, I had an issue with reading comprehension. This issue continued and lingered until I was 11 years old. I remember only being looked down upon when I got my scores back from the ELA exams and feeling like I was not enough. I also have a fond memory that I was going to be held back a grade when I was in elementary school. This was due to the constant issue I had with reading comprehension. I remember being able to pronounce words correctly at such a young age, but I did not understand what I was reading, and I did not remember what I read.
I remember being doubted by my teachers as a child. Looking back and being a year away from obtaining a master’s degree in Chemistry, I cannot be more thankful for my journey. Although my journey was difficult, I was able to prove to all the teachers that doubted me in the past, that I became successful in my life. I believe that education systems should decrease their rude opinions of their own students and allow the students to be their own people. It is unjust to crush a student’s dreams at any age, due to a set-back or a disability. Those set-backs and disabilities do not define who a child is and has the potential to become. Instead, it pushes us to do better and be the best people we can be, for our own satisfaction and closure.
These three articles relate to my midterm paper because it talks about how the education system is corrupt, by forcing us all to be closed-minded students that work for the rest of their lives, for wages that are not even enough to afford living here. It is up to us, the people, to manipulate our education system, for our benefit, and not for the benefit of the hierarchy.
Bibliography:
Reagan, Timothy. “An Introduction to the Study of Non-Western and Indigenous Educational Traditions: A Philosophical Starting Point.” Non-Western Educational Traditions, 2004, pp. 17–44., https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410611437-5.
Takayama, Keita, et al. “Toward a Postcolonial Comparative and International Education.” Comparative Education Review, vol. 61, no. S1, May 2017, pp. S1–S24., https://doi.org/10.1086/690455.
Canagarajah, Suresh. “Reconstructing Local Knowledge.” Journal of Language, Identity & Education, vol. 1, no. 4, 2002, pp. 243–259., https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327701jlie0104_1.