INFORMES DE AUDITORÍA DE CUENTAS Y DE CONTROL FINANCIERO PERMANENTE

Philosophy and education are intertwined with each other and with the cultural values of our society. Each reciprocally influences and is in turn influenced by the others.

(Peters et al, in Werner, 2000:1)

There are several significant philosophies assigned to adult education, but just as there exists no one philosophy, there exists no single purpose around which adult educators unite. In this chapter, I shall consider the various adult education philosophies and consider where my philosophical approach to education and research lies. I shall also present here the particular research approach, methods and techniques that befit my philosophy and study.

Merriam and Brocket (1997) categorise various western philosophical perspectives in rough chronological order: liberal-progressive, behaviourist- humanist, and most recently, the radical perspective. For the purposes of this paper, I have arranged the philosophies using Merriam and Brocket’s categorisation.

Liberal philosophy of education goes back to the ancient Greeks where education was undertaken for its own sake; its purpose is to develop intellectual powers of the mind. Few universities today provide only a traditional liberal education, though curricula often contain liberal studies.

Progressive education expresses its purpose as promoting social change, the emphasis being on the learner’s needs and the focus of delivery changing from the teacher as ‘expert’ to the teacher as ‘facilitator’. Progressive education was influenced by American pragmatism, specifically by the educational philosophy of Dewey in the early 20th century, which laid the groundwork for a philosophy that considered the learner’s experience as the most valuable part of education (Michelson, 1999).

Behaviourism is a psychological theory that argues that adults are conditioned to behave in certain ways and that the environment can be manipulated to alter behaviour. The role of the teacher is as ‘manager’.

Two leading humanists, Maslow and Rogers, see education as a way to assist individuals to become fully autonomous and self-actualised, the humanist philosophy, therefore, has as its purpose personal growth and development. Malcolm Knowles, a prominent adult educator, is a strong advocate of humanism:

As individuals mature, their need and capacity to be self-directing, to use their experience in learning, to identify their own readiness to learn, and to organise their learning around life problems, increases steadily from infancy to preadolescence, and then increases rapidly during adolescence.

(1998:62)

Knowles’ theory of andragogy, the art and science of teaching adults, values self direction and autonomy. The primary focus, then, of the teacher is to facilitate the learning process by selecting appropriate learning experiences and encouraging application of the content.

As Werner (2000:6) states:

The humanistic approach has become an important part of adult basic education programmes to improve the poor self-concepts of many adult learners who have not been successful in previous education systems.

Radical philosophy has its purpose in bringing about, through education, radical, social, political and economic changes in society. Paulo Freire, an icon of this movement, emphasises the use of adult education to bring about changes in society, politics and the economy. The role of the teacher here is of co-ordinator and instigator, who suggests but does not determine the direction of learning.

The driving force of UFH, through its leadership, its students and its programmes, has been one of freedom and transformation; a role it has played since the inception of apartheid. The Faculty of M&C has, in addition to the traditional undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, worked with civil society and governments in transformational governance and developmental initiatives. Many programmes within the Faculty of M&C are espoused to progressive-radical traditions, seeking socio-cultural and economic betterment of civil society in the Eastern Cape and beyond.

My philosophy of education is located in the humanist-progressive approaches, recognising that the motivation for developing one's full learning potential is inherent in each of us. And reaching that full potential, I believe, would directly influence society and change. It is this theoretical framework that will inform my research study.

Models of RPL draw particularly heavily on humanistic and progressive traditions with the central aims of increasing confidence and self-worth; maximising individual educational potential and democratising traditional education and institutional practices. There has been little influence of the radical philosophy in RPL, a concern if its goal in South Africa is the transformation of the education landscape. As Harris (1997:7) warns, ‘the fact that a rhetorical radical voice echoed across the field of RPL suggests a somewhat romanticised vision of the concept’s potential as a vehicle for social change.’

Humanism is not without its critics. Fundamentalists on the religious-right consider humanism to be contrary to the basic tenets of theological orientations, though there is little in the literature that calls for such abandonment. Another argument is that humanism is about ‘self’ (a selfish concern) and therefore not concerned with society at large. A reflection of how humanists view the relationship between individual and society was made by Lindeman in 1926:

Adult education will become an agency of progress if its short- term goal of self-improvement can be made compatible with a long-time, experiential but resolute policy of changing the social order.

(in Hiemstra and Brockett, 1994:5)