states that changes can look impressive when represented in boxes, but they achieve little more than trivial changes in practice (Hargreaves, 1994: 10).
Furthermore, critical educational theory discourages indoctrination, memorisation, rote
learning and domination. Therefore, it creates room for learners to understand their
learning and be able to express their own ideas and producing knowledge according to
their understandings. In other words, it encourages learners to become creative and to
undertake a journey of self-discovery. Collins (2003: 79) notes that the principles of the
theory are based on the recognition that ordinary men and women have the capacity to name, analyse, explore and evaluate their own reality, and to become co-investigators in seeking solutions to the problems that beset them in their everyday lives. The investigative process is viewed as collective, dialogical, educative and emancipatory.
I argue that critical educational theory is the lens through which we can uncover and understand what we did not know and see before. The theory provides room for people to realise the ideology of self-governance. It liberates people's minds to accept or contest the notion of democratic education. With this in mind, my thesis is located within a philosophy of empowerment. Walker (in Johnston, 2003: 105) posits that research should not be merely a "happy hunting ground" for academics; rather it should empower those groups who have previously been marginalised, oppressed and disempowered. Lather (1991: 3-4) refers to this as the politics of empowerment, which she describes as:
The development of research approaches which empower those involved to change as well as understand the world. My usage of empowerment opposes the reduction of the term as it is used in the current fashion of individual self-assertion, upward mobility and the psychological experience of feeling powerful ... I use empowerment to mean analysing ideas about the causes of powerlessness, recognising systemic oppressive forces, and acting both individually and collectively to change the conditions of our lives.
I believe that employing critical educational theory enables people to take control of their own circumstances, to create understanding and possibilities for optimism and change, and ultimately to take greater control of their destinies. Such a theory will generate practices designed to transform social relations, to overcome domination and subordination. I argue that if Namibian institutions employ critical theory in their institutions, this will enable learners to discover their lifeworld. However, it does not make sense to talk about changing the world through social improvement if first of all we do not understand it better. This is what Ingram (in Collins & Swann, 2003: 144) has to say about this matter: " ... every successful understanding applies new meaning to the current situation thereby revealing new possibilities for action". In critical theory the lifeworld refers to the totality of experiences of an individual, circumscribed by the
objects, persons, and events encountered in the pursuit of the pragmatic objectives of living. It is a "world" in which a person is "wide awake", and it asserts itself as the paramount reality (Pratt & Swann, 2003: 205).
I contend that the introduction of democratic education in Namibia is a striving to create conditions for people whereby they can empower themselves to be able to compete globally. As stated in Chapter I, the apartheid education system severed the Namibian people from the world. Therefore, even though the colonial and apartheid education system cut the Namibian people off from the rest of the world, educational transformation gives hope and courage to the Namibian people to uncover the ideals of their lifeworld. On the notion of lifeworld, Collins (1998: 168) emphasises that there is a sphere of human experiences where continuity of custom and tradition is sustained, where respect and loyalty for community is privileged, and from where a sense of belonging and security is derived. With this in mind, I shall use critical educational theory to explore and analyse education policy transformation in Namibia in terms of democratic change. Employing critical theory will hopefully emancipate me and enable me to identify and analyse the educational problems the current Ministry of Education is facing and how one can best deal with them. Moreover, by employing critical educational theory I shall explore and analyse the potential of democratic education to solve educational problems and indicate how democratic education can be a possible solution in eliminating these problems (which include lack of qualified or competent teachers, lack of teaching and learning materials, poor physical facilities, higher leamer-teacher ratios, and inequalities in resource allocation). I argue that the principal purpose of doing research is not to try to confirm existing theory, nor to create ideas for others to adopt uncritically; it is to challenge existing assumptions and expectations, and to develop new ideas and better ways of doing things.
2.5 Summary
In this chapter, firstly, I discussed the distinction between method and methodology. I expound on the method for this thesis, which is conceptual analysis. In short, conceptual analysis involves three things: first, searching for logically necessary conditions which constitute concepts; secondly, knowing the historical development according to which concepts became manifested in practices; and thirdly, knowing the
relational meanings of concepts. Three different methodologies were also discussed:
positivist educational theory, interpretive educational theory and critical educational theory. I indicated that the methodology appropriate for this thesis is critical educational theory. Much of the work in educational transformation involves critical inquiry. In the next chapter I shall first attempt to explore and analyse the key concept of this study, namely educational transformation. I highlight the understanding of the notion of consensus, because it has a particular bearing on democratic education. I further explore constitutive meanings of educational transformation, with specific reference to the curriculum change, teacher education change, democratic participation and quality education.
CHAPTER THREE
EXPLORING CONSTITUTIVE TRANSFORMATION
3.1 Introduction
MEANINGS OF EDUCATIONAL
Educational transformation in an independent Namibia was introduced for the first time in 1991. During this period the education system (in the independent Namibia) was still characterised by factors which hindered education such as irrelevance of the curriculum and the inadequate teacher education programme which I alluded to earlier. There was a lack of democratic participation within the education and training system. Teachers, parents, administrators and the other stakeholders were largely excluded from the decision-making processes in education (Avenstrup, 1998; MEC, 1993; Tjitendero, 1984). Moreover, the teaching method was mainly teacher-centred, which was ineffective and frustrating for most learners. Schools were essentially authoritarian institutions, with learners having little say in their learning and with little in the way of explicit attempts to educate for democracy. Indeed, some writers such as Handy (1984) have gone as far as to describe traditional schools as prisons, given the lack of participation afforded to learners. Others emphasised the mass production and certification role of schools and described them as factories (Harber, 1998: 2). In terms of educating democratic citizens these are not flattering analogies, especially when we bear in mind that the teacher's role of prison warden or factory supervisor has often been backed up with the physical violence of corporal punishment as stated in Chapter 1. Learners certainly did not have any say in school matters. Participation, power sharing. and consultation in decision-making were non existent. Apartheid led to a breakdown in relations between learners, parents, educators and education management authorities, particularly in disadvantaged Black school communities. In most disadvantaged schools, education and the development of skills suffered. There was a culture of violence, destruction and resistance instead of a culture of teaching and learning. Against this background the challenge for Namibia at independence was to transform education into a democratic system with a reasonable degree of consensus about what democracy is (Avenstrup, 1998: 7).