By Winfield Williams

When I began formal studies in education in the latter part of the seventies, I was required to read a book by Ivan Illich titled Deschooling Society. Illich, a radical catholic priest, was of the view that the institution of the school was failing miserably in its essential role of educating people. He argued that the structure of the school and its administration were the chief hindrances to education since they had little to do with its essential business – teaching and learning.

As a beginning student of education, my sensibilities went topsy-turvy since I could not conceive of society without schooling. However, as my studies progressed, it became clear to me that Illich’s position had much merit. For, I came to realize that many of our educational problems stemmed from the mistaken idea that the schools automatically delivered education to the society. While it is true that the school has been established to facilitate and regulate the discharge of the vital functions of teaching and learning, it is clear that this is not happening. Further, society continues to confuse education with schooling when it is painfully obvious that attendance at a school does not guarantee an education.

Distinction Between School and Education

This general failure to distinguish between schooling (the means) and education (the end) is the source of almost all of our education problems today. The result is that in our efforts to improve our education, we focus almost exclusively on the institutional trappings such as policy, administration and buildings – like "plywood schools". At the same time, we neglect or ignore the essence of education, which is the teaching and learning. Curiously, this is in keeping with the enduring social belief that once there is a huge wonderful house, there must be an excellent home and family within. Thus, as the fabric of the society begins to tear we try to remedy it by spending more money on housing.

This, of course, is shoddy thinking and we can see this in the many community centers around the country which do nothing for the communities in which they are located. In the field of education, we hear a lot of talk about management, administration and policy. Indeed, most of the people who do further training in education these days tend opt for these three areas of educational studies. Thus, if we look at our human resources in education today, we have many workers who have done educational administration and management but are very much in the dark about what they are to administer and manage. At the same time, there is overwhelming evidence which show that schools achieve excellence through good curriculum organization and supervision. The message here is clear: the solving of our educational problems must have its departure in the business of teaching and learning.

Essence of Education

This is the core of the education enterprise and considerations about management and policy are second-order. For schools are not established in order to show the management skills of people; nor for the glory of policy makers. Schools are created for the simple yet vital task of passing on knowledge for the effective continuance of social life. Therefore, we urgently need to focus on what and how we teach. It is this focus we really begin to address the daunting task of developing the minds of people.

Of course, the functions of management and control are much more seductive because they are more easily achieved. Further, they are the stuff of TV exhibitions and the adulations of ignorant politicians but they have done very little for educational development over the years. This is why the time has come for a change in focus towards the essence of education – teaching and learning.

This call goes out to the teachers as they celebrate their week. Teachers must understand that the business of teaching and learning must be the basis of their profession. Their struggle has to be for the development of the minds of their charges. And this cannot be achieved by the perfunctory rehash of a "Teargas Friday" and the litany of petty political conflicts with government. Indeed, all of this has comes about simply because the teaching profession has no grounding. This is especially so these days as teachers seem less and less willing to approach the task of the development of minds. This is no surprise since there is no facility within the professional association that will help them with the task.

I therefore make a plea to the Teachers’ Union to change the orientation of the Union and deal with those issues that go to the essence of education – teaching and learning. After all that is the raison d’etre of the profession and if this refocus does not take place, a moribund organization will surely have its final gasp, very soon.

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