What educators in Pakistan can learn from Tsunesaburo Makiguchi?

Abstract

This paper explains the teaching of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, a pioneering educator, author, and philosopher from Japan, and how it can be applied to the education system in Pakistan.

Curriculum in Pakistan

There are over 22.5 million children out of school in Pakistan.?Currently,?there are three?different systems of education?in Pakistan. An English-medium system for the elite of the country, Urdu?(national language)?medium,?and religious seminaries for the rest of the country.?For those who are in school, most children?are enrolled?in public schools, where education standards are highly unsatisfactory. Many parents were forced to get their children educated in private schools,?a highly expensive exercise for most parents in Pakistan, especially the salaried class.??(Academiamag, 2018). ?Pakistan,?due to its?continued?economic crises,?has caused a?disparity?between rich,?middle, and?low-income?families. The current?unemployment?rate is very high?in Pakistan. In addition to adults?with jobs, children?are?forced to leave school and look for employment. Despite these constraints, there is?a functional education system,?but?it has?inconsistencies.

There are?three types of?different systems of education?in Pakistan, an English-medium system for the country’s elite.?The English medium curriculum system was?adopted by British education?with a curriculum provided?by?Cambridge, London, and Oxford Education Boards. The?standardized?curriculum focuses on?subject matters relating to various disciplines leading to fields in Technology, Science, Liberal Arts, and Business. The content is very rigorous and covers?concepts?that?are not normally covered?in non-English medium educational institutions.

The?Urdu medium?schools follow?the?curriculum?provided by the Federal Ministry of Education?in Pakistan?and the?provincial governments?with fairly low budgets and attract students from?poor to lower-middle-class?families. Although?on paper, they read the same, in practice, they are quite?different,?the quality, applicability,?and?assessments are outdated. Graduates from these institutions cannot compete with graduates from the English medium and do not end up?with?white-collar jobs.

The?religious seminaries?are used by?the?remaining students who cannot attend English or Urdu medium schools. Unfortunately, these schools?follow?their?unregulated curriculum with less focus on secular courses and more focus on religious courses.?Graduates from these institutions lack skills that allow them to get jobs. Therefore, in most cases,?the graduates either teach religious studies to other students as tutors?for a small fee?or end up working?on?labor-centric?jobs that pay?minimum?wages.

The English and Urdu medium schools have five levels: primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary (School) Certificate or HSC); and university programs leading to graduate and advanced degrees.?(TransferWise content team, 2017)

Makiguchi's philosophy on Education vs. Pedagogy

Makiguchi preferred that pedagogy should be based on educator’s experiences, including their successes and failures, instead of philosophers and scholars. He wanted the pedagogy should be continuously tested for its effectiveness. Makiguchi distinguishes the difference between the purpose of education and the purpose of pedagogy. “The purpose of education focuses on what students need and what parents and society want students to achieve. Pedagogy aims to provide a guideline for teachers on how to accomplish the purposes of education. Philosophy of education deals with the question of “why,” whereas pedagogy deals with the question of “how.”?(Inukai, 2013)

Makiguchi mentioned that the science of education is to develop best practices that can be repeated and adopted by others. This supports a scalable model to provide a consistent experience to students. He wanted educational methodology should be “scientific and refined” by being “consciousness of one’s actions, clarity of purpose in work, and well-planned means to achieve that end”. Makiguchi further declared that “the real issue of pedagogy is not so much studying how teachers should act, but rather, how to teach students how to act valuably.” Therefore, teachers not only must be conscious of the means and the end of their own actions (teaching) but also must make students conscious of the means and the end of their work (studying). The educational methodology should provide the techniques to meet the above goal of teachers. (Inukai, 2013)?

However, this is not how it was in Japan, as Makiguchi (2015) explained how former Tokyo mayor Nagata Seiran assembled all city elementary teachers and reminded them they are “servants” which dictates the mindset expected from teachers. It is not easy for all teachers to adopt this behavior. It can compromise the educational attitude that can enable a teacher to provide a service to the students.?Further, Education Minister Mori’s policy on school education followed a “statist” view of education. His educational philosophy was described as "the philosophy of education for the national polity." And his direction to the principals of schools was, "The reason for supporting education is for the sake of the state," and he continued, "You must remember that education is not for the sake of the student but for the sake of the state." Mori called for military-style education for all males between seventeen and twenty-seven years of age to nourish the spirit needed to defend the fatherland. (APAN’S MODERN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, 2020)

To support teachers in defining the pedagogy, it is imperative to define their role. Bethel (1989) explains four teaching periods: direct transmission of information of knowledge, leading through trial and error, use of specific text, and guided studies. Currently, the focus is more on the recommended teaching period, with a focus on teachers being a catalyst to share information, keep students engaged, and provide additional explanations as needed to help students understand the content.?

How Makiguchi's philosophy on Education vs. Pedagogy can apply in Pakistan

Based on Makiguichi’s philosophy, educators must play a crucial role in defining what is required of the students in Pakistan and how it can be accomplished. Adopting curriculum from foreign countries have not helped promote the overall vision of the founders of Pakistan. Pakistan’s partition from India was based on religion, and the founders had a goal to develop an Islam community that would embrace the principles of the Quran (holy book) and the practices of Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him), which were successfully implemented 1400 years ago to support.?

Private and public educational sectors should develop a curriculum committee to develop a standard curriculum for secular and religious content, which is a vision of the new Prime Minister to remove disparity and benefit all economic classes in Pakistan to bring everyone together.?The teaching method should be defined by the teachers and promoted to change based on their experience. This is an iterative process and will vary within different regions in Pakistan based on resources. For example, in villages where students learn in open spaces under a tree with only a blackboard and chalk will go through a different learning experience from academic institutions in cities with classroom technologies.

Makiguchi's philosophy on Radicalism

Saito (1989) considers Makiguichi radical due to his unique multi-dimensional dynamic ideas. When anyone hears the term radical, the mind automatically shifts to a perception of people with only extreme left- or right-wing thought. The extreme views stem from socio-political-economic conditions, as explained by Saito (1989) in Japan, the Soviet, or Poland, which swing between either far left or right-wing views. Therefore, the true meaning of radicalism is not based on beliefs but on whether people can continue to hold individual radical views. Saito (1989) further gives an example of how revolutionary advances in science and technology in developed nations have resulted in highly controlled social structures. This causes resentment amongst strong individuals who refuse to comply with the ideology of the state’s supremacy and conformity with the uniform modes of thought imposed on them by the state. Instead, those strong individuals choose to retain their independent spirit. Saito (1989) explains the attributes of a radicalist in which individuals are?

·????????capable of questioning the commands and symbols of machines that intrude in our lives unasked?

·????????consistently able to find new intellectual methods for the dispassionate observation of an abominably overdeveloped society

·????????capable of retaining utopian ideals to maintain a barrage of criticism toward cultural structures that provide those in authority with limitless power to control

·????????unselfish individuals of integrity who disdain worldly wealth and fame to allow them to engage in critical analysis of the current state of affairs

·????????have a love for humankind.?(Saito, 1989)

How Makiguchi's philosophy on Radicalism can apply in Pakistan

Pakistan's approach to implementing local and overseas curriculum has not helped the country to provide quality education for the masses. Upper-middle and rich families have gained the biggest benefit because they can afford to provide private education which follows an overseas curriculum. This results in disparity in the workplace because employees who have graduated from middle to low-class education institutions are looked down upon and are not given equal opportunities at the workplace. The ex-Prime Minister, Imran Khan expressed dissatisfaction and preferred implementing a standard curriculum to provide equal opportunities for all. In theory, this sounds like a very good practice, but unfortunately, almost 80% of the population is from the middle to lower economic class. Private education institutions mainly provide quality education with high tuition fee, which caters to the needs of people from the middle to rich economic class. Therefore, we require radical mindsets and measures to make a change. This would mean that individuals in the educational ministry, administrators, faculty, students, and parents become radical.

Based on the attributes explained by Saito (1989), in the Pakistani context, individuals should question the curriculum used and how it can benefit the people. Research and development is the only way to improve current practices. As most people in Pakistan are below the middle to poor class, new methods should be researched to serve the underprivileged society. The poor classes are controlled by feudal lords, which limit opportunities and promote measures that only serve the agenda of the rich. This has to change, and only radical measures can eradicate it. Educational institutions should be able to profit, but it should be balanced enough so that both the organization and people can benefit from it. All these measures are only possible if there is love for humankind, which is a key attribute of a radical individual.

Conclusion

In Pakistan, there are no emperors, but there is a capitalistic mindset where feudal lords who control the majority of the land in Pakistan do not promote education, and if they allow any schools, they do not provide resources to the school.?Pakistan’s prime minister would like to revise the entire education system in Pakistan. His intentions are good, but to implement them, it is imperative that they have as radical educators servicing different sectors, mainly English, Urdu, and religious medium, who should come together and define the philosophy of education that deals with the question of “why,” and then focus on pedagogy that deals with the question of “how” will the education be imparted to students.?

References

Academiamag. (2018, August 20).?What Pakistan’s New PM Imran Khan Said About Education. Retrieved from Academiamag: https://academiamag.com/imran-khan-maiden-speech-pm/?

Shah, S. (2019, January 31).?Imran will be?best?Pak ruler after Quaid-e-Azam: British analyst. Retrieved from The News: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/425740-imran-will-be-best-pak-ruler-after-quaid-e-azam-british-analyst?

TransferWise content team. (2017, September 21).?The Pakistani education system: An overview. Retrieved from Transferwise: https://transferwise.com/us/blog/pakistani-education-overview

Nozomi Inukai (2013): Soka Kyoikugaku Taikei Versus Education for Creative Living: How Makiguchi

Tsunesaburo's Educational Ideas Are Presented in English, Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 12:1, 40-49

APAN’S MODERN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM：文部科学省. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2020, from https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/others/detail/1317314.htm

Bethel, D. M. (Ed.). (1989). Education for creative living: Ideas and proposals of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (A. Birnbaum, Trans.; 1st ed.). Iowa State University Press?

Makiguchi, T. (2015). On Attitudes toward Education: The Attitude toward Guiding Learning and the Attitude toward Learning [1936] (J. Goulah, A. Gebert, & R. Chonabayashi, Trans.). Schools: Studies in Education, 12(2), 244–251.?