On worldviews and wisdom

I have written previously about “What really matters in education?”, suggesting that if we were to believe Australian politicians and newspaper editors, we might form the view that the only thing which really matters is academic achievement as expressed in the form of an ATAR score (or NAPLAN results in years 3, 5, 7 and 9). I offered an alternative view, that schools ought to prioritise the nurturing of creativity, interdisciplinary learning and holistic education (recognising that human beings have bodies and souls, as well as minds).

On reflection, my response should have included another important element, which is this: what we value reflects our worldview. Those who value academic outcomes above all else are telling us something about the way in which they understand the world.

According to Godawa (2009), “Everybody operates on … a worldview that defines for them the way the world works, and how they know things, and how they ought to behave… In this sense, everyone is a philosopher; some are just more aware of it than others”. Further to this, Sire (2009) offers the following definition - “A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions … which we hold … about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being”.

If we accept Godawa’s proposition and Sire’s definition, then it follows that everybody has a view on what really matters in education, and this view will reflect their underlying core values and beliefs. Of course, there are many different worldviews in a society like ours, and so there will also be a diversity of ideas about the purpose of education. In Australia, this diversity may be seen in our different types of school systems – state or public schools, Catholic schools and other independent (including faith-based) schools – as well as within each of the systems.

Our worldviews matter because they provide us with answers to life’s big questions, as described by Anderson, Clark & Naugle (2017), also by Sire (2009) and by Vitale (2017). Sire noted that, although having a worldview is common to all human beings, these worldviews may be held “consciously or unconsciously, consistently or inconsistently”. In practical terms then, all school leaders and all teachers (as well as politicians and editors) will have views about the purpose of education that are shaped by their deepest, perhaps unarticulated, beliefs about life’s most fundamental questions. All of us, ultimately, approach education from a philosophical standpoint (whether we are aware of it or not).

More than this, I suggest that as well as being the lens though which we all think about education, worldview or philosophy should also be the object of a good education. I believe that a truly holistic education ought to enable young people, with the support of their teachers and school leaders, to critically reflect on the worldview they will take forward into their adult lives by providing them with opportunities to consider life’s big questions, or fundamental issues, summarised in Table 1, below.

It has always been thus. It was true in ancient Greece (where paidea described the holistic education of an “ideal citizen”). It was true when the first universities were being founded, in Bologna, Oxford, Paris and Cambridge. And it is still true today.

My own beliefs about life’s most fundamental questions lead me to reject the reductionist view (that only academic outcomes really matter) in favour of a truly holistic view, which has as its goal the flourishing of each student. More specifically, I believe that who the student is becoming is of much greater importance that their results on any standardised test. What’s more, I think Aristotle (who would probably find the idea of standardised tests incomprehensible) would agree with me.

I really appreciate the research publications which have come out of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues in recent years. In particular, I would commend to you their framework for character development - https://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Jubilee-Centre-Framework-for-Character-Education-in-Schools-April-2024.pdf. You will note that the Jubilee framework identifies practical wisdom as the key to flourishing individuals and society (phronesis was the goal of education idealised by Aristotle). Note also that this practical wisdom is the integration of virtues which direct every aspect of our lives – our intellectual, moral, civic and performance duties.

Let me repeat: a great education – one that truly prepares young people to rise to the challenges they will undoubtedly face in the future – must involve more than simply acquiring knowledge in order to pass tests. A great education in this era of information technology and artificial intelligence must concentrate on what it is that makes us human. It must major on creativity and interpersonal relationships, on learning how to be as well as how to think.